Walter Patterson Herald ColumnistWhen it comes to implementing Obamacare, Mississippi finds itself, like many states, between a rock and a hard place.  Obamacare will have far-reaching effects on our healthcare delivery system, some of which we don’t know and can’t anticipate.  Like all federal legislation, you can bet the farm that Obamacare is loaded with a covey of “unintended consequences.”
There is a reason why this law was opposed by so many of us who knew what the Democrat Party was doing.  The Democrat Party’s sole mission is to create dependency.  
That’s right.  The more people dependent on the federal government, the more power the Democrat Party has.  Obamacare is just the culmination of years and years of work by the socialists to control the population.  If a party can control the population through legislation, that political party will be in power forever – or until they destroy the country.
Those of you who read this column already know that I opposed Obamacare from the very first because I realized what was happening in Washington.  Remember, the Democrats took control of one-sixth of the economy of the United States when they voted to approve Obamacare.  They did it without a single Republican vote.
Do you believe that Republicans want to prevent sick people from getting the healthcare they need?
Do Republicans stand at the hospital door turning away “granny” who is in need of a hip replacement?  Republicans are the only ones who thus far have tried to use common sense and create a healthcare system that is financially sound.  
In other words, when you or I get sick and go to the doctor for treatment, the doctor will bill our insurance for his services and know that the insurance company has the money in the bank to pay him. In the case of Medicare, the doctor needs to know that the check he receives from “Uncle Sam” is good.  Today, all of us are beginning to question “Uncle Sam’s” business practices and his ability to pay.  How much more spending can the federal government do before the economy crashes?  I don’t have an answer, but with the national debt at $16.6 trillion and rising, my guess is that it will be unable to spend a great deal more.  Obamacare will only add to the amount of debt this country has amassed.
In August, 640,427 individuals received Medicaid in Mississippi.  Once Obamacare goes into effect, another 270,000 people will be added to the rolls.  How can Mississippi add that many people to the Medicaid rolls without adding a sufficient number of doctors? There is already a doctor shortage.  It doesn’t make sense.  A Medicaid recipient may have great insurance coverage, yet there is no one available to deliver treatment.  Over 30,000,000 individuals will be added nationwide, yet we have no new doctors available to treat them.  Does the word “chaos” come to mind?
Last week, two thoughtful people wrote opinion pieces on this very subject, Mike Chaney and Cecil Brown.  Chaney is the Republican Commissioner of Insurance and Brown a Democrat serving in the Mississippi House of Representatives.  In his op-ed, Chaney stated, “The bottom line is simply this – if we do not implement and operate a state-based health insurance exchange by January 1, 2014, the federal government will implement and operate one for us and we will forever give the keys to health insurance in our state to Washington.”
Chaney went on to say, “I hold to this belief and am doing everything I can to ensure that Mississippi’s exchange is a free-market, consumer-oriented exchange.”
Cecil Brown attacked the problem from another angle.  The benefits he sees from Obamacare is a more vibrant economy, more money going to the University Hospital, and many local hospitals able to stay financially solvent. He states, “The expansion will immediately create 4000 jobs at no net cost to the state and, by 2017, a total of 9000.”
But Mr. Brown’s important line is this: “The federal share of the cost is funded by a series of new taxes that are part of Obamacaare and will be imposed whether Mississippi participates in the expansion or not.”
Both of these gentlemen wrote convincing articles trying to deal with the reality of Obamacare.  Both are trying to make a bad situation better.  I hope that both of them are proven to be correct.  
But as an old experienced government watcher, I predict today for the entire world to see that you are not going to like Obamacare.  Neither will the treasury.