One of the scariest of many scary things to come out of the Obama administration is the recent threat of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to shut insurance companies out from the health insurance exchanges if they say certain negative things about Obamacare. What the insurance companies were doing was unconscionable in her view.
Here’s what happened. Some insurance companies have been raising premiums, and they have been saying that increases have been necessary because of the increased costs imposed by Obamacare. Here’s what she wrote on September 9 in a letter to Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans:
“There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases.” And further: “We will also keep track of insurers with a record of unjustified rate increases: those plans may be excluded from health insurance Exchanges in 2014. We will also keep track of insurers with a record of unjustified rate increases: those plans may be excluded from health insurance Exchanges in 2014. Simply stated, we will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections.” (Click here to read the full text of the letter.)
Think this through, people. We thought we lived in a free country where we had freedom of speech. But the creeping soft tyranny is now starting to bloom, and we are seeing Hugo Chavez tactics right here in the good old U S of A. Criticizing the government is called misinformation, and our government will hurt you if you speak up.
The scary thing is that this isn’t the first time she has been throwing her weight around to get the health care industry in line with government propaganda. She similarly threatened one insurance company during the debate over the proposed law when it sent a letter to its policyholders criticizing the proposed law.
And what is particularly offensive about this latest threat is that Madam Secretary, back in March, in another letter to insurance company CEOs, insisted that they make public their justifications for any rate increases. So, in effect, she is squeezing them to play along with her. They have to give their reasons for rate increases, but it can’t be the government’s fault.
Wake up, people. Today it’s the insurance companies. If they can tell the insurance companies to shut up, they can tell you and me to shut up.
