Cash Before Seniors, How AARP Sold Itself in Support of ObamaCare

According to a report from Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), it looks as if AARP’s position on ObamaCare was not one based on principle. Instead, it was one based on greed. AARP stood to preserve $1.8 billion in its for-profit insurance business and stood to make another $1 billion if ObamaCare passed. So a non-profit that collects dues from its senior members was obviously more interested in $2.8 billion in profit than in protecting the interests of its membership.

Read more on this issue here.

Drug Companies + ObamaCare = Crony Capitalism

Lost in the debate over ObamaCare and the President’s prescription mandate is the fact that it will actually lead to higher prices for birth control and that the biggest beneficiaries will be the pharmaceutical companies. The losers, of course, will the taxpayers. Avik Roy writes at The Atlantic that: “another big problem with the rule is that it will enrich drug companies at the expense of people who want access to basic contraception.”

He also writes:

“Under the current system, drug companies have an incentive to compete on price. If you have health insurance that covers birth control today, your insurer is likely to charge you a higher co-pay for expensive, “branded” versions of birth control over cheaper, generic ones. If you don’t have health insurance, and you’re buying the Pill directly from the pharmacy at Wal-Mart, you have even more incentive to shop on price.”

“Under the new mandate, this price incentive disappears. Insurers will be required to pay for any and all oral contraceptives, without charging a co-pay, co-insurance, or a deductible. This “first dollar coverage” of oral contraception kills the incentive to shop based on price.”

It stands to reason that Drug Companies lobbying for ObamaCare equals Crony Capitalism. Read the full article here.