Our 44th President of the United States of America said, early on, “If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.”
Over-promised and under-delivered.
I have watched and waited since November 9, 2016, when the world came to realize Donald J. Trump was elected to be the next President of the United States of America, before sharing my observations.
If I had my choice, the election would have come down to one of these two candidates: Marco Rubio (R) and Joe Biden (D). I might have felt like we were voting for the greater of two positive forces.
Instead, we were presented with choosing from the lesser of two evils.
Clinton came with trust issues and political baggage, while Trump was self-absorbed and still maintains that egotistical stamina.
But, here’s the kicker. Hillary openly shared her support for continuing the policies of Barack Obama.
This didn’t sit well with many people for one really big reason. In these parts, as I got around and chatted with people in our area, I heard the same thing over and over again.
Health insurance premiums were getting out of control!
Premiums were increasing between 50% and 66% every year. A friend of mine in Fountain will be paying $3,000 per month in for his family in 2017. Add another $12,000 for the annual deductible. That would mean the insurance company wouldn’t spend one cent until after the customer had spent $48,000 in one year. Who can afford that?
Another business owner I spoke with in Chatfield shared, “Throughout my lifetime, whoever was president, whether Republican or Democrat, their decisions never affected my life in the way that President Obama did with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.” This Chatfield business owner now has a health insurance premium that costs more than his mortgage.
Getting back to my friend who is paying $3,000 per month, do you realize that $3,000 per month for a house payment will get you a $515,000 valued home?
But, after you pay $3,000 towards your monthly health insurance premium, what do you have to show for it? With an investment in a house payment, you are building equity — an asset.
With health insurance, you are simply investing in risk. How much is that worth? Is it worth as much as a $515,000 house?
But, (cue the infomercial voice) wait, there’s more! Every year, that non-equity-building investment of health insurance is going to increase by 50% to 67%.
If your premium was $3,000 per month, and it increased by 50% every year for 10 consecutive years, by the year 2026 your health insurance premium would be $115,330 per month.
I know that seems highly unlikely, but economists and politicians were way off the mark with their predictions and expectations for the results of the Affordable Care Act.
Trump won this election because many people, in Fillmore County and throughout America, didn’t want to see Obama’s policies continue. And, specifically, they didn’t want to see their health insurance premiums exceed their house payments. When your health insurance costs more than your house payment in America, there’s a problem.
But, I believe that Clinton, among other elitists who were unaffected by the high costs of the Affordable Care Act, were not in touch with the American people.
This election subtly erupted with a segment of voters saying, “Enough is enough!” They didn’t want to pay for 20 million people to receive free healthcare on their dime.
I do have to say it was a little amusing watching our national media anchors during the night of the election. They were awkward and devastated. They couldn’t believe that rural America showed up to vote for Trump.
So, who was trying to influence the results of the election more — the Russian hackers or the national media? Openly, the national media, without a doubt was in support of Clinton. Russia, maybe?
In the end, it really doesn’t matter at this point. Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States of America on Friday, January 20, 2017.
And, after Trump takes office, I hope someone deletes his Twitter account, so he can focus 100% of his energy on fixing the healthcare situation. Donald, if you’re reading this, here’s a link to my suggestion: http://fillmorecountyjournal.com/one-moment-please-are-doctors-on-commission/.
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