Submitted by Carl Higbie
In a recent piece, (Khanna condemns healthcare rate increases, Aug 17, 2022) Kim Fiorello’s very liberal opponent made some notable accusations that make me wonder if she slept through Econ 101.
Democrats never met a disingenuous talking point they didn’t love. Like in this case: “Republicans voted against healthcare affordability”. First off, you want to talk about affordability? If you really want to help the little guy, maybe consider getting rid of our sky high sales tax, that is one of the highest in the nation.
Secondly, Kim’s opponent shows a gross misunderstanding on the markets, much like her party did under Obama, where premiums more than doubled with the passage of the “Affordable Care Act”. Republicans, especially Kim Fiorello, didn’t vote against affordability, she voted against things like the 68 new mandates insurers would have to cover that drive prices up for you. She voted against government intrusion and oversight in your healthcare that would ultimately cost us more (as it always does with big liberal spending programs). When a democrat names something that sounds good for you, you can bet that it will actually do the opposite…just like the “Inflation Reduction Act”. It would be comical if it didn’t ultimately cost you more money. If democrats really wanted to “help the little guy” they should drop the 32 million dollar fee insurers have to pay to simply operate in the state of CT, which is then simply passed onto the end user… us!
See Democrats fundamentally don’t understand the free market. Seriously, name me ONE single thing in the last two years, (since Democrats have controlled both chambers of congress and the White house) that have made your life better…or more affordable? Energy? Nope.
Food? Nope. Prescription drugs? Nope. The same goes for CT Democrats, who have held the reins of power for years. How’s that going? Businesses are leaving the state in droves.
Especially insurance companies like Aetna. Harvard Pilgrim is pulling small group plans from the CT market in light of new regulations as well. So spare me the “Democrats are fighting for YOU speech”. Anything they get their hands on is destroyed or leaves the state. This is why our own governor Ned Lamont moved his OWN businesses OUT of Connecticut and down to Tennessee. In her op ed response Fiorello Echoed: “This year, our state dropped to No. 39 in CNBC’s annual Top States for Business rankings. Earning two “F” letter grades for our state economy and cost of living, and a “D” letter grade for cost of doing business.”
What I found actually hilarious in the original op ed from the super lib, Fiorello’s opponent who wrote “Rep. Fiorello has also voted against public school funding, against funding for police and other first responders, and against community grants for her own”. Weird. Because Kim Fiorello was endorsed by the Stamford police. The CT Democrat narrative, that Republicans “Voted against school funding” is another classic Democrat political tactic. Propose a wild and crazy amount of spending for all kinds of special interests, including big money for you pals at the teachers union sprinkle a little in for something universally, and then get Republicans to say “Hey guys, this is a lot of money. Let’s be more fiscally responsible while people are paying 75% more to fill up their cars.” Then Democrats run op-eds saying “Republicans voted against [something good]!” Do they think we actually believe this stuff?
But don’t worry, Fiorello’s opponent wrote a “testimony” saying:
“… I urge the CT insurance Department to reject CIGNA’s requested rate increase.” That’s a private citizen telling a major company, employing thousands, how to run their shop. How about she goes and founds her own company. She would be free to set whatever rates suit her narrative. Then we can all just sit back and see how that business does.
So, are Insurance companies raising record revenue from premiums? Yes. But they are also posting record payouts. You want to know why premiums are really going up? Because Democrats shut down our economy and forced insurers to pay record high costs for Covid related illness, while shutting down basic services like mammograms and other preventative care. This exacerbated many medical problems for people and now insurance companies are on the hook for much higher expenses and invasive, costly procedures. They are earning record profit because there are record liabilities. They need that operating capital, or they could go bankrupt tomorrow. I wonder where the Democrats are on the taxpayer dollars sent to the pharmaceutical industry which created nearly a dozen new Covid vaccine exec billionaires over the last 3 years. You see why I’m hesitant to trust Democrats on anything? You should be skeptical too.