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Beating Obamacare: Your Handbook for Surviving the New Health Care Law
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been a political football for years now, but as its provisions start going into effect, there’s still precious little information available on how it will impact you, your family, and your pocketbook. This 2,572 page document, nearly unreadable, will change your health care, your family budget, and innumerable aspects of your life.
But what does this law actually say?
Surviving Obamacare by Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D. is the straightforward, practical guide to navigating Obamacare that every individual and family needs to own. This guide will tell you exactly what to expect, what’s changing,, and how much it will cost you and your family.
In Surviving Obamacare, Dr. McCaughey unravels:
The Obamacare Law timeline: find out when each provision of the law goes into effect, so you won’t be caught by surprise
The Obamacare �winners” and �losers:” who gets a free ride, and who has to pay more, so you can make sure you protect your money and get the best quality of care
The most controversial part of this new law—The Individual Mandate: what does it mean for the individual patient? How will it change your care?
The new health insurance exchange landscape: how to find the best deal available
The expansion of Medicaid and downsizing of Medicare: ensure your future care or the care of your elderly loved ones
The twenty new taxes/tax hikes that will affect you: don’t let them sneak up on your family budget
And much more…
Intimidated by the legal jargon? Not to worry, this guide comes fully equipped with the �Obamacare Glossary” in the back!
Surviving Obamacare is the essential consumer guide to understanding and preparing for one of the biggest changes about to take over Americans’ health care and family budgets.
But what does this law actually say?
Surviving Obamacare by Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D. is the straightforward, practical guide to navigating Obamacare that every individual and family needs to own. This guide will tell you exactly what to expect, what’s changing,, and how much it will cost you and your family.
In Surviving Obamacare, Dr. McCaughey unravels:
The Obamacare Law timeline: find out when each provision of the law goes into effect, so you won’t be caught by surprise
The Obamacare �winners” and �losers:” who gets a free ride, and who has to pay more, so you can make sure you protect your money and get the best quality of care
The most controversial part of this new law—The Individual Mandate: what does it mean for the individual patient? How will it change your care?
The new health insurance exchange landscape: how to find the best deal available
The expansion of Medicaid and downsizing of Medicare: ensure your future care or the care of your elderly loved ones
The twenty new taxes/tax hikes that will affect you: don’t let them sneak up on your family budget
And much more…
Intimidated by the legal jargon? Not to worry, this guide comes fully equipped with the �Obamacare Glossary” in the back!
Surviving Obamacare is the essential consumer guide to understanding and preparing for one of the biggest changes about to take over Americans’ health care and family budgets.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2013
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46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 30, 2013
Let me start with a full disclosure. I detest Obamacare. I think it's one of the most destructive pieces of legislation in American history, passed by means underhanded and dishonest even by today's political standards, and blatantly unconstitutional to boot--despite the twisted logic of the Supreme Court that ruled to the contrary.
McCaughey is clearly opposed to the law, too, but there is little editorial tone in this book overall--it's merely meant to be informative and bring clarity to the effects of a bill that was virtually unread before its passage, yet which cumbersomely reorganizes a huge portion of the American economy.
The book very simply and straightforwardly presents and discusses the many layers of implications contained in the Affordable Care Act. Written for the layman with little expertise in healthcare policy or the workings of insurance, McCaughey demonstrates the full consequences of an awful law passed in the pursuit of (mostly) admirable goals ( such as insuring the uninsurable): Robbing Peter to pay Paul (raiding Medicare in order to pay for half of the expansion of Medicaid to millions of previously uninsured people); significant increases in premiums for private insurance even as HHS regulation squeezes "savings" out of hospitals in the form of lower reimbursements for Medicare/Medicaid services; a decline in care quality across the board as hospitals perform services for more patients with fewer staff and less pay; troubling invasions of personal privacy, since doctors across all fields will have access to their patients' full medical records; the multiple consequences of the one-size-fits-all policy requirements imposed by Obamacare; the impact on labor costs for employers who have to provide coverage for their employees; significant threats to religious freedom imposed by the coverage mandates; the regulatory waivers granted (arguably illegally) by the Obama administration to politically favored recipients; list goes on and on for 150 pages.
McCaughey even provides a brief template at the end for her preferred alternative to Obamacare. She has clearly read the bill closely and is well-versed on the huge impact it is having and the havoc it will continue to wreak. Again, while it paints to rosy picture, the book is 99% non-ideological, and is a great resource for a quick understanding of an incredibly important piece of legislation.
McCaughey is clearly opposed to the law, too, but there is little editorial tone in this book overall--it's merely meant to be informative and bring clarity to the effects of a bill that was virtually unread before its passage, yet which cumbersomely reorganizes a huge portion of the American economy.
The book very simply and straightforwardly presents and discusses the many layers of implications contained in the Affordable Care Act. Written for the layman with little expertise in healthcare policy or the workings of insurance, McCaughey demonstrates the full consequences of an awful law passed in the pursuit of (mostly) admirable goals ( such as insuring the uninsurable): Robbing Peter to pay Paul (raiding Medicare in order to pay for half of the expansion of Medicaid to millions of previously uninsured people); significant increases in premiums for private insurance even as HHS regulation squeezes "savings" out of hospitals in the form of lower reimbursements for Medicare/Medicaid services; a decline in care quality across the board as hospitals perform services for more patients with fewer staff and less pay; troubling invasions of personal privacy, since doctors across all fields will have access to their patients' full medical records; the multiple consequences of the one-size-fits-all policy requirements imposed by Obamacare; the impact on labor costs for employers who have to provide coverage for their employees; significant threats to religious freedom imposed by the coverage mandates; the regulatory waivers granted (arguably illegally) by the Obama administration to politically favored recipients; list goes on and on for 150 pages.
McCaughey even provides a brief template at the end for her preferred alternative to Obamacare. She has clearly read the bill closely and is well-versed on the huge impact it is having and the havoc it will continue to wreak. Again, while it paints to rosy picture, the book is 99% non-ideological, and is a great resource for a quick understanding of an incredibly important piece of legislation.
October 9, 2013
While I admit that I come down on the side that while Health Care reform is a noble cause, the 2500+ page law that was pushed through congress by a fully democratic senate and house and president will ultimately be seen for the failure that it represents. I was hoping this book would be more than a "Rah Rah Rah" to the conservatives that are upset with this law. Unfortuately, that is what it came across to me as. Yes, it explained the law in more plain english that you would get if you readt it, but most of the information I had heard from news reports over the years since it's inception. I was looking for more ways I can deal with the changes being imposed and how to prevent harm to my own financial well-being, if any. Not much was in there about that, in my opinion. I like Betsy's simiplified reform she offers at the end of the book, but am saddened as that will probably never come to pass as things like that, or the fair tax, for example, make too much sense, and thus will never come to pass.
April 9, 2013
It read more to me like a political diatribe than an objective guide. Stuff like how we were all "bamboozled" into Obamacare and all of its dire consequences. The book should have been titled "Why I Think The New Health Care Law Should Be Repealed".
Clearly the author doesn't like Obamacare and thinks it tramples all over people's privacy, freedom of religion or whatever. I get it. But what I wanted was simply an easy-to-read guide that would help me with my tax planning and see how it would affect my current insurance and Health Savings Plan as a self employed individual. There was maybe a paragraph or two in the whole book that was helpful to me. The rest was devoted to telling regular wage earners and baby boomers dark tales of all the bad things that are surely going to happen. I could just read political web sites if I wanted that.
Clearly the author doesn't like Obamacare and thinks it tramples all over people's privacy, freedom of religion or whatever. I get it. But what I wanted was simply an easy-to-read guide that would help me with my tax planning and see how it would affect my current insurance and Health Savings Plan as a self employed individual. There was maybe a paragraph or two in the whole book that was helpful to me. The rest was devoted to telling regular wage earners and baby boomers dark tales of all the bad things that are surely going to happen. I could just read political web sites if I wanted that.
March 22, 2013
I highly recommend that you NOT read this book. If you must, please educate yourself about the author. Just google her. Here are some gems:
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/spot...
http://factcheck.org/tag/betsy-mccaug...
The writing is sophomoric; the author makes claims that she makes no effort to prove.
Horrible, horrible book.
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/08/spot...
http://factcheck.org/tag/betsy-mccaug...
The writing is sophomoric; the author makes claims that she makes no effort to prove.
Horrible, horrible book.
February 26, 2013
Not so much about "surviving" obamacare as it is a rant on why obamacare sucks. Inflammatory, but not helpful.
January 26, 2014
A decent summary of ACA and its effects in the industry. She makes some weak arguments in the book, such as doctors are going broke and will quit, which is complete hokum. When she sticks to what the law dictates, the book is useful. I'm afraid the book does not live up to its title, however.
The author hasn't a clue on how to improve the health care industry in the US (other than perhaps repealing ACA). If you want insight on how it will have to happen, I highly recommend Catastrophic Care by David Goldhill.
If reading a different book doesn't work for you, I can sum up the biggest way to lower costs in the US in a single sentence: Get everyone to pay cash out of their own pocket. Do that one thing and you've cured perhaps half the problem. This will be the only way to "beat Obamacare" - opt out of insurance, risk it, save your money, use your savings for medical tourism or find an outfit such as Surgery Center of Oklahoma. If enough people opt out, the insurance system will collapse; and collapse is the only way out of the quagmire. This wouldn't be a complete solution, mind you.
Unfortunately, I learned in reading this book, that ACA enacted restrictions to FSAs - which were the closest thing to an actual solution currently in use. I was also surprised by the new nutritional labeling requirement. Sadly, nutritional labeling itself is usually inadequate for the discerning eater; check-out Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss if you want more information on the food industry and its grasp on your venal politicians. Finally, I learned that ACA taxes tanning services to help fund the beast. Well, if that's not like trying to extinguish the sun with a water drop, then I don't know what is.
The author hasn't a clue on how to improve the health care industry in the US (other than perhaps repealing ACA). If you want insight on how it will have to happen, I highly recommend Catastrophic Care by David Goldhill.
If reading a different book doesn't work for you, I can sum up the biggest way to lower costs in the US in a single sentence: Get everyone to pay cash out of their own pocket. Do that one thing and you've cured perhaps half the problem. This will be the only way to "beat Obamacare" - opt out of insurance, risk it, save your money, use your savings for medical tourism or find an outfit such as Surgery Center of Oklahoma. If enough people opt out, the insurance system will collapse; and collapse is the only way out of the quagmire. This wouldn't be a complete solution, mind you.
Unfortunately, I learned in reading this book, that ACA enacted restrictions to FSAs - which were the closest thing to an actual solution currently in use. I was also surprised by the new nutritional labeling requirement. Sadly, nutritional labeling itself is usually inadequate for the discerning eater; check-out Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss if you want more information on the food industry and its grasp on your venal politicians. Finally, I learned that ACA taxes tanning services to help fund the beast. Well, if that's not like trying to extinguish the sun with a water drop, then I don't know what is.
August 19, 2013
This evisceration of the so-called "Affordable Care Act" and the most common justifications for it struck me as sadly necessary but woefully incomplete. Betsy McCaughey is not a controversialist in the Ann Coulter mode; she's an expert who actually read all 2,572 pages of this misbegotten law.
McCaughey points out that it contains 20 new taxes or tax hikes, that it expands Medicaid in unsustainable ways, that it penalizes doctors and senior citizens, that it was sold to the public on the basis of falsehoods about skyrocketing medical costs, and that effective health care reform would reduce the government's share of health care costs rather than reducing the nation's overall standard of care (as this law will inevitably do).
What even McCaughey could not have foreseeen is how many illegal exemptions and "do overs" the Obama Administration has given itself with respect to the law's implementation (see, for example this August 18 news story from Forbes).
My biggest criticism of this unnerving but important book is that it seems mistitled, because it's more about "coping" with Obamacare than beating it. Workable alternatives to the monstrous law are discussed only in a short Afterword. That said, the book is an easy read and a valuable resource.
McCaughey points out that it contains 20 new taxes or tax hikes, that it expands Medicaid in unsustainable ways, that it penalizes doctors and senior citizens, that it was sold to the public on the basis of falsehoods about skyrocketing medical costs, and that effective health care reform would reduce the government's share of health care costs rather than reducing the nation's overall standard of care (as this law will inevitably do).
What even McCaughey could not have foreseeen is how many illegal exemptions and "do overs" the Obama Administration has given itself with respect to the law's implementation (see, for example this August 18 news story from Forbes).
My biggest criticism of this unnerving but important book is that it seems mistitled, because it's more about "coping" with Obamacare than beating it. Workable alternatives to the monstrous law are discussed only in a short Afterword. That said, the book is an easy read and a valuable resource.
March 16, 2013
Beating Obamacare, Betsy McCaughey. McCaughey is allegedly well versed on Obamacare. Doubtless she knows more about it than I do. It is difficult to summarize 2600 pages of Obamaspeak in some 160 pages. I guess she has done an acceptable job in her summary. If she has correctly summarized the new healthcare law, I think most of us are going to see a downgrade in our healthcare. While Obamacare cane debated, it seems there is no debate that it will cost more for all of us and that all of our healthcare will not be as good as it used to be. My understanding is that we all will have equal health insurance. It will all be equally bad. But the title of the book is actually a misnomer. She calls her book, Beating Obamacare, and if her conclusions are correct, there is no 'beating" Obamacare. It will swallow all of us up and there is no escape if she is right.
April 25, 2017
As this program continues to quickly change, some things in the book are no longer up to date. But this is a must-read! Explains what the currently delayed employer mandate means for business and individuals (increased costs and regulation combined with lost opportunities for business; lower pay and less access to jobs and privacy for individuals) the crucial changes that are mandated for doctors and hospitals that will change how medicine is practiced (Not for the benefit of the patient. Ever.), and the loss of choice and privacy impacting every person that goes far beyond the web-site security issues recently disclosed.
March 20, 2013
This is a simplified view of some of the biggest shortcomings of the Obamacare. This lady is clearly a fierce enemy of the system and she thinks that it will bring the world as we know it to an end, and she might be right, but the system is already in place and we will have to bite the bullet. All of us will have less money, maybe eat less quality food, or have less expensive cars, cell phones, laptops, t.v. sets, etc. but, you know what? why don't give that a chance? Why if by living a less expensive life we find a new happier way into this messy world? I'm just saying...
December 9, 2013
Dr. McCaughey lists the ObamaCare 'Winners' and 'Losers', but doesn't list herself as a 'Winner', even though she is selling this short paperback for $14.95. Thankfully, I read the entire book in one sitting at Barnes & Noble. There is nothing here that you don't find in most articles about the Affordable Care Act, though her book seems to push the concern that half of the cost of the ACA is being taken from Medicare.
April 28, 2013
I read this 150 page book instead of investing months of my life in reading the 2,500+ page healthcare bill. Although not all of the changes described will apply to my situation, this book provides a good summary of what Americans can expect as the Affordable Healthcare Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) is implemented. Brace yourself for sweeping change.
April 16, 2013
If you a looking for a bipartisan look at Obamacare do not read this book. While the author does present some well-researched facts, it seems like every paragraph criticizes the new law. The book might be better titled Criticizing Obamacare because there is very little advice offered on how to 'beat' the law.
October 28, 2013
Very good! Every American needs to read this book! I am keeping this book just to keep it so I can study up on things I may have missed, even though I have went over it a few times, but still do not think I covered everything I still need to know.
July 1, 2013
This was a fairly short book that I had hoped would help us with the new changes in Healthcare law that are coming out. Unfortunately, this book was mostly about extolling all the things that are wrong with the new law. Very repetitive and of little practical help.
July 6, 2013
I don't like the subject and the author repeats information but it does explain the basics of the new health plan in our country. And yes, it scares the crap out of me, the future is not so bright.
168 pages
168 pages
March 14, 2013
Easy to read with large print and few pages. Summarizes what to expect, which also makes it hard to read.
August 9, 2016
I was very disappointed. The book explained the 2,572-page Obamacare law, but how in the world is anyone supposed to survive the law? I'm curious if Beating Obamacare 2014 will answer my questions.
March 27, 2013
God, please help us!
April 25, 2013
Easy read - simple straight forward synopsis of Obamacare. I enjoyed it.
July 28, 2013
quite helpful translation of the lengthy not-so Affordable Healthcare Act (particularly he glossary section) but definitely not a survival guide
July 22, 2013
Definitely biased book, but helpful.
September 4, 2013
Interesting take on the new law. I am reading several others ad I procured the copy of the actual law to take a look at it, I just love legal docs (not).
March 20, 2014
Teaches alot
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews