Obamacare Mandate Deadline

The election is over but Obamacare mandates are not. November 16 is the next Obamacare deadline for Georgia citizens. How we deal with this requirement will determine how we pay for health insurance and how much more tax we must pay.

At issue is Medicaid expansion for low income individuals and the infamous health insurance exchange.

Gov. Nathan Deal’s decision will determine whether hundreds of thousands of low-income Georgians get access to health coverage.
To date Deal has said the state can’t afford the expansion long term.
More immediately, state leaders must declare by Nov. 16 whether they will build and operate new online exchanges where consumers and small businesses can shop for affordable insurance or leave it to the federal government. Experts say even if Georgia opts to create its own exchange, there isn’t enough time to get one up and running by the Jan. 1, 2014 deadline.

AJC, "Healthcare decisions loom"

Seems like a perfect time for "You didn't build that".

Why should Georgia citizens pay higher taxes to build an exchange when the federal government will do it for us? Isn't this a lesson learned over the last 4 years? If we can't, or won't do the work all that is necessary is ask the federal government to do it for us.

We don't have to build it. The deep pockets in DC will do it for us.

Suh-weet!

Federal health officials have released thousands of new regulations with more to come, Jackson said.

“It’s a very convoluted process,” he said. “(Small business owners) don’t have the time to follow the thousands of rules and regulations.”

(GSU health policy expert) Custer estimates roughly 900,000 Georgians will shop on the exchange — an online marketplace where individual consumers can shop for health plans and get federal subsidies to make coverage affordable. 

One wonders how many additional tax dollars it will take to make the new 2x - 3x higher Obamacare premiums "affordable".

The law calls for states to expand their Medicaid programs in 2014 to people with incomes of up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or roughly $31,000 for a family of four.

The state estimates an expansion would add 650,000 new enrollees to the program at a cost to the state of $4 billion over 10 years.

We can't afford to fully fund education for our children but we do have money to build sidewalks to nowhere. How can we afford all the additional costs of Obamacare?