Fox News's left of center contributor Kirsten Powers went on a bit of a mini-rant about ObamaCare on Tuesday's Special Report that media members across the fruited plain she sit up and take notice.
"I have talked about how I am losing my health insurance," she said. "If I want to keep the same health insurance, it's going to cost twice as much. There's nothing substandard about my plan... All of the things they say that are not in my plan are in my plan, all of the things they have listed. There's no explanation for the doubling of my premiums other than the fact that it's subsidizing other people" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What is not, I think, an effective fix is one that as envisioned on the Hill by some legislation that would simply tell insurers that they can sell substandard plans to anybody who might purchase them, because that would cause more problems and create more problems and do more harm than any good it would do for individuals in this market broadly speaking. That applies to the Upton legislation broadly speaking, that we do not see that as fixing the problem, we see that as throwing the, you know, baby out with the bathwater.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, HOST: How about that?
KIRSTEN POWERS, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK POST": I say, my blood pressure goes up every time they say that they're protecting us from substandard health insurance plans, because there is nothing to support what they're saying. I have talked about how I am losing my health insurance. I'm having, if I want to keep the same health insurance, it's going to cost twice as much. There's nothing substandard about my plan. All of the things they say that are not in my plan are in my plan, all of the things they have listed. There's no explanation for the doubling of my premiums other than the fact that it's subsidizing other people.
They need to be honest about that, that that's the reason they don't want to change it. It's because they're basically taking the people who are responsible enough to get health insurance in the individual market and asking them to subsidize other people. So they're taking young healthy people and asking them to subsidize other people. I don't think that's going to last, frankly. I think they're trying to buy time until they think they're going to reach this next deadline. And I don't think they're going to reach it, and when they don't reach it...
BAIER: This is November 30th?
POWERS: Yes. When they don't reach it, I think there is going to be an absolute -- I mean, if, you have now not just senators who are up for re-election calling, you know, for this to be fixed. So I think they're going -- they're going to have to respond to that.
A bit later:
BAIER: The newest polls out from Quinnipiac, job approval rating it has taken a hit for President Obama. It's at its lowest in this poll at 39 percent approval, disapprove 54 percent. Is President Obama honest and trustworthy? That has flipped in a month. Now yes 44 percent, no 52 percent, as you can see the flip from October. And finally, will the website be fixed by November 30th? To your point, Kirsten, not a lot of people think it will be.
POWERS: Yes. It could be. Who knows? But they have bigger problems than that. They have bigger problems than fixing the Web site. They have bigger problems such as the fact nobody believes anything they say anymore.
And so, and even the idea that they think that 50-year-olds should have maternity care is very concerning to me. You know, people are being forced to pay for things that they will not use. It is not for them to tell people -- I don't need to be told I need to have mental health coverage. If I wanted it, I would have gotten it. You know, and I think that people are getting a little fed up, even Democrats, with this stuff.
For the record, Powers is 44 and is therefore precisely the demographic ObamaCare specifically targets to do exactly what she bravely claimed on air Tuesday: force people to pay for things they don't want or need in order to subsidize insurance for those that are either poorer, older, or less healthy.
Maybe folks on MSNBC and others parroting Democratic talking points about "substandard plans" should take heed.
But don't hold your breath.
Brava, Kirsten. Brava!
