Surprise ... Hide the Children -- There's a Flaw in Health Care Reform

It took a while to find it, but ... sit tight ... hide the children ... put down your drink ... there is a costly glitch in health care reform (PPACA, if you prefer). It's hard to believe that it could happen in a law that was so carefully read by each member of Congress before they gave it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, but buried in the 2700+ pages, there is a provision that would allow retirees to ignore their income from Social Security in determining their eligibility for Medicaid.

In English, this means that as currently written (and remember it is the law), PPACA is a whole lot more expensive than the projections and forecasts have said it is.

How could that happen? The Republican Party has been informing me ad nauseam that they are flawless. Not to be outdone, the Democrat Party has assured me that the Republicans are mistaken, and the Democrats are flawless.

Oops, you mean neither one is flawless? Could it be that, in fact, they have no idea what they vote on? No! Hide the children even better. This is truly alarming.

At first, the White House responded by saying that this provision was always intended. Then, when they heard the cost, they admitted their might be a mistake. President Obama has assured us that this will be fixed.

Wait! We have a flustercluck here.

This can't be fixed by Executive Order. It will take a vote. Could this be one where one party will choose to hold the other party hostage? I can see it now. In the House (Republican controlled, by the way), a bill will be introduced to fix this provision ... by repealing PPACA. And, in the Senate (Democrat controlled), a bill will be introduced to fix this provision.

I believe that both need some education. There is a wonderful book out there that all of our elected representatives who engage in such foolhardiness should read. My kids were familiar with it when they were quite young. It was written by a wonderful author with the birth name of Theodore LeSieg. Some of you may know him by a different name, but in either case, check out the "Butter Battle Book." It makes far more sense than much of what goes on at Capitol Hill.