Obama on maximum healthcare prices and minimum wages

Obama favors both a maximum price for healthcare and a minimum wage for labor. The evidence for his favoring a maximum price for healthcare can be found in these two quotes, from pages 707 and 709 of the text of the Senate healthcare bill (the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”) that Obama signed into law, as shown on the Senate Democrats’ website at this link.

Obama signing healthcare bill into law, 2010

“The imposition of sanctions in the form of CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES, which— ‘‘(I) shall be assessed according to standards established in regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; ‘‘(II) shall not exceed $5,000 for each instance of overcharging a covered entity that may have occurred; and ‘‘(III) SHALL APPLY TO ANY MANUFACTURER with an agreement under this section THAT knowingly and intentionally CHARGES a covered entity A PRICE for purchase of a drug THAT EXCEEDS THE MAXIMUM APPLICABLE PRICE under subsection (a)(1).” (Source: Text at Senate website , p. 707 – text unchanged from original source, except to have some parts changed to all-caps for emphasis).

‘‘Each such agreement shall require that the manufacturer furnish the Secretary with reports, on a quarterly basis, of the price for each covered drug subject to the agreement that, according to the manufacturer, represents the MAXIMUM PRICE that covered entities may permissibly be required to pay for the drug (referred to in this section as the ‘CEILING PRICE’), and shall require that the manufacturer offer each covered entity covered drugs for purchase at or below the APPLICABLE CEILING PRICE if such drug is made available to any other purchaser at any price.’’ (Source: Text at Senate website , p. 709, – text unchanged from original source, except to have some parts changed to all-caps for emphasis).

Note the bill requires that civil monetary penalties “shall apply to any manufacturer that knowingly and intentionally charges a covered entity a price for purchase of a drug that exceeds the MAXIMUM APPLICABLE PRICE” in the one quote, and also has maximum permissible prices and “ceiling prices” for drugs in the other quote.

And video proof of Obama’s support for periodic increases to minimum wage can be found at this link, where he says: “I believe that we have to value work once again. It means that we raise the minimum wage, not once every ten years, but all the time.”

So Obama favors both above-equilibrium and below-equilibrium price controls. The country already pays a price in unemployment because of the minimum wage for labor (a portion of our jobless are unemployed because no one can pay them the “guaranteed” wage – some guarantee), and we will soon be paying a price in long lines and waiting lists for our healthcare because of the maximum price for healthcare (stopping many of us from getting healthcare at this “guaranteed” fair price – some guarantee and some fairness).

None of this nonsense would be passed if our education system taught people effectively about supply and demand. But more of this nonsense will be passed if we elect Barack Obama and those like him.

So vote for the free market in 2012. Vote Barack Obama out.

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