Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan More Involved in Defense of Obamacare Then She Let On

Here are some emails that were discovered by Judicial Watch which show evidence of Elena Kagan's involvement in the defense of Obamacare. 

From Judicial Watch: According to a January 8, 2010, email from Neal Katyal, former Deputy Solicitor General (and current Acting Solicitor General) to Brian Hauck, Senior Counsel to Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, Kagan was involved in the strategy to defend Obamacare from the very beginning:

Subject: Re: Health Care Defense:

Brian, Elena would definitely like OSG [Office of Solicitor General] to be involved in this set of issues…we will bring in Elena as needed. [The “set of issues” refers to another email calling for assembling a group to figure out “how to defend against the…health care proposals that are pending.”]

On March 21, 2010, Katyal urged Kagan to attend a health care litigation meeting that was evidently organized by the Obama White House: “This is the first I’ve heard of this. I think you should go, no? I will, regardless, but feel like this is litigation of singular importance.”

In another email exchange that took place on January 8, 2010, Katyal’s Department of Justice colleague Brian Hauck asked Katyal about putting together a group to discuss challenges to Obamacare. “Could you figure out the right person or people for that?” Hauck asked. “Absolutely right on. Let’s crush them,” Katyal responded. “I’ll speak with Elena and designate someone.”

However, following the May 10, 2010, announcement that President Obama would nominate Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, Katyal position changed significantly as he began to suggest that Kagan had been “walled off” from Obamacare discussions.

For example, the documents included the following May 17, 2010, exchange between Kagan, Katyal and Tracy Schmaler, a DOJ spokesperson:

Shmaler to Katyal, Subject HCR [Health Care Reform] litigation: “Has Elena been involved in any of that to the extent SG ]Solicitor General’s] office was consulted?...

Katyal to Schmaler: “No she has never been involved in any of it. I’ve run it for the office, and have never discussed the issues with her one bit.”

Katyal (forwarded to Kagan): “This is what I told Tracy about Health Care.”

Kagan to Schmaler: “This needs to be coordinated. Tracy you should not say anything about this before talking to me.”

Included among the documents is a Vaughn index, a privilege log which describes records that are being withheld in whole or in part by the Justice Department. The index provides further evidence of Kagan’s involvement in Obamacare-related discussions.

For example, Kagan was included in an email chain (March 17–18, 2010) in which the following subject was discussed: “on what categories of legal arguments may arise and should be prepared in the anticipated lawsuit.” The subject of the email was “Health Care.” Another email chain on March 21, 2010, entitled “Health care litigation meeting,” references an “internal government meeting regarding the expected litigation.” Kagan is both author and recipient in the chain.

The index also references a series of email exchanges on May 17, 2010, between Kagan and Obama White House lawyers and staff regarding Kagan’s “draft answer” to potential questions about recusal during the Supreme Court confirmation process. The White House officials involved include: Susan Davies, Associate White House Counsel; Daniel Meltzer, then-Principal Deputy White House Counsel; Cynthia Hogan, Counsel to the Vice President; and Ronald Klain, then-Chief of Staff for Vice President Biden. The DOJ is refusing to produce this draft answer.

The Vaughn index also describes a March 24, 2010, email exchange between Associate Attorney General Beth Brinkmann and Michael Dreeben, Kagan’s Deputy Solicitor General, with the subject header, “Health Care Challenges:” “…I had a national conference call with the Civil Chiefs. A memo also went out the day before. I am forwarding right after this. Let’s discuss if you have more ideas about what to do.”

As reported by CNS News:

In the questionnaire she filled out for the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation process, Kagan said she would abide by the “letter and spirit” of 28 U.S.C. 455 in deciding whether she felt compelled to recuse herself as a Supreme Court Justice from any case that came before the High Court.

According to the law, a ‘justice … shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might be reasonably questioned.’ It further says any justice ‘shall also disqualify himself … [w]here he has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the proceedings or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy.’

“Any reasonable person would read these documents and come to the same conclusion: Elena Kagan helped coordinate the Obama administration’s defense of Obamacare. And as long as the Justice Department continues to withhold key documents, the American people won’t know for sure whether her involvement would warrant her recusal from any Obamacare litigation that comes before the High Court,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

There is a definite connection between Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan and her playing at least a minor role in the White House's defense of the health care law.  In my opinion she needs to recuse herself from all cases which challenge Obamacare's constitutionality. 

Obamacare - You Support We Reward

Remember when Nancy Pelosi said "we have to to pass the bill in order to find out what's in the bill"?
Within those 2000 pages consists of a number of goodies rewarding subsidiaries (such as unions with $2 billion) which own the Democrats.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee has discovered that the health care law has allowed the government to pay out $2 billion to unions, state public employee systems, and big corporations to subsidize health care costs for early retirees.  O where O where has the money gone?  Let's take a look at exactly which pockets the Liberals have lined with Obamacare money.

From The Washington Examiner:


"According to the new report, the biggest single recipient of an early-retiree bailout is the United Auto Workers, which has so far received $206,798,086.  Other big recipients include AT&T, which received $140,022,949, and Verizon, which received $91,702,538.  General Electric, in the news recently for not paying any U.S. taxes last year, received $36,607,818.  General Motors, recipient of a massive government bailout, received $19,002,669.


"The program also paid large sums of money to state governments.  The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio received $70,557,764; the Teacher Retirement System of Texas received $68,074,118; the California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, received $57,834,267; the Georgia Department of Community Health received $57,936,127; and the state of New York received $47,869,044.  Other states received lesser but still substantial sums.


"But payments to individual states were dwarfed by the payout to the auto workers union, which received more than the states of New York, California, and Texas combined.  Other unions also received government funds, including the United Food and Commercial Workers, the United Mine Workers, and the Teamsters."


Hold on a minute....  I thought that the purpose of this law was that it would lower health care costs, and not to simply dole out money to only those who supported the bill, which is now law.  And these Leftist "spread the wealthers"  -  who are so generous with NOT their own money but thieving other peoples' money - really expected us to believe their load of malarcky when they claimed that this law was non-partisan and would benefit all the people.   Do I see pigs flying?    It certainly seems like this law is only targeted at helping certain groups in our society (anyone who supported the passage of Obamacare) and not the whole of society, and sure as heck not the common good.  Oh... That claim was the Democrats using smoke and mirrors, by any means necessary, telling distortions and lies just to get the bill passed. These Democrats are throwing the taxpayers' money down the toilet.  I thought this POS law was supposed to be about health care.  No, it's all about paying off the Leftist ideological extremists who backed this government piece of garbage which is filled with mountains of red tape.  This was all about power and control.  The Democrats couldn't give a rats a$$ about health care.  Think about it, these sadistic immoral twisted loons think killing an unborn child is health care. They think funding Planned Parenthood is considered essential to running our government.  These libtards whine about values supposedly being thrust upon them when the fact is they shove their evil immorality down our throats when they force Americans to fund the murder of innocents.  Do these people have a consience?  These people live on their selfish egos and are ghouls who prey upon the weak and most vulnerable in our society.  They make the claim that Republicans and conservatives are all about money when in fact they choose that the weak and vulnerable in our society are not worthy of living because of the money it would cost to take care of them.  Congress needs to stop throwing the taxpayers' money down the toilet.  How would these Green weenies and red rhinos like it if the taxpayers said enough is enough and there was a tax revolt?

Man Talks To His Weiner!, Louder With Crowder

Questions for Obamacare Supporters: The Challenge Posed to Liberals by the Baby Joseph Dilemma

Questions for liberals: First, I would like to ask if a relative or friend of yours was dying would you like to spend as much time with that person as possible or would you rather his/her's death be sped up because of a hospital's refusal to help aid that person medically and refusal to give that person the means to live as long as possible?   Second, should a parent be in control of their child's health care or should a medical professional and a hospital be able to decide what is right for your child?

Has everyone heard of Baby Joseph?  If not, he is a 13-month-old-baby who has a fatal progressive neurodegenerative disease and is laying in a hospital bed in Canada waiting to go home. His parents have requested that he be able to live out his final days at home but the hospital has refused to honor their request.  Baby Joseph's parents want to bring him home to die, but to do so he must be removed from his ventilator and given a tracheostomy but there's one major catch the Ontario hospital is refusing to do a tracheostomy.  In addition, the Ontario hospital is refusing to release his medical records.  Baby Joseph's parents, the Maraachli’s, want him to be transferred to an American hospital so the tracheostomy can be done but American hospitals are refusing to accept Baby Joseph because the Canadian hospital is refusing to release his medical records.  It seems now that the hospital is changing its tune and claiming it was always willing to let Baby Joseph go home - but with one catch - without a tracheostomy this would mean that he would suffocate to death.  Baby Joseph would die quickly without the hospital being willing to do a tracheostomy, we're talking at most days versus about six months with having the tracheostomy.  Being forced to suffocate to death kind of sounds like euthanasia to me.  


From the National Catholic Register:

"Family spokesman Dan Sanserone says this simply is untrue. “No one in the family knows anything about an offer to let him come home.”

"Sanserone’s own daughter is cognitively disabled and he has championed the cause of families like the Maraachlis for a decade as they fight medical professionals for control of their loved ones’ care.

Sanserone has studied medical outcomes in the U.S. and Canada and reached a disturbing conclusion. “Someone with my daughter’s disabilities is four to 10 times likelier to survive in the U.S.”

In Canada generally, he says, there is a trend “to strip the human rights of the cognitively disabled. It is spreading like a disease putting at risk anyone who isn’t contributing much to the GDP.”

Remember Rep. Alan "Die Quickly" Grayson? Oh, I thought Republicans wanted the sick to die quickly!   But this is a government run health care system similar to that of Obamacare so this is more evidence that Grayson is off his rocker and lied through his teeth when he made this sickening false claim against Republicans. 


Questions for liberals: Do those who support Obamacare think that this type of dilemma won't happen in the U.S.?  Do you think that worse rationing than we have now can't possibly happen under Obamacare?  Or aren't these types of issues important to you?  


It is outrageous that not even one hospital in the United States has been willing to help out Baby Joseph!  It is extremely sad that not one hospital in America has stepped forward to accept and help this Little One even without his medical records.  Its not like Baby Joseph's case hasn't been publicized and they don't know what he needs. In one of my posts on my other blog I challenged any CHA hospital and Sr. Keehan to please do the right thing and put their money and faith where there mouth is.  Yes, this is the nun that lied about abortion supposedly not being covered in Obamacare.  This is the same nun who gave "legitimacy" to those so called pro-life Democrats so that they would vote for the Affordable Care Act when she refused to listen to and heed the authority of the Bishops on the matter of health care and abortion.  


Here is a video of Baby Joseph which shows proof that he is NOT in a vegetative state as this Canadian hospital claims (or claimed at one time). 

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS -- 2-9-2011 Ronald Reagan Style

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS

Opus #6 explains why Obama is both clueless and absent in mind, body, and spirit.

Sig94 talks about Obama's backstabbing policies and asks So this is how we treat our friends?

A Patriotic Rottweiler shows us An Egyptian campaign flyer.

JR tells us about the Inverted reality of warmism.

LarryD posts on the possibility of their being a Eucharistic miracle in Michigan.

Andrew33 asks Is Obama guilty of sedition? 

Matt posts Pundits vs. Beck: Winner, Beck

Always On Watch celebrates the Ronald Reagan centennial.

Another Black Conservative informs us that AOL has acquired the Huffington Post.

Barking Spider shows us a fiery exchange between Hannity and Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary.

BBCW posts The Patriot Act: We are all terrorists in the eyes of the government.

Subvet posts on the Death of a once great nation.

Bluegrass Pundit shows us the liar-in-chief claiming that Obamacare is not socialist.






Chris shows us the clever Dismantling of Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, and Ed Schultz

Quite Rightly shows us Ronald Reagan telling Soviet jokes.

Common Cents shows us Bill O'Reilly's interview with President Obama.

Christopher gives us a peak into the awesome nature of Yosemite.

Conservative Girl With a Voice posts Ronald Reagan's legacy lives on.

Conservative Scalawag posts on Guns for everyone.






Matthew Archbold posts Red State vs. the CDC on abortion stats.

Tito posts on Militant Gays/Anti-Christians targeting Chick-Fil-A 

Deacon For Life posts Planned Parenthood sting video reveals disturbing NAF connection.

Amusing Bunni has a post on Snowpocalypse 2011 and please go over to her site and congratulate Bunni on her 4th Anniversary blogging.

Woodsterman has posted some wonderful music by Krista Branch.

Angel has posted on Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood 

Dave posts Al Gore and Keith Olbermann: A marriage made in hell.

Fr. Z informs us that the Obama administration rewards another nun.

LL asks a great question: Is the Obama spending freeze a scam? 

Trestin is back and The Answer to combat all the evil in the world.

Fr. Philip found some great links Coffee Cup browsing.

EconomyPolitics posts that the Explosion at the Egyptian gas terminal was in fact the work of terrorists.

Jamie shows us the beautiful Sarah Palin on horseback.

Fausty shows us the Bloody history of Communism.

Fuzzy Slippers posted Doing it sprog style 

EHVOGEL says Happy Birthday President Reagan.

Steve posts Black History Month: Clarence E. Sasser 

Hack Wilson shows us and reaffirms that Left Wing academia breeds stupidity.

Innominatus posts on Egyptian violence.

Joe exposes who is the True Party of hate.

Just a Conservative Girl posts The Minions Speak up about a success story.

Just an Artist posts a Frank Zappa song.

Left Coast Rebel gives us the latest Nanny state alert.

TOTUS posts Texas girl on gun control.

Theblogprof posts Irony: Hamtrack, MI going bankrupt but still gives 3% raises to unions. 

The Right Guy points out that Cameron is being called racist for telling the truth.

Miss Pfaff posts The States can't afford Obamacare.  

The Watcher posts on Government 'assistance' 

Kevin tells us about Acupuncture without needles.

The Malcontent asks Would you re-elect Obama as our president? 

Chris W posts on Tom Woods and his fight against federal tyranny.

Samuel post on a funny comedy.

Most Rev. Gregori posts on Obama's Christianity.

Eric Dondero posts that Rendell splits from wife and that he is "Mr. X" 

Stopsign gives us a proper rendition of The National Anthem.

Robot says Look no further for the racist calls for violence. 

Watch Dog posts that Meghan McCain is clueless.

Fuzzys Dad posts on Mandatory Arabic classes Coming to Mansfield, TX. 

Leticia posts some Funny animal videos.

LL posts on the Utopian fantasy.

No Sheeples Here! gives us a sneak peak into Iranium.

Joe asks Monarchy or Republic? A Discussion. 

Bob Belvedere posts on the fact that there is No escape  from the overreaching power of Obama.

JKShaws posts on Dangerously underestimating the Muslim Brotherhood.

Matt posts Education: Our greatest battle? 

RightHandMan posts on Spoiled milk and bad gas: something stinks.

John showed us his pick for funniest super bowl commercial.

Maggie posts that the White House pretty much says to judge Screw you and will implement Obamacare.

Eman says If he ever had a man-crush .....

Pedaling Fast posts If a liberal and a tea partier had been aboard the Titanic. 

Ponderings shows us The Grace Card trailer. 

Proof informs us that Conservative Democrats find new home in GOP.

Jill posts that the Buffalo beheader was convicted in one hour. 

Randy posts on Obama's Egypt policy. 

Reaganite Republican shows us the Virtual online Sistine Chapel. 

Euripedes posts on Obama's ideology. 

Cube shows us a most fascinating video of The cat & the crow. 

The Born Again Americans say Dumbo has gone a step too far.

The Conservative Lady posts on the Obama administration's habit of flipping the bird. 

John Galt posts on Lady Godiva - the true founder of the tea party. 

Country Thinker tells us How the housing bubble disproved "global warming" 

The Other McCain posts Death by political correctness.

 LD posts on Chaos in Cairo.

Pamela Geller posts Muslim supremacists kill Christian teenagers for reading Bible.

Steve Dennis posts that the House will vote to cut off Obamacare funding next week.

Howard Dean Admits Obamacare will Wreck Insurance, Doesn’t “Care” If It’s Unconstitutional

H/T Expose Obama 

A Plan to Inoculate the Contagious Infection Obamacare

David Catron from The American Spectator has an excellent plan on how to inoculate the contagious infection - Obamacare -  from spreading more than it has infected our lives already.  Did you know before there was RomneyCare in Mass. that there was DukakisCare? Thankfully the GOP halted that by defunding the DukakisCare "reform" debacle.  Hopefully we can do the same with Obamacare.  Rep. John Boehner made the most magnanimous pledge on repealing and replacing the health care law during his interview with Bret Baier saying, 'I'll make sure Obamacare is never implemented'. This is wonderful! He also hinted that he and the newly elected Republican majority in Congress has "a lot of tricks up our sleeves" to follow through on that promise.  You go Boehner!!  Inoculate Obamacare!!

Dr. Dave Janda on Obamacare, Stimulus, Rationing & the Solution

Obamacare Effects: Three Catholic Hospitals Closing in Scranton & the Power of a Social Justice Nun

There has been much controversy surrounding the closing and sale of three Catholic hospitals in Scranton, Pa. The controversy includes: Kevin Cook - Mercy Health Partners CEO, three different statements, two Catholic Representatives, the Affordable Care Act - A.K.A. - Obamacare, and Obama’s nun.


- In Review

Sr. Carol Keehan, Obama’s nun, is the nun who dissented from Bishops and threw her weight to support Obamacare. She is the nun who used her clout as head of the CHA, falsely claimed that abortion wasn’t covered in Obamacare, and provided “legitimacy” for Bart Stupak and the rest of the so called pro-life Democrats to support and vote for Obamacare even though there were and still are no safeguards protecting against abortion coverage and federal funding in Obamacare.  The Congressional Research Report Confirms this. She wanted us, as Catholics to trust our government over our Bishops’ prudential judgment on a matter related to morals. That sounds so nonsensical. Misplaced trust?

For anyone to think that our government is going to do the right thing in matters of faith and morals, look out for you and me, is complete and utter naivete when our government has sanctioned the murders of countless innocents since Roe v. Wade was enacted in 1973.

When Sr. Carol Keehan became a religious sister she took a vow of obedience and in fact has more of an obligation than ordinary laity to heed the Bishops’ prudential judgment with relation to abortion and Obamacare. Since the Church Teaching is that abortion is an intrinsic evil is Catholic Dogma has Sr. Keehan broken her vow of obedience by dissenting from the Bishops in order to support Obamacare?

The common good must not be pursued at the expense of the morally reprehensible murders of innocent human lives.

In his first statement Kevin Cook stated, "Health care reform is absolutely playing a role. Was it the precipitating factor in this decision? No, but was it a factor in our planning over the next five years? Absolutely."

Notice that Cook stated “absolutely” twice.

48 hours later Cook said, sale discussions were happening "long before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The decision was due to many factors."

Perhaps, there was something occurring behind the scenes?

That same day Sr. Carol Keehan made this statement, "Reports that health reform is the primary motive behind the sale are completely false, misleading and politically motivated. Deliberations to sell the facilities began well before the Affordable Care Act became law and did not hinge on enactment of the legislation."

Okay… Like she isn’t politically motivated to ensure her support for Obamacare isn’t for naught.

Then about a couple days later Cook announced: “Mercy Health Partners recently announced our intention to explore the sale of our facilities in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The rationale for our initiative has been mischaracterized by certain politicized media outlets and severely distorted by some special interest groups.”

Coincidental? Or Coordinated?

Perhaps, there was something occurring behind the scenes?

Would a social justice political activist nun misuse her power as CEO of the CHA to silence the truth in both instances, with Obamacare and with Obamacare playing a pivotal role in the closings of three Catholic hospitals? Did this Left wing activist nun “lower the boom” on Kevin Cook and force him to change his tune in those last two statements? Well, it kinda looks that way.

Oh - how could one forget? Since she bucked both the Bishops and the Catholic faith and instead staunchly supported Obama and his health care bill she was rewarded with one of the 21 pens that Obama used to signed the health care law. What a trade -- fidelity to Church teaching and to her vows sacrificed for fame, power, recognition, and on top of all that, a pen.

From The American Spectator - “One doctor in Scranton -- who was deeply disturbed by the announcement -- is certain he knows the answer. That answer? Mr. Cook was absolutely right the very first time he spoke to WNEP on camera. Hospitals, said this doctor -- frequently run a debt. "What's different? Why now?" he said in terms of the rationale for selling the Mercy hospitals. The reason is exactly as CEO Cook originally said it was. ObamaCare cuts in Medicare reimbursement have changed the rules so drastically for hospitals "you [Mercy Health Partners] are in an untenable situation," said this physician. Most hospitals have accumulating debt because of capital investments, says the doctor. But they can't deal with that debt if in fact their ability to earn money is cut off or drastically reduced over time.

Alarmingly, the doctor, with a lifetime of practice in hand, says that "hospitals close in clusters where there is decreased income in terms of relatively low Medicare reimbursement…because they are the most vulnerable." He adds that what is happening in Scranton, Nanticoke, and Tunkhannock with the Mercy hospitals "is just the beginning. It will happen everywhere because reimbursements will be reduced" under ObamaCare. Particularly, he adds, in areas where you have a high elderly population.”

‘The explosion, all recent with its implications of White House pressure and lost Catholic hospitals, is about to bring in media ads from CatholicVote.org. Says Communications Director Joshua Mercer: "Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney are Catholic and they both voted for ObamaCare." Citing the sale of the three Mercy hospitals, Mercer says that the pro-ObamaCare votes of the two "has had a real impact on the community." Mercer added a sentiment voiced as well by the Scranton doctor: "There are a lot of Kevin Cooks across the country…the CEO's of small Catholic hospitals are all facing the same realities of more [ObamaCare] mandates and regulations.”’


Seems like there is something fishy going on. I live in Pennsylvania, but unfortunately I don’t live in either of their districts, otherwise I would vote for the opposition.

Here is the political ad that CatholicVote.org has put out.




Cross Posted at Tu ne cede malis

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS 9-7-10 Part 2

Landshark 5150 posts on a pathway back to the Constitution.

Let The Truth Be Known shouts a warning call and says our government is out of control.

Lone Star Parson posts on Hawking the atheist.

Maggie's Notebook reveals Tom Coburn saying Obamacare brings single payer.

Minded Numbed Robot posts on Obama's Gulf War.

My Thoughts on Freedom says it is time to bury John Maynard Keynes. 

Random Musings by Cliff shows a video on Father of 9/11's Todd Beamer on the mosque. 

Randy's Roundtable says Obama forgets who is president.

The Reaganite Republican states Bumbling Obama will need a miracle to .... .

Saberpoint posts reasons why Obama is a Muslim.

The Born Again American tells us about his journey which started 23 Years ago Today.

The Conservative Lady posted on Happy Government Day.

The Current posts on Arizona: In the Shadow of King George.

They Say/ We Say posts on the funneling of money from abroad to fund Ground Zero mosque.

TOTUS tells us of Old, Old Stories.

Trestin Meacham posts some thoughts on his Leaving Korea.

Tu Ne Cede Malis posts on Holy Orders & Why Elaine Groppenbacher cannot be Father Elaine.

Woodsterman posts on Ground Zero.

Amusing Bunni's Musings informs us that Time & Newsweek aren't Friends With Obummer Anymore.

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS 9-6-10 Part 1

*American Perspective* (MAINFO) Tells us about the ride to stop the Flight 93 Crescent Mosque, seeing Laura Bush, and reveals to us the world's bravest kitty.

Nickie Goomba tells us about Russia covering up the assassination of the Polish President.

Always On Watch reveals that Islam is really the religion of genocide.
America! Oh How We'll Miss You! gives the horrendous news that taxpayers are funding mosques abroad.

Barking Spider opens our eyes to the brutality of Islam and Sharia law.

Bread Upon the Waters shows us The Bomb and a USS Cole Mother of a murdered victim speaks out.

Can We Keep Our Republic? ponders liberal philosphies and Hobbes' rule of Man.

Conservative Perspective posts on Quality Assurance.

Creative Miniority Report regarding Obamacare asks Planned to Fail or Failed to Plan?

DeanO posts on wedlock irrelevant to teens.

Global Domination Through Applied Inactivity revisits the end of WWII.

Hack Wilson ponders on Obamastruction.

Innominatus is excited for the kickoff and asks, Ready for some Football?

Jim McMahon calls on us all to Never Forget 9/11.

Jo-Joe Politico points out just how much President BO is an amateur.

Conservative Hideout tells us about the damage caused by Obamacare and on how a strong defense is important for peace & prosperity.

I thought that I would do a little something different and post a video with my links post. Here ya go.




I will be posting the rest of the links tomorrow.

The Consequences of the NOT so Affordable "Affordable Care Act"

By James A. Bacon:


Josh Dent is an early victim of Obamacare. The lanky, shaven-headed machine operator likes the medical insurance plan his employer, Acorn Signs, provides him. But under the newly enacted Affordable Care Act, his insurance policy will get less affordable. A provision in the law is putting his insurance company out of business, and whatever replaces Mr. Dent's current policy will likely be much more expensive.

The way the 29-year-old sees it, Acorn Signs will have to cut benefits or cut pay. One way or another, he figures, the switch to a new insurer will cost him.

Steve Gillispie, Acorn's president, is distressed by this unexpected development. A year and a half ago, he was facing premiums of $150,000 from an established insurer, up from $80,000 just three years before. Then along came Richmond, Va.-based nHealth. The start-up company, launched with the mission of making consumer-driven health care a reality, rescued him with a plan that kept premiums below $90,000 yearly. The plan insured his 35 employees against hospital expenses, created a $1,500 deductible for doctors' fees and set up health savings accounts (HSAs) for employees to pay for what the health plan did not. "For most employees," Mr. Gillispie says, "it netted out money in the pocket."

Lower insurance charges helped Acorn survive the recession without laying off any of its employees or cutting their compensation. Going back hat in hand to one of the dominant insurers in town, Mr. Gillispie fears, will add tens of thousands of dollars to his cost structure. Profit margins are tight in this slow-growth economy, but he hates to pass on the higher insurance costs to his employees, many of whom are paid $14 to $16 an hour. "Most of these people are living hand to mouth as it is," he says. He still does not know what he will do.

Such is the unintended consequence of Obamacare, which overhauled the health care industry with the goal of making medical insurance more affordable and accessible to all. The provision that is causing Acorn Signs so much heartache is the so-called 80/20 rule, which requires all insurance plans to pay out at least 80 percent of premiums in benefits. The goal behind the rule is to punish insurers that let administrative expenses get out of hand. In practice, the law punishes innovative, entrepreneurial companies like nHealth that kept premiums low.

The company ran afoul of the 80/20 rule by charging premiums that were so low that the administrative expenses looked high by comparison. Alan Slabaugh, a benefits specialist who brokers the policy, explains the problem this way, using very rough numbers: If a traditional insurer bills $500 monthly per employee, paying out $400 in benefits and charging $100 to administration, its administrative ratio is 20 percent - acceptable under the 80/20 rule. NHealth keeps premiums low by using HSAs to incentivize employees to reduce their spending - buying generic drugs, for instance, and shopping around for cheaper pharmacies - and by showing clients how to self-insure for physicians' fees. If nHealth charges superlow premiums of $300 per month, paying $200 in benefits and keeping $100 for administrative expenses, its administrative ratio would be 33 percent - thus failing the Obamacare test and triggering penalties.


In its short existence, nHealth passed the market test with flying colors, signing up 128 clients across Virginia. However, the fast-growth company was still burning cash when Obamacare passed, and management wasn't expecting to be profitable for several years. The 80/20 rule attacked the company's business model and pushed the break-even point out another year or more. Given continued uncertainties about how the regulations would be written, the company notified clients in June that the board had decided to shut down the company; it would honor all existing contracts but not renew them.

About 2,500 Virginia employees are the losers. Other insurers in the Richmond marketplace offer HSAs, Mr. Slabaugh says, but none is as inexpensive as nHealth's. Workers will wind up paying more for insurance - assuming their employers even can afford to continue providing insurance at the rates the big insurers charge. Even non-customers pay a price indirectly. With one of Virginia's most aggressive and innovative insurers knocked out of action, the dominant players don't have to compete as hard for their business. Just a few months out of the gate, Obamacare is falling far short of the lofty goals set for it. As Mr. Slabaugh says, "The health care reform bill was passed with the intention to increase choice and decrease the costs associated with health care. As the legislation is being implemented, I am witnessing quite the opposite, and nHealth is just one example."

James A. Bacon is author of the forthcoming book "Boomergeddon" (Oaklea Press, 2010) and publisher of the blog by the same name.