GraniteGrok

Updated and bumped:

This bill will reduce the cost of health insurance because it focuses on prevention of catastrophic diseases." 

I'm not picking on Bob Clegg here.  What I do wish is that when any politician says the above and it is made into law, that there is always a clause that says the law must demonstrate this assertion to be true.  And if not, the law is retired.

How often are laws passed, touted as it will save us money, and in reality, turn itself into a compost heap?  At least this isn't the Big Dig.....

(H/T: NH Insider)

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Yeah, the Teflon Gov wimps out again!

And don't forget - this will raise taxes, as the healthcare premiums of our government workers are going to go up too.  Thanks Gov!  A double whammy.

And he just keeps on smiling....

So much for our elected leaders and politicians protecting our wallets.  Once again, we see politicians making decisions (or NOT) that affect our families just because they know better than us and can tell us what we need to be paying for.

What should have been done, if it was that so dang important, is to have gotten a bunch of private donors to create a private, charitable fund that could have reached out to those that needed this surgery.  The donors would have gotten their "feel good" jolt, the recipients would have received something, and the taxpayers would have been thankfully left alone.

Why is it when somebody yells "We're all in this together!!", I see dollars involuntarily slipping out of my wallet....

From the Union Leader:

GOV. JOHN LYNCH knows he should have vetoed Sen. Bob Clegg's bariatric surgery bill. He understands that health insurance mandates raise the cost of health insurance. That's why he has said he opposes them. And yet he let Clegg's mandate bill become law anyway.

Granite Staters should not be surprised that Lynch ducked yet another tough issue. That's how he has maintained such high approval ratings. It's pretty easy to be popular when you never make a decision that could offend others.

However, Granite Staters should be offended by this one. Clegg's bill requires that any health insurer doing business in New Hampshire cover weight-loss surgery, which can cost $10,000 or more. Clegg claims that the surgery saves insurers money in the long run. Maybe that's so, but insurers pay people big bucks to figure those things out, and they have concluded otherwise.

And besides, that isn't the issue. The issue is whether the state should pass laws forcing insurers to offer whatever services legislators -- for political reasons -- would prefer they offer. Lynch knows that the answer is no. He has acknowledged that mandates mean insurers cannot offer people low-cost plans that fit their individual needs. Mandates compel everyone to buy insurance that covers, say, weight loss surgery, even if they know they will never need that service.

He knew he should have vetoed this bill. But he didn't. He let it become law without his signature. That was a copout. The people should be upset that the governor knowingly let a bad bill that will raise their health insurance rates become law. They should be doubly upset that he did it the cowardly way, hoping to dodge responsibility for it.