Lie of the Year: “If You Like Your Current Plan, You Can Keep It.”

Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst accusing President Barack Obama of lying continues to be prophetic.

Via email from human resources at work:

Starting Jan. 1, 2011, you will no longer be able to use your Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay for over the counter (OTC) medications at a pharmacy, supermarket or other retail store without a prescription.

Examples of OTC items that will require a prescription for HSA debit card purchases as of Jan. 1, 2011:

• Acid controllers
• Acne medicine
• Aids for indigestion
• Allergy and sinus medicine
• Anti-diarrhea medicine
• Baby rash ointment
• Cold and flu medicine
• Eye drops
• Feminine anti-fungal or anti-itch products
• Hemorrhoid treatment
• Laxatives or stool softeners
• Lice treatments
• Motion sickness medicines
• Nasal sprays or drops
• Ointments for cuts, burns or rashes
• Pain relievers, such as aspirin or ibuprofen
• Sleep aids
• Stomach remedies

Examples of OTC items that may continue to be purchased without a prescription:

• Bandages
• Birth control
• Braces and supports
• Catheters
• Contact lens solution and supplies
• Crutches
• Denture cleaners and adhesives
• Diagnostic tests and monitors (such as blood glucose monitors)
• Elastic bandages and wraps
• First-aid supplies
• Insulin
• Ostomy products
• Reading glasses
• Walkers, wheelchairs and canes

So basically, although I chose to work at a place that offered me a benefit (a tax-free health savings account, coupled with a high-deductible insurance plan) that makes me a more direct stakeholder in my own health care, and a more responsible consumer of care-related goods and services, ObamaCare rules are now forcing me to see (and pay) a doctor to obtain a prescription for some of my most commonly consumed items (on a monthly basis) if I want to use my employer-based tax-free HSA to purchase them: Rolaids, Neosporin, and Advil. My HSA will cover the costs of these extra doctor visits as far as I know, but that’s not okay with me: by forcing me to spend HSA dollars on extra visits to the doctor, my overall savings become more rapidly depleted. As a result, the number of choices I can make related to my well-being drops drastically as resources must now be allocated for things I wouldn’t have otherwise spent them on. Thanks, ObamaCare!

I can’t really make heads or tails of what benefit this particular provision of policy brings about to society at large. This doesn’t lower the cost of anything, and doesn’t even increase tax revenues to the federal government on a benefit that’s still tax-free. It’s just categorically a colossal pain in the rear end, and will be so every time I need to re-stock my Tums supply.

A lot of doctors weren’t and aren’t supportive of ObamaCare, and I was curious as to why the American Medical Association and several nursing groups eventually backed the legislation. That’s a little bit more clear now, since these new rules seem to be a boon to the medical service/care provider profession.

Quid pro quo, President Obama.

I guess technically the President is right: I haven’t lost either my HSA or my high deductible plan. But I sure have lost a lot of freedom and choice related to my health, and nobody here is better off but doctors and nurses.

Afterthought

It struck me a moment ago that liberals tend to scream when a product like a state lottery or some other policy proposal amounts to a “tax on the poor.” I live pretty comfortably because I’m a frugal guy, but I don’t make a lot of money. I’m above the poverty line, but below the national median. I don’t see how forcing someone in the middle class like me to spend extra HSA dollars, and to potentially cut into other revenues outside the HSA for health care goods and services, is a good reform for the middle class.

I would love to be corrected on this, so please–light up the comments if you’re a liberal with a clue as to how this is supposed to help me. If you don’t have a good answer, can I count on your support in the fight to repeal ObamaCare?