by Jim Beers
With
all of the winds currently buffeting rural America from government
wolves and state governments becoming federal contractors for federal
intrusions to federal land and water controls; a new wrinkle has been
added. When federal politicians talk about “redistributing wealth”, who
knew one of the “redistribution” vehicles for rural wealth would be
federal health legislation? Not me.
Minnesota
is a state that apparently seldom questions government growth of any
sort, so it is not surprising that we formed one of the first state
health care exchanges called MNsure as the federal Obamacare legislation
rolls forward. A recent newspaper article explains the expected
differences in cost for Minnesotans divided into 9 “regions”.
Under
the MNsure rules and charges, the Twin Cities to St. Cloud corridor
(our most urban and most populous region) will be charged a monthly
premium of $634 for a family of four. All other (rural Minnesota)
regions will be charged $668, $704, $742, $816, $854, and $1,200
respectively. These very significant differences are mysteriously
credited to nonsense like “people might be sicker in some regions”,
“doctors in some regions might opt for treatments that are more or less
expensive” and “differences in the prices that different health care
providers get paid for performing the same service”.
Dismissing
all the associated smoke and mirrors; rural Minnesotans, and most
likely all rural Americans as Obamacare becomes the only game in town,
are embarking on a massive transfer of wealth to urban precincts in
their state. This is yet another result of this Red/Blue – Rural/Urban
voting shift in our country. Federal schemes from wolves to healthcare
are at base thinly veiled political pandering for votes in concentrated
urban precincts. Giving them more and more government services and the
granting of their imaginary environmental dreams in rural precincts
(despite the harms to farmers, ranchers, hunters, dog owners, parents,
and rural economies) are what keep federal politicians and their parties
in power.
Recognizing
what is happening and why it is happening is the first step. The
second step is seeing what must be done. The third step is doing it
despite the names they call you and the accusations they hurl at you.
Freedom is never cheap and rights must always be protected. Rural
Americans have been in the crosshairs long enough. Transferring wealth
for health is right up there with destroying a village to save it.
Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, and Refuge Manager and is available to speak or for consulting jimbeers7@comcast.net
Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, and Refuge Manager and is available to speak or for consulting jimbeers7@comcast.net
1 comment:
Just another example of the "divide & conquer" strategy our administration uses to increase their power.
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