Safety net | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    There was an interesting AP generated article in the Tampa Tribune on Mother's Day (5/11/14). It was headlined "Pregnant women gain new options".

    We are told that the new health care law (never mentioning ObamaCare by name) opened up some new opportunities for mothers to be to save on medical bills related to giving birth.

    One thing in the article, that really got my attention was that "Medicare already pays for nearly half of U.S. births. The new ObamaCare benefit adds another dimension to the safety-net program." Good grief!! That's an outrage - but it's another subject for another day..

    Do you suppose the AP knows the difference between Medicare and Medicaid??

    It seems to me that we have already provided a "safety-net" for any woman in the U.S. who wants to use it. That would be the mandate that birth control (including the so called "morning after pills") be made available at taxpayer expense through ObamaCare.

    So what's going on? First we are asked (required) to pick up the tab for all manner of birth control and then we are asked (forced again) to cover the costs of child bearing for those who apparently didn't even bother to take advantage of the birth control benefits provided (including "morning after" polls).. (The provision of funding for "rearing" is already ensconced in our tax laws - i.e. extra dependent exemption, child tax credit, and a whole lot more financial "incentives" for "making babies" - regardless of marital status and in the absence of the identification of a father who should be picking up the tab for raising these children.

    And now you should see the difference between "fool proof" (birth control products) and "idiot proof" (adding a second level of "protection" - i.e. paying for the birth).That sounds a lot like implementing a so called "safety net" to back up a "safety net". Indeed, it seems to be a perfect example of fool proof and idiot proof.

    AP reports, "... this enhanced coverage will be available across the country, whether or not a state expands Medicaid under the health law."

    Interestingly, the AP further reports; "The main roadblock right now seems to be logistical; reprogramming state and federal computer systems to process the new benefit." Where is Kathleen Sebelius when you need her?? If not Kathleen, how about another of the FLOTUS' college chums who either owns - or is fronting for - a software company. Surely the FLOTUS has not run out of college chums who are fronting software companies?? Hmmm...

    The strategy of implementing the good stuff now and holding off until much later the bad stuff like forcing businesses to swallow the huge cost increases associated with implementing ObamaCare is but another example of the Reps getting "snookered". This is the type of strategy that is going to make it impossible to do much about the excesses of ObamaCare if and when the Reps ever take back government. Guess how long it will take for the "good stuff" being implemented to be institutionalized into our thinking (well, some of us at least). Once that happens, the likelihood of being able to roll it back is somewhere between zero and zero.

    When the "bad stuff" (paying the piper) comes along later (after the Anointed One leaves office - assuming he doesn't cancel the twenty second Amendment with an Executive Order and get elected again), the "good stuff will be so firmly entrenched into our life there will be no turning back. In case you were wondering, the "bad stuff" includes all those things that the Anointed One had been delaying - like, for instance, forcing business to start covering all their employees with the so called "high quality" policies and paying into the ObamaCare piggy bank. There's more...

    D'ya Think??