ObamaCare:  Costs and a Way Out

Nestmann covers some good points regarding Obamacare.  I figure anybody reviewing the literature on that law is courageous.  Here he reviews the costs to him personally and what the source of those costs are as well a way out from underneath Obamacare if you prefer to seek healthcare in your own way and with your own provider.

ONE REASON WHY OBAMACARE IS MORE EXPENSIVE:
"One big reason health insurance has become so expensive is that not enough young and healthy people have signed up for Obamacare. That saddles older folks with higher premiums – even though proponents claimed this wouldn’t be a problem. Sound familiar?"

Okay, so not enough younger folks are signing up for Obamacare.  That is good.  But the political good means a personal cost to those whose healthcare comes under the mandates of Obamacare.

Nestmann continues:
". . . my monthly health insurance premium recently increased by 25%. And my agent predicts that at the end of 2014 my premium will double." 

Obamacare is pricey.

And restrictive:
"Can’t you just purchase a high-deductible insurance policy and pay for medical care out of my pocket like I used to? Nope. The high-deductible policy I used to have is no longer Obamacare compliant. And it’s a big no-no to have a non-compliant policy. If you have a very low income, you’re looking at a $95 fine. Otherwise, you get penalized 1% of your taxable income. That penalty increases to 2% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016."

This is why Obamacare is law--to take more of the taxpayers' money.  So, Obamacare is pricey.  It's restrictive.  And it's absurd:

"Another reason Obamacare policies cost more is that they must provide a mandated set of benefits – some of them surprising. I just received a letter from my insurance carrier informing me that I was now covered for reconstructive surgery after mastectomy (breast removal). That’s great, but mastectomy is performed only in the event of breast cancer –and 99% of the victims are female."

A WAY OUT
Nestmann concludes that there is a way to exempt yourself from Obamacare: 
"There is, of course, one solution available by which you can not only opt out of Obamacare, but also out of US tax, health care, and other laws . . . permanently. That solution is expatriation – giving up your US citizenship and passport.

Yes, it’s a radical step – one that you shouldn’t take without a great deal of advance preparation and, yes, soul-searching. But it’s the only way to permanently sever your obligations to your Big Brother in Washington, DC."

So, there is a way to exempt oneself from Obamacare if you're so moved.  But you will have to move and surrender your citizenship.  So, next year when someone asks, "Oh, where is that accent from, you'll be saying, 'Southern Italy.'"

FOOD LABELING
I found a terrific article tonight about what the food labeling terms really mean.  Foods that we think are not GMO are, in fact, GMO foods.  Foods labeled as organic, ah, not so much.  So the labeling is itself an industry that serves manufacturers.  Companies can call their food "organic" and charge more.  It has always been a marketing ploy.  And nothing else.  But I want to highlight a few statements on meat labeling that I found shocking. 

Here's one. 
"Hormone-free: This means something with beef, but is nothing but a marketing ploy when you see it on poultry or pork, as the USDA does not allow the use of hormones with those animals.  Hormone-free does not mean antibiotic-free."

Here's another.
"Antibiotic-free: Because of poor and stressful living conditions, factory-farmed animals are very susceptible to illness.  Antibiotic-free means they were not prophylactically treated with antibiotics. This does not, however, mean that the animal is hormone-free."

A third.
"Grass-fed: Grass-fed cows are allowed some access to the outdoors and are not fed grains or corn.  This does NOT mean they are organic, because the grass they are grazing on may have been chemically fertilized and sprayed.  Unless you have actually seen them roaming around the farm, keep in mind their access to the outdoors may not be the lovely rolling pastures that you have in your mind, but a crowded corral with hundreds of other cows."

These comments sound like anti-meat arguments, for they certainly turn me off from beef, Tyson and Foster Farms chicken, and others. 

And I don't know about you, but I have put a lot of faith and meaning in the term "Free-range," but according to the article that label means nothing.  "Free-range: This label doesn’t mean diddly squat.  It means that the animal is allowed a minimum of an hour a day outside.  This could mean that they are crammed into an open area with a billion other chickens, still, without room to move, or that their cage is put outside, leaving them still tightly confined. Like the grass-fed cows above, unless you actually see the farm with the gallivanting chickens or pigs, take the label “free-range” with a grain of salt."

PACKAGED FOODS: IT'S NOT GOOD.
"Nearly every packaged food on the shelf is seasoned with MSG in one of its many names, and many lower calorie foods and diet drinks are sweetened with aspartame.  Both of these are excitotoxins that cause brain cell death instantly, causing decreased IQs, headaches, depression, and seizures."

"The length of the ingredients list in your food is often a direct indicator of the unhealthiness of the item. When an item contains a host of additives, colors, flavors, and preservatives, you can safely bet that most of the nutrients are gone."

FRUITS & VEGETABLES
"If organic produce is not an option, look for the items with the lowest pesticide loads.  (This list by the Environmental Working Group is based ONLY on pesticide loads – some of the items they recommend could be GMOs).  Fruits and vegetables that can be peeled often subject you to less pesticides than thin-skinned items. If you must buy conventional, wash the produce carefully and peel it if possible.  Look to these stand-bys:"

• Apples (peeled)  [I eat these]
• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Cabbage  [I eat this]
• Cantaloupe
• Eggplant
• Grapefruit  [I eat these]
• Kiwi  [I eat these and love these]
• Mangoes
• Mushrooms
• Onions  [I eat onions with meat]
• Oranges
• Pineapples  [Love pineapple]
• Rutabagas
• Sweet Peas
• Sweet Potatoes  [I eat these frequently during winter]
• Turnips

DAIRY PRODUCTS
"Conventional dairy products are absolutely loaded with hormones.  Dairy cattle are given high levels of female hormones to make them produce a greater quantity of milk. This makes little boys develop female characteristics and makes little girls hit puberty at a far younger age than normal, which is the reason you see 4th graders with large breasts and hips.  These hormones can also trigger obesity in both genders.  Because of the public outcry, some dairies have pledged not to use rBST, the most commonly used of the growth hormones.  Do your research to discover if there are any such brands available to you.  The Lucerne brand from Safeway is guaranteed to be hormone free. (It’s interesting to note that Monsanto, the company that pushes rBST, wants the FDA to disallow dairies to put this on their labels, and that the FDA forces those who label their products rBST-free to also put the following disclaimer on the containers: “No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows.” (source). 

I had thought that this problem was resolved.  I have paid too much attention to the pro-protein diets, like the Zone Diet and the Weston Price Foundation.  The one complaint that I've heard and read about dairy is that the milk proteins are hard to digest for most people.  That it's not just lactose intolerance that develops, but a host of other digestive ailments.  Oh, boy! 

Mushrooms

Here are the nutritional details on the 8 mushrooms you see below: 
1.  Portobello  

2.  Oyster

3.  Maitake

4.  Shiitake

5.  Crimino

6.  White Button

7.  Chanterelle

8.  Porcino

Apparently, Chaga Mushrooms (pictured above) produce the greatest immune benefit, which according to the article linked herein contains "a special substance known as superoxide dismutase (SOD)."  SOD is an enzyme that halts oxidation.  

Reishi or Lingzhi Mushroom

CORDYCEPS

Cordyceps is a fungus that lives on certain caterpillars in the high mountain regions of China. Supplement makers are able to get enough of the product to sell because cordyceps will reproduce in the laboratory.

 

Cordyceps is used to treat coughs, chronic bronchitis, respiratory disorders, kidney disorders, night-time urination, male sexual problems, anemia, irregular heartbeat, high cholesterol, liver disorders, dizziness, weakness, ringing in the ears, unwanted weight loss, and opium addiction.  

It is also used for strengthening the immune system, improving athletic performance, reducing the effects of aging, promoting longer life, and improving liver function in people with hepatitis B.

Some people use cordyceps as a stimulant, a tonic, and an “adaptogen,” which is used to increase energy, enhance stamina, and reduce fatigue.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Cordyceps might improve immunity by stimulating cells and specific chemicals in the immune system. It may also have activity against cancer cells and may shrink tumor size, particularly with lung or skin cancers.

Read here about their powerful immune enhancing abilities.

Read here about how mushrooms cripple viruses.

Find more evidence of antiviral effects here.

Mushrooms tackle cancer.  Shrinks tumors 75%!!! Note this fact:

Standardized beta-glucan extracts (MDF and maitake D-Fraction) show particular promise for their anti-cancer benefits and ease of use. Extracts, whole maitake powder, or a combination have been shown effective for many health issues. 

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/coldsandflu/a/flu_mushrooms.htm

Vitamin D3 and So Much More with Sunlight

Great article on sunlight as being one of the essential vitamins you need for optimum health.  Through sunlight, you get much more than Vitamin D or D3.

Find yours today.

Sunlight

This one may throw some of you off, but sunlight possesses both energy and information with real, metabolic value and is, therefore, a source of usable energy for the body – and so, in a very real sense it can be considered a form of food that we consume through our skin by way of its built-in, melanin-based "solar panels." Not only does adequate sunlight exposure result in the production of vitamin D, a hormone-like substance that regulates over 2,000 genes in the human body--and as a result prevents or ameliorates hundreds of vitamin D deficiency-associated health conditions--but sunlight exposure itself has a unique set of health benefits not reducible to simply vitamin D production alone. One of the more interesting studies performed on sunlight exposure, based on data gathered from over 100 countries and published earlier this year in the journal Anticancer Research, showed that there was "a strong inverse correlation with solar UVB for 15 types of cancer," with weaker, though still significant evidence for the protective role of sunlight in 9 other cancers. Here are some additional benefits of sunlight exposure: 
Alzheimer's Disease
Depression
Dopamine Deficiency 
Dermatitis 
Influenza 
Multiple Sclerosis 
Psoriasis 

Top Ten Reasons It Makes Sense Not to Enroll in Obamacare
By Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D., of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

The entire article is here.

1) The Obamacare health insurance policies cost significantly more – likely more than the penalty (tax). Most people can expect to see their premiums double.

2) The Obamacare health-insurance policies limit your choice of doctors.

3) The Obamacare health-insurance policies limit your choice of hospitals. For example, several major state-of-the-art, internationally known cancer treatment centers are excluded.

4) Your out-of-pocket costs will skyrocket, with the new Obamacare health-insurance policies doubling and tripling the deductibles you must pay before coverage will kick in.

5) Your medical privacy is lost when you enroll, and your medical information becomes controlled by government agencies.

6) Your personal financial and health information may be seriously compromised by the security flaws in the Healthcare.gov website.

7) You are at risk of identity theft by providing your personal information to the “Obamacare navigators,” a significant number of whom have been found to have criminal backgrounds.

8) Enrolling in the Obamacare health exchange may lead to compromises of your Second Amendment rights, as medical databases collect information on gun ownership.

9) Obamacare enrollees are finding it difficult or impossible to cancel their plan if they find a better option.

10) Obamacare policies are basically “managed care” with limitations on your options – and financial incentives for your doctor to restrict your care.

(h/t Robert Wenzel)

Okay, so the above list consists of 10 good reasons to opt out, but what of the penalties?  Is it worth it, penalty-wise and financially, to opt out?  You can avoid the penalties by filing for exemptions.  The HHS offers 14 exemptions. Claim yours here.  Dr. Gary North had the skinny on these exemptions.  See his comments below.

14 Loopholes: How to Opt Out of ObamaCare Legally
Gary North--March 18, 2014

The Democrats in the Senate see what's coming in November. They pressured the Obama administration to get them off the hook for ObamaCare. HHS complied--sort of.

The HHS created an opt-out form. It exempts 14 categories of people from the obligation of paying the fine. One category is this: your policy was canceled, but you cannot find a low-cost alternative. You don't have to prove this.

Then HHS buried the exemption form. It is hard to find.

The Wall Street Journal found out about this form. It called the public's attention to the existence of this form, but it did not post its URL.

A contact of mine found it. I am posting it here, where it cannot be buried even deeper.

http://garynorth.com/Obamacare-Exemptions.pdf

The Obama administration is playing games. It is playing games with Senate Democrats: "We complied. Now you're off the hook, sort of." It plays games with the public: "We're giving you an escape hatch, if you can find it. Lots of luck!"

No one will be satisfied with this, come November. ObamaCare is the concrete blocks around the Democrats' feet. They know it. The Democrats' defeat last week in the special election in Florida was the warning bell. The Republican ran a poor campaign, but he won. He hammered the Democrat on ObamaCare.

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times wrote this.

Brown jumping in was just one blast of bad news for Democrats. They also lost a special election last Tuesday in Florida by a hair, a defeat David Plouffe called "a screaming siren." Alex Sink, a promising candidate, sank after she could not overcome the blast of ads linking her to President Barack Obama and his health care law.

Republicans had been so worried about losing the Florida election that they prematurely trashed their own candidate, a former lobbyist named David Jolly, telling Politico that his campaign was a Keystone Kops operation.

The law is a political disaster for the Democrats at this point. They have until November to reverse the voters' perception of the law.

Obama's solution so far is to offer delays on implementation. But if the Democrats lose the Senate in November, Obama will be under tremendous pressure to keep delaying implementation, for the sake of the 2016 election.

Meanwhile, people who were sent policy-rejection notices, but who don't know about the exemption, will be looking for revenge in November.