DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: There are 2 sides to every story – somewhere deep in the quagmire lies the truth

Has anyone noticed how information is being uncovered at breakneck speed in a variety of areas these days.

Of course, there are two sides to every story and somewhere deep in the quagmire there is a truth, if you are up for digging.

Not surprisingly, when I ask people questions about all the information being uncovered, those who only watch mainstream media don’t have the time to research or who blatantly don’t want to, have no clue what’s going on other than the mainstream narrative marching orders.

Let’s look at healthcare in the United States, because even before the government shutdown and it being brought into the spotlight it was getting out of control.

It seems a lot of people start by pointing to Obamacare’s big fail.

That’s part of it, but otherwise could we dig a little deeper and suggest, “The healthcare company lobbyists and PACS pay politicians for more healthcare subsidies and incentives to benefit those companies versus benefitting the American people.”

Regarding Obamacare, Chris Briggs, a communications consultant recently testified before a Senate committee challenging Democrats on Obamacare subsidies asking, “If no harm has ever come to anybody under Obamacare, and it’s such a great plan, why are you all not on it.”

Can you say mic drop really loud.

Crickets, silence, not surprising.

On the Chris Salcedo show, he discussed how Obamacare has failed Americans saying it gives insurance companies more money and leaves Americans with expensive plans that aren’t to their benefit.

According to the AMA and PhysiciansPractice.com, before Obamacare was forced on Americans in 2012 60% of physicians were in private practice, after 12 years in 2024 only 42% were still in private practice. It was suggested the decline reflected the shape of the healthcare system with many physicians moving to larger and impersonal entities since Obamacare was designed to enrich health insurance not the private physician outside the “network.”

Salcedo also pointed out that while there has been some conversation about the rate of uninsured dropping by up to 35% since Obamacare was implemented, that doesn’t mean people are able to afford to use their insurance plans. You might be covered but how many plans have never had to pay for a thing because the high-deductible families could not afford, due to it being so expensive. Therefore, the insurance company was out nothing all the while still receiving monthly premiums.

Perhaps it could be said trillions of dollars in taxpayer money has been wasted with Americans ending up with government control over their healthcare to no avail.

While many Americans are all for socialized medicine, I’ve seen my best friend in France dealing with headache after headache due to socialized medicine. In fact, I question if the pro-socialized healthcare fans have any idea about the actuality of it.

If you haven’t seen the House Committee on Rules hearing with chairwoman Virginia Foxx asking Missouri Rep. Jason Smith questions regarding the GOP healthcare plan, it’s worth noting highlights here.

Foxx asked Smith, “What law did Republicans pass that throws 15 million people off their health insurance?

Smith replied, “That is a great question since I have been sitting up here listening to the testimony and it is unacceptable that people are not being honest with the American people.”

He explained when it’s said Republicans have removed the subsidies – that is a complete lie.

He said, “Those subsidies were created solely by Democrats and they chose to make them temporary in the American Rescue Plan and in the Inflation Reduction Act. They set the sunset for the end of this month and you know why, because they spent all their money making permanent environmental tax benefits for their wealthy donors instead of the American people.”

Foxx asked Smith about a comment, “There is only one way for Americans to access affordable health care and that is through a discharge petition that has been introduced. However, Americans have lots of opportunities to access affordable healthcare and this bill will do that as you said for all Americans. What our colleagues are saying is they want to cover only 7% of Americans. Am I understanding that correctly?”

Smith confirmed Foxx had heard correctly, “There are roughly 347 million Americans and there are 24 million roughly on the exchanges and all the conversation you have heard from the other side today is about 7% of the population. The employer-sponsored healthcare alone is 164 million people and their premiums are going up. However, the Democrats are not putting forward any solutions for any premiums. They say they are for PBM reforms, but they are not voting that way.”

He went on to explain about ghost people being counted from the 24 million who Foxx said, “we don’t even believe is 24 million, is that correct?”

“We don’t believe it is 24 million,” Smith said. “It is quite disturbing that close to 12 million people last year never filed one medical claim. You cannot tell me that those 12 million people did not have one medical claim.  These are people automatically enrolled in health insurance on the exchanges and they don’t know they have health insurance and that is why they did not file a claim. They had medical expenses, but guess what? Those insurance companies the Democrats are fighting and pushing for, those major subsidies, the health insurance companies still got their subsidies even if the 12 million people did not get their healthcare coverage.”

And that 12 million was just in 2024.

So, if you are paying for 24 million and 12 million never filed a claim could it be said, Foxx suggested “We are talking about an even smaller group of people the Democrats want to spend a lot of money on?”

Smith confirmed that to be $40 billion a year.

Foxx said in closing it appears the blue side of the aisle want to “Throw money at a problem. Premiums in the individual market have been rising since the Unaffordable Healthcare Act was enacted at 29% since that bill was passed.”

And, while Salcedo blamed the mess on the left, we have all come to know over the years that both sides work together on items relating to making money.  If there is healthcare lobbyist money involved, you can bet blue and red are marching to the beat of that same drum.

In fact, www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary?cycle=All&ind=F09&recipdetail=M&sortorder=U reported that from 1990 to 2024 the top 20 member recipients of money from insurance lobbyists/PACS were these listed below. Do you see anyone you know on this list?

Joe Biden (D): $8,232,278

Mitt Romney (R-UT): $7,774,719

Kamala Harris (D): $6,742,939

Hillary Clinton (D-NY): $5,544,472

Barack Obama (D): $5,525,204

John McCain (R-AZ): $4,177,409

Richard Neal (D-MA): $3,637,976

Mitch McConnell (R-KY): $3,361,725

Charles Schumer (D-NY): 2,998,119

Chris Dodd (D-CT): $2,658,254

John Larson (D-CT): $2,565,589

John Boehner (R-OH): $2,517,784

Paul Ryan (R-WI): $2,516,145

Rob Portman (R-OH): $2,437,029

Tim Scott (R-SC): $2,236,972

Earl Pomeroy (D-ND): $2,178,445

Patrick McHenry (R-NC): $2,172,279

David Perdue (R-GA): $2,149,604

Bernie Sanders (I-VT): $2,138,289

Yes, Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) is still available in 2026 and enrollment ends Jan. 15, 2026, for most states.

There are changes and potentially higher premiums due to the expiration of enhanced subsidies. Shifts in enrollment rules will also be noticeable since the enrollment window is tightening.

That said, you might want to take a deep dive into other insurance options, because as long as there are health insurance lobbyists making sure their companies get more money, the American people are not getting what they deserve.

Many physicians lately have gone the route of no longer taking health insurance.

Instead having patients pay individually through credit or a substantially lower payment than health insurance charges (i.e. deductibles or more).

Look into a direct health care provider www.goodrx.com/insurance/alternative/direct-primary-care charging patients a recurring fee for direct, membership-based access to primary care services, and bypassing traditional insurance for routine visits and often more serious issues too.

Healthcare companies don’t take patients seriously even denying claims to the point of death.

Since you can’t beat them in their game do the next best thing make these companies irrelevant in your game because you don’t need them anymore.

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.