Originally Posted By ecdc That's exactly my point. There's very little that's "simple" about the ACA. Just try explaining to someone why the individual mandate is essential to the entire law's success. After 30 seconds they'll just stare blankly and start to drool. And it's not like the ACA was everyone's favorite legislation until the cancellation notices started coming. The problem isn't "Obama lied, messaging screwed." The problem is Americans like overly-simplistic explanations and nonstop good news (any major legislation will have some negative impact on someone, somewhere) or everything's a disaster.
Originally Posted By hopemax >Anyone who had existing insurance at the time the ACA policies became available (not when the law was passed) would be grandfathered in< Except then the narrative would be how the Government was forcing private business to do something (in this case maintain insurance policies) and how that's a violation of free market principles (how dare you say we can't eliminate this group of policies that no longer work in this new insurance model). No doubt insurance companies, on their own, would want to eliminate some policies with the new requirements of what must be covered. Some old policies would become unprofitable, but if they were forced to keep offering them...hellfire of a different type would rain down.
Originally Posted By Ivan55 That obamacare is a farce and it is to complicated and it makes so many people mad. america was better if we just did a universal care like japanese and English where thers public care for all and we are all taxed to pay it. it is time for congress to takeover health care, leave our guns be and build our armies stronger. I like tea people because i am one of them but they are wrong about keeping $$$ ALL $$$ americans healthy
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "america was better if we just did a universal care like japanese and English where thers public care for all and we are all taxed to pay it." See, we actually can agree on something.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I also about feinted when I saw that I agreed with Ivan on something. Right now we have the WORST POSSIBLE situation. We have retained the existing bloated and inefficient health care/insurance industry while adding a whole layer of government bureaucracy on top of it. No wonder it looks like a nightmare so far. Single payer would have been FAR better.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Yeah, and when he gets sick he’ll find out how crappy it really is.<< Not really, those folks protect their markets and the job bases behind them. They are Protectionist with a capital P.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>This gets at the heart of RT's point, methinks. To pick on fkurucz again, the "Koch Brothers are out to get you" thing, true or not, is a left-wing construct. << Funny, being that I used to be staunch Republican, until I finally figured out that they don't give a damn about me or my family, and only cater to millionaires and billionaires. I can assure you that neither Bill Maher nor any "leftists" had to persuade me.
Originally Posted By fkurucz Oops .. wrong quote in #46. It should be: "Because you can sell goods and services to Chinese, South Korean and eventually Indian people just as well too" Sorry for the confusion.
Originally Posted By Ivan55 i just dont get how the greatest country in the world allows its people to go unprotected and untreated with doctors, hospitals and drugs. This obama care is a world wide joke and we would of been far better off if this law never happened. UNIVERSITAL CARE is what we need now not this ruining joke of a ACA. we all should pay the tax and make it public like japanes and swisszerland. Take the profit out of our drugs and health And this is not good for ilegals because it sets a bad predicement 4 the futue
Originally Posted By ecdc Two things: 1) A new poll shows that 1/4th of likely American voters believe Barack Obama is running for a third term. Tell me more about how facts can reach people? 26% believe Muslims are trying to institute Sharia law in the U.S. Yup.... 2) Jonathan Cohn has an excellent piece about how the coverage of middle-class Americans losing their healthcare plans is basically media classism, since they aren't bothering to tell the story of millions of lower-class Americans who are gaining insurance for the first time. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115542/obamacare-plan-cancellations-medicaid-expansion-and-media">http://www.newrepublic.com/art...nd-media</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I've been saying that for a while now. The whole coverage ever since the shutdown was ended has been either about the website or about the people on the individual market who think they're getting shafted. Of course, many of the people who THINK they're getting shafted actually aren't (two of those three Hannity couples would actually save money through the ACA, Salon found out, and the LA Times has done similar work on people who were screaming bloody murder but who actually didn't even bother to check on their alternatives.) Also, many people who have gotten letters saying their insurance is cancelled have gotten intentionally misleading letters from their insurance companies, strongly implying that their only alternative was a particular policy from THAT company into which they're trying to steer the policy holder. So people see the letter and say "holy crap! My premium is going up $200 a month. Thanks a lot, Obamacare." But in reality they have many more options than just that policy (or just that company) and in many cases will save money and get better coverage too. Now in some cases, some folks on the individual market will have to pay more and even though that almost certainly means they'll be getting more, they still resent losing the policy they had. But several things about that: 1). The individual market as a whole is only 4-5% of Americans. The slice that would actually have to pay more and is unhappy about that AND has investigated their other options and is still unhappy about that is a fairly small percentage even of that small slice. Not that it will never happen - no law this big is going to be great for everybody - but it's all we're hearing about. "Local man outraged that Obamacare will cost him more" gets headlines, and airtime. "Local man finds that Obamacare will save his family money, is quietly satisfied" does not. 2). We're also not hearing about the millions of Americans who will now be covered under Medicaid for the first time. That alone will dwarf the numbers who will be unsatisfied on the individual market. I think that ultimately, even on the individual market, the numbers who will be happy about it will dwarf the numbers who will be unhappy. That remains to be seen. But certainly, taking Medicaid expansion into effect, the numbers being helped are impressive. But that NEVER gets reported, that I've seen.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<But that NEVER gets reported, that I've seen.>> That's because reporting those facts won't do anything to help drive viewers to CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc. The media today needs EVERYTHING to be an issue, so they only focus on the things that are causing controversy - and they keep focusing on them until another story comes up. It's the same controversy over and over again. You would think that with 24 hours of time to fill up in a day, the media could cover a much broader range of stories, but that's just not what happens. If you actually watch all of the news shows on a normal night, they all focus on the same three or four "issues of the day" - and talk about them all night long. Each show covers the same stuff, just from a different angle.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "i just dont get how the greatest country in the world allows its people to go unprotected and untreated with doctors, hospitals and drugs. This obama care is a world wide joke and we would of been far better off if this law never happened." Blame Congress. Obama wanted single payer healthcare but settled on what we have now knowing that Congress would balk at anything more. The fact that all Americans will soon have health coverage is in itself something of a miracle.
Originally Posted By ecdc Today we learn that in America, paying a little more for a better insurance policy is a tragedy; not being able to actually buy affordable insurance is a punchline. Klassy.
