Letter To New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

March 26, 2010



Living in New Jersey, we have a new governor, who actually happens to be a republican in a very liberal state. He was elected, he states, to get rid of corruption and to balance a state budget that is billions in debt, without raising taxes, and to make the state an easier place to do business. My fear is that he has focused too much on budget cuts, while not fully researching how Obamacare affects healthcare for New Jersey residents.


I have written a letter to Governor Christie, emailed on Friday, March 26th, 2010, a copy of which is shown below.

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To: Chris Christie (R-NJ), Governor

I urge you to take all available actions to protect New Jersey from a federal government takeover of healthcare. Such actions include filing a lawsuit against potentially unconstitutional provisions and securing New Jersey's ability to opt out of federal mandates. More than a dozen states have already filed such lawsuits challenging the individual mandate and Medicaid provisions in the bill. The Medicaid provisions alone will likely cost New Jersey billions of tax dollars we cannot afford.

I urge you to direct your Attorney General, Paula Dow, to join with these other states in doing everything possible to protect my rights to make my own health care choices, and also to protect physicians, so that they can offer the best care possible, without government or insurance interference.

As an independent family physician, I would welcome you to come to my medical office, which has given up all insurance contracts, other than Medicare. You will find that cost-effective high quality care occurs to a greater extent when the insurance companies and the government stay out of healthcare decisions.

I urge you to not repeat the same mistakes that other politicians have made, by listening only to your political appointees. To get a real view of healthcare today, you need to talk to independent physicians, without ties to hospitals or other institutions. Only then can you get enough data to formulate a real-world opinion on the state of healthcare in New Jersey.

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OK.

So let's take a vote.

What response will I get?

A: Form letter
B: None
C: Real response by letter or email
D: Governor Christie acceptance to visit my office

My hope is for choice D, while I expect choice A.

Obamacare- Good or Bad?

Healthscare 101

Obamacare is now the law of the land. Very soon, health insurers will be more heavily regulated by the federal government.

Will this be good or bad for individuals, and insurers?

I care more about individuals than insurers, but insurers still play a large role in healthcare. Without insurers, we have no protection from large medical bills. But the long asked question is , Why does it have to cost so much, and can't the government do something about it?

The above question was asked, and answered by the Democrats who control our government. They singlehandedly took over the system without any bipartisan support. If the changes are deemed to be good, they will be seen as heroes, as achievers. But if the changes fail, they will be held accountable.

Today, I want to focus on the health insurers and what will happen to them under Obamacare.

First let me set some conditions. Let us assume the following:

1) No more pre-existing conditions
2) Children? may remain on family policies until age 26
3) No more lifetime limits on coverage

There are others, but I have not yet found the time to read thru the 2700+ page law. It is next on my list after I finish reading War and Peace.

Let us look at what will happen to insurance premiums with just the above three conditions.
All three will raise their cost of doing business, and increasing the amount they pay out in claims.

So the insurers have a few options:

1) Raise their premiums to compensate
2) Pay doctors and hospitals less
3) Try harder to ration care

Now I will take these one by one.

1) If insurers raise their premiums, Obama and the Congress will scream bloody murder, further vilify their industry and try to move public opinion towards an even greater government takeover of healthcare.

2) If insurers try to pay doctors and hospitals less, a breaking point will occur where doctors stop participating, with some even retiring. Can you say, a further shortage of doctors available, resulting in longer waits for care?

3) If insurers try harder to ration care, individuals and employers who pay the premiums will revolt, causing the federal government to try for a further takeover of the system. Employers will decide it is not worth it to pay for health insurance for employees, in essence, pushing their employees into the government insurance exchanges, which will eventually lead to the coveted "public option".

The end result, as I see it, is as follows:

1) Insurance premiums will go up, up, up
2) Insurers rationing of care will go up, up, up.
3) Insurers profits will go down, down, down, with many mergers, before outright going out of business.
4) Physicians and hospitals will also merge, and be effectively run by the government.

Obamacare has been skillfully set up, to be a success. But the success it seeks, will be in destroying the private healthcare system as we know it today!