The Mainstream Media Moves From Cheerleading To Lowering Expectations For Obamacare

29 Mar, 2010 by John Hawkins

Print this article Font size -16+

Isn’t it amazing how quickly things can change in the mainstream media? When the Democrats were still trying to sell Obamacare, they were telling the American people it:  is perfect in every way. It would reduce premiums, create jobs, slice down the deficit, cut medical costs without cutting the quality of care, etc., etc., etc. There simply were no downsides – and for the most part, the mainstream media went right along with them and acted as a propaganda arm for the Democratic Party. It was pixies, unicorns, and faery dust all the way around.

But now that the legislation has passed and all the foolish people who believed the lies are destined to be disappointed, more of the truth is starting to : dribble out. After all, now that the bill has passed, it’s safer to let people down easy about how badly they were taken. And the stories? Wow, there are a bunch of them and after each one, your first reaction will probably be: why wasn’t the mainstream media talking about this BEFORE the bill passed instead cheerleading for the bill?

From the Associated Press:

Better beat the crowd and find a doctor.

Primary care physicians already are in short supply in parts of the country, and the landmark health overhaul that will bring them millions more newly insured patients in the next few years promises extra strain.
The new law goes beyond offering coverage to the uninsured, with steps to improve the quality of care for the average person and help keep us well instead of today’s seek-care-after-you’re-sick culture. To benefit, you’ll need a regular health provider.

From the New York Times:

Coverage Now for Sick Children? Check Fine Print

Just days after President Obama signed the new health care law, insurance companies are already arguing that, at least for now, they do not have to provide one of the benefits that the president calls a centerpiece of the law: coverage for certain children with pre-existing conditions.

Mr. Obama, speaking at a health care rally in northern Virginia on March 19, said, “Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.”

Here’s Hot Air’s take on another Associated Press story about a new Obamacare regulation: Forcing restaurants with 20 or more locations to post a calorie count on their food.

Davanni’s, a local pizzeria-sandwich restaurant with 22 locations around the Twin Cities, will now have to comply with this mandate. A caller to my Saturday show (who wished to remain anonymous) told my radio partner Mitch Berg during a commercial break that it will cost Davanni’s approximately $200,000 to comply with the new mandate – just to start. Every menu change will require Davanni’s to have the new or modified items re-analyzed, which means that Davanni’s will probably resist adding new options for their customers. Meanwhile, larger chains with more economy of scale for such efforts such as Pizza Hut can do the tests once for all of their locations, keeping their prices lower for their customers – which they already do, thanks to consumer demand for the information.

Under those circumstances, will Davanni’s feel compelled to keep the extra three locations open, or to scale back to 19 to avoid the mandate? Even if they do keep all of their locations, that $200,000 will now get spent on something other than new jobs for teenagers and adults, and customers will pay higher prices for their food. Local and regional chains with 15-19 locations have a big economic disincentive to expand any further. I don’t know much about Davanni’s bottom line, but I’m pretty sure that even though they make some of the best pizza and hoagies in the area, they don’t have $200,000 lying around the pizza sauce to blow on lab analyses this year, or any other.

This is a fundamentally anti-growth policy – and in service of what? A federal mandate to treat adults like children, as though someone buying a pizza might be under the delusion that they’re ordering health food.

From Reuters:

AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Friday it would record a $1 billion non-cash charge for the current quarter related to the new U.S. health care reform law, as lawmakers called on the company and three other large employers to testify about expected cost hikes.

AT&T’s charge appeared to be the largest in a series of charges announced by U.S. companies this week.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee said on Friday it will call on the chief executives of AT&T, Caterpillar (CAT.N), Verizon (VZ.N) and Deere (DE.N) to testify on April 21 about how the reform might adversely affect their ability to provide health insurance.

If we don’t stop this bill, what you’re reading is the future of health care in America, folks. A never ending stream of bad news being released in dribs-and-drabs to an increasingly unhappy and cynical public.