Ezekiel Emanuel: If You Like Your Doctor You Can Pay More to Keep Him

Ezekiel Emanuel: If You Like Your Doctor You Can Pay More to Keep Him

by John Sexton 9 Dec 2013, 11:26 AM PDT

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/12/09/Ezekiel-Emanuel-If-You-Like-Your-Doctor-You-Can-Pay-More-to-Keep-Him

Sunday morning Ezekiel Emanuel appeared on Fox News Sunday and had an enlightening exchange with Chris Wallace about one of the President's signature Obamacare promises.

Wallace pressed Emanuel on the President's promised that "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor." Eventually, Emanuel responded "If you want to pay more for an insurance company that covers your doctor, you can do that."

While it is strictly true that President Obama never said you could keep your doctor at the same cost, most Americans would probably be surprised to learn that he left out this critical bit of information. But that is the only conclusion one can draw from Emanuel's statement, i.e. the President was aware of what was coming and chose to mislead the country rather than inform them.

As health insurance expert Bob Laszewki pointed out last month, the move toward smaller provider networks was entirely predictable under the design of the law.

Under Obamacare, insurers can no longer offer a wide variety of health insurance products in the individual health market––a good thing when it gets rid of the worst of the health plans out there but not such a good thing when it gets rid of the many policies people could choose and have liked and are now mad about losing. Now, all health plans have to fit into four strict boxes: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. And, these boxes can only differ by out-of-pocket costs––not benefits.

So, if a health plan can no longer vary its benefit choices, how can it distinguish itself on price?

A big variable therefore becomes the provider network.

Sure enough, insurers are now excluding doctors and even entire hospitals from their network as a way to lower prices. All of this was predictable and yet the President failed to mention this rather significant caveat to his promise.

One way to summarize Emanuel's claim would be this: The President's promise wasn't a lie because it was a carefully crafted attempt to mislead the public. It's hard to believe this kind of Clintonian parsing is going to help the President on questions of honesty and trustworthiness.

Ezekiel Emanuel

Ezekiel Emanuel was the health care policy adviser for the Barack Obama administration, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and is Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother.

Note: Melody C. Barnes was a domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, the EVP for the Center for American Progress, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Committee for Economic Development, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was a supporter for the Center for American Progress, and is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Barbara G. Fast a VP for the CGI Group Inc, and a VP at the Boeing Company.

W. James McNerney Jr. is the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory

http://commercialclubchicago.org/members/e.html

Please note: This link for the members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.

Rahm I. Emanuel is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, Ezekiel Emanuel’s brother, the Chicago (IL) mayor, and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company.

Madelyn Payne Dunham was an aircraft inspector for the Boeing Company, and Barack Obama’s maternal grandmother.

Kenneth M. Duberstein is a director at the Boeing Company, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and was a VP for the Committee for Economic Development.

Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Barbara G. Fast a VP for the CGI Group Inc, and a VP at the Boeing Company.