Pulse of Texas: Obamacare

The health of the Nation is now in the hands of government. Let's see how it is working out for people who work for a living. Many Americans are feeling the pain of government health care, and here is what some of them have sent me from my congressional district in Texas.

Billie from Spring, Texas, writes: "I can't afford what ObamaCare will cost. How can they say it is better? My company pays part of my insurance, and the insurance is good. Why do I have to change to something I cannot afford? It doesn't make any sense. My doctor told me a lot of them will retire rather than deal with this horrible health care law. The quality of doctors will diminish. I thought the government was for the people." 

Well, Billie, apparently the government is for the government and not for the people.

James from Humble, Texas, says: "Please defund ObamaCare. My employer has already informed us our health care will be changing, and this comes at a very bad time for my family. We will be forced into exchanges and employer informs us the company has the right to end subsidized retiree health care in the future. Higher costs, higher deductibles, and total confusion. This will have a negative impact on our economic future as we enter our retirement years."

Small business owner Terrence Wolfe from Humble says: "Defund ObamaCare before we collapse our entire economy. We cannot afford it as a Nation, and I cannot afford it as a small business owner. I cover 80 percent of the premium for all 10 of my employees. All of us are bracing for at least a 20 percent to 40 percent increase."

Shannon Rudd from Humble, Texas, says: "I cannot believe ObamaCare is still a reality. The government has no business managing health care insurance. Furthermore, they have no right to tell Americans if they can or cannot have a procedure performed once the insurance is forced on individuals. Forcing people to pay a fine if they choose not to have health care is asinine and the furthest thing from democracy."

Unfortunately, Shannon is wrong about it being a fine. It is not a criminal penalty; it is a tax. If it were a fine, you could have due process, you would be presumed innocent, your day in court, your jury trial, but under a tax, you have to pay the tax first and then fight the IRS to try to get it back. Good luck with that.

Sharon Coyle from Spring, Texas, says: "Now what? We may get the delay in ObamaCare mandate after all because of the cluster it has turned out to be, but what about those of us who have insurance through our employers? My gold level of my insurance no longer allows me to participate in the flex spending account. I ultimately ended up having to go to a lower plan because it was cost-prohibited. My deductible is higher and now my copays are higher. I will be paying at least $2,000 to $3,000 more per year on top of the $7,200 I already pay. We were told it is because of ObamaCare. This is a big dupe to America. Obama wanted everything to be more fair. Sure, we all have insurance now, but no one can afford to go to the doctor."

Well said, Sharon.

Robert Arnold from Humble, Texas, says this: "It is incomprehensible that we put men on the Moon in 1969, but we can't get into a $400 million website to purchase insurance."

Yes, those glitches seem to be a real problem.

Kenneth Earl Beeney from Kingwood, Texas, says: "Now when I look at what is available with OBCare, the plan that is closest to ours is going to cost $745 a month. This is absurd. It does not look like we will be able to keep our current policy, so we are being forced to pay $400 per month for coverage and the deductible will be $12,000. I really like my current policy and the premium fits our budget. What can be done?"

This is bad news for the middle class.

Merin Porter from Houston, Texas, says: "I am the sole breadwinner for a family of five. I am eligible for affordable insurance through my employer; however, my family coverage is prohibitively expensive--$18,000 per year, or more than 30 percent of my take-home pay. As you can imagine, it is only affordable to us if food, shelter, and clothing were a luxury and not a necessity."

Merin should not have to choose between feeding the family and being forced into ObamaCare. Why has the government done this to the people? As Billie says and said it best, "I thought the government was for the people.'' Well, apparently not.

And that's just the way it is.