The ObamaCare Mandates Have Only Just Begun

According to Dr. Scott Gottlieb of the American Enterprise Institute, the ObamaCare mandate which orders health insurers to pay for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs, is only the tip of the iceberg. In a Wall Street Journal editorial, Dr. Gottlieb explains that the federal government will continue to issue similar mandates and edicts via the ObamaCare United States Preventive Services Task Force, a single committee that has the power to evaluate preventive health services and decide which will- and will not- be covered by health insurance plans.

The committee already has a letter grading system (“A” through “D”) to rate medical services and prevention screenings. Services rated “A” or “B” must be covered by health insurers in full- with no copayments, or, in the language of President Obama and liberal politicians, “free.” According to Dr. Gottlieb, “A” or “B” rated colon cancer screenings for middle-aged Americans and seniors will be provided “free,” while other tests that are rated “C” or “D,” such as some which screen for ovarian or testicular cancer, would be eliminated entirely.

Because of the high costs associated with “A” and “B” mandated services (turns out they are not “free” after all), many health plans will ultimately drop coverage for the types of screenings and services that get a lower “grade” on the ObamaCare report card.

The Preventive Services Task Force essentially functions as a “czar,” in that it is exempted from the rules that govern other government advisory boards and regulation agencies.

In other words, it operates completely outside the sphere of public scrutiny, i.e., no transparency required whatsoever, no public comments, no consumer appeals, and no lawsuits.

In light of what we are discovering about ObamaCare- that it is not about healthcare whatsoever, but more about government control of our lives- how disturbing the results of the recent Rasmussen poll of likely U.S. voters which found that 52% believe it is more important for the Republican Party to work with President Obama rather than stand and fight for its principles. The same number believe the GOP agenda in Congress is extreme.

How sad for us all that standing up for principles- the principles that are the basis for the greatest nation on earth- is viewed as less desirable than giving in to, and compromising with, a political leader. It will take a great deal of perseverance- and a united front of freedom-loving Americans- to stop this ship in its course and begin to turn it around.