A sad story crossed the news wires the other day. It told of the frustration of many Americans who had mistakenly believed that ObamaCare socialized medicine legislation would rapidly solve any problems they had with getting medical care.
The article said doctors’ offices, insurance companies and other agencies or individuals who provide or pay for care have been flooded with hopeful calls from people wondering what they must do to get all their new “benefits.”
“They’re saying, ‘Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?'” Carrie McLean, an agent for a California company that sells coverage from 185 insurers nationwide, told McClatchy Newspapers.
It was quite a letdown to them to learn once ObamaCare passed that it will be neither “free” nor instantaneous.
“We tell them it’s not free, that there are going to be things in place that help people who are low-income, but that ultimately most of that is not going to be taking place until 2014,” Ms. McLean said.
Officials are expecting a fresh wave of requests for prompt ObamaCare coverage when federal subsidies for insurance coverage for the newly unemployed end in May.
But coming much sooner than the main benefits of ObamaCare are tax increases to pay for those far-off benefits.
With all that the administration and Democrats in Congress have promised about ObamaCare, it is not surprising that many Americans are frustrated to discover there are no benefits without costs. It will be even sadder when they see how the law makes it harder to get care in a timely manner, or even to find a doctor.
That is the harm that our president and Congress have wrought.