How to Protect Yourself From Obamacare

[nathanm]

Obamacare accomplishes nothing in improving mortality rates, health care, nor "health" rankings, it simply re-jiggers the payment mechanism for those that need medical treatment, that's it.

People who don't have health insurance often end up letting health problems get to crisis levels before seeking treatment and have worse outcomes because of it, so yes, it will indeed accomplish something on that front, assuming that more people are in fact covered than before.

[Conan71]

People who don't have health insurance often end up letting health problems get to crisis levels before seeking treatment and have worse outcomes because of it, so yes, it will indeed accomplish something on that front, assuming that more people are in fact covered than before.

At least in my experience, with people I know, having insurance doesn't seem to be much more of an incentive for people to get regular check ups and to see a doctor before something which might have been minor six months or a year earlier becomes a major health crisis.  Some people are afraid of what the doctor will say in either changing their lifestyle or revealing a scary condition.  

Even active, healthy people need to have regular check ups. Many don't because they assume their lifestyle makes them invincible against disease.  I see this attitude quite a bit even in my cycling peer group.  We lost one about six weeks ago.  A 20-plus year cyclist who rode 100-200 miles a week for years dropped dead on the bike while out in Colorado.  Height and weight in check, great job with full benefits including insurance.  Other riders said they noticed a drop in his performance about a year ago, he was getting more winded "and should have known".  Rather than check with the doctor, he assumed it was his advancing years.  

I realize this doesn't happen in every case, but people who have the financial ability to use the health system make  choices not to use it until it's too late.  

I've done annual check ups for as long as I can remember and even did so when I didn't have health insurance and was dead broke.  It's always been a priority to me since I have a father who died when he was 41 and grand parents who had heart issues of one sort or another.  Without that in the back of my mind, I honestly can't say whether or not it would have always been such a priority or not though.

It's a simple fact in this country pro-active healthcare isn't the priority it should be with individuals and it's got precious little to do with who is paying for it.

As far as more people getting coverage, that seems to be a huge "if" at this point.

[nathanm]

You're right, health insurance is not a panacea, but people who have it are much more likely to have a regular doctor and people who have an ongoing relationship with a doctor have better health outcomes. In other words, it makes a difference despite not solving everything.

Why do you think the law won't significantly decrease the number of uninsured?

[carltonplace]

Apparently the traffic at healthcare.org exchange has been brisk today.

[TulsaRufnex]

Not a big fan of KOS, but yeah, this was entertaining...



Dear GOP, here's how you change a law
Tue Oct 01, 2013 at 09:12 AM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/01/1242925/-Dear-GOP-here-s-how-you-change-a-law?detail=facebook#

Us liberals weren't thrilled when it passed. Just relieved. We didn't get anything near what we wanted. After all, we're not in the business of fighting for Heritage Foundation-created ideas championed by the likes of Newt Gingrich and first adopted by Republican governors (the guy you nominated, in fact!). If we couldn't get single payer, we at least wanted a public option—an expansion of Medicare for all. But alas, we went to D.C. with the Congress we had, not the one we wanted. And really, given the dysfunction in D.C., it's amazing we got anything at all.

So now that the law is about to be fully implemented, you're still not happy. You're still shrieking about death panels and communism, and even the death of freedom! Yeah, yeah, we get it. The 42 (or whatever) votes in the House to repeal Obamacare have made it very clear.

But here's the thing: If you want to truly get rid of the law, you have to do it the proper way, as specified in that Constitution you pretend to cherish. Those House votes? Those are a good start! Great job! You're a third of the way there. Because you still have to get that bill passed by the Senate. And then, you have to get the president to sign it. And if the president doesn't sign it, then you have to overturn that veto which requires a two-thirds majority, which you don't have even in the House.

[heironymouspasparagus]

System crashed in nearly every state.
Oklahoma exchange crashed at 7:40 a.m.

Did your company supply the software??

[heironymouspasparagus]

Obamacare does accomplish one major thing. It shifts individual responsibility to a mandate from the government, and creates a new level of entitlement that (as with all entitlement) can only grow until it either collapses of it's own weight or becomes another government weapon to enforce the false belief that people couldn't manage such things on their own.

It is sad that it takes a mandate from the government to push people toward their individual responsibility - getting health insurance, rather than letting the rest of us pay the bill for them.  But somehow, the RWRE doesn't seem to think that this individual responsibility is a good thing.  What's with that??  Oh, wait...those are the same ones who gave a trillion dollars to the pharmaceutical industry here a few years ago under Bush...that's right...I almost forgot.  And they are afraid this will take away the opportunity to repeat that little bit of pillaging anytime soon...

[Townsend]

On Fox news:

Five reasons Americans already love ObamaCare — plus one reason why they're gonna love it even more, soon

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/30/five-reasons-americans-already-love-obamacare-plus-one-reason-why-theyre-gonna/

There's a reason Republicans have been rushing to try and defund the Affordable Care Act before October 1, when major sections of the law take effect. 

Republicans know what polls show — that most Americans don't know what's in ObamaCare, but when told what the law actually includes, a strong majority support the law.

Once state health insurance exchanges take effect, and premiums for all Americans go down, Republicans know the law will only become more popular and harder to repeal. 

As Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "It's a lot harder to undo something than it is to stop it in the first place." 

Exactly. 

Because just like Republicans railed against Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare when they were first proposed, those programs are now highly effective and broadly popular parts of our social safety net — supported even by strong majorities of Republican voters.

So, for those of you who have been too busy criticizing ObamaCare for partisan reasons to actually look at what's in the law — and see what Americans like about it — here is a handy-dandy review:

1.  ACA allows young Americans to stay on their parents' insurance plans

Because of ObamaCare, which allows kids to stay on their parents insurance plans until age 26, 3.4 million young Americans now have coverage. 

The percentage of uninsured young people (ages 19 to 25) fell accordingly, from 48% in 2010 to 21% in 2012.

According to polling, three-in-four Americans support this part of the Affordable Care Act including, yes, over two-thirds of Republicans. 

2.  ACA bans insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions

Another aspect of ObamaCare that has already taken effect is the ban on insurance companies denying coverage to patients based on pre-existing conditions. 

That means an end to insurance company horror stories like four-month-old Alex Lange being denied health insurance because he was too chubby.

This is why the conservative allegation about death panels is so ironic; while the actual ACA law does not contain death panels or anything remotely like them, the fact is that prior to ObamaCare, insurance companies were effectively operating like death panels in denying life-saving coverage to anyone with a pre-existing condition and by applying life-time spending caps on coverage.

The ban on pre-existing condition limits, which will apply to every single American by 2014, is supported by 83% of Americans.

3.  ACA offers tax credits to small businesses to buy insurance

The Affordable Care Act expands tax credits to help small businesses provide health insurance to their workers.  Companies with fewer than 50 employees do not have to provide insurance, but even for these businesses, ObamaCare will make it easier and cheaper if they choose to do so. 

According to polling, 88% of Americans think these small business tax credits are great, including — wait for it ... yes, 83% of Republicans.  That's right, over eight-in-ten Republicans support the provision of ObamaCare that helps small businesses afford and expand their health insurance offerings to employees.

4.  ACA requires companies with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance

Over 96% of companies with more than 50 employees already provide health insurance to their employees.  And contrary to Republicans claiming otherwise, studies show the vast majority of those employers do not plan to drop or reduce that coverage because of ObamaCare. 

Also, there is no evidence that ObamaCare has led to companies slashing full-time workers.  In fact, since ObamaCare passed in March 2010, over 90% of the gain in employment has been full-time positions.

Still, we know that companies that can afford to provide health insurance to their workers and yet fail to do so off-set the costs of care onto the rest of us — whether the cost of emergency room treatment that gets passed on to other consumers, or Medicaid coverage that we pay for as taxpayers. 

In Florida alone, more than 50,000 workers at companies like McDonald's and Burger King are on the state's Medicaid rolls.  Especially with tax credits available to small businesses, there is no excuse for companies to pass the buck.  And 75% of Americanssupport this element of ObamaCare.

5.  ACA provides subsidies to help individuals afford coverage

Many of the 45 million Americans who lack health insurance simply don't have enough money to afford coverage.  ObamaCare will lower the cost of premiums but also provide subsidies to help low- and middle-income Americans purchase insurance.

Americans who earn $45,000 per year (about 400% of the federal poverty level) will qualify for some form of subsidy.  The amount of the subsidy will be based on income as well as the cost of health coverage in a particular state but, for instance, according to a subsidy calculator created by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a 27-year-old living in Houston, Texas, who earns just $15,000 a year could sign-up for a mid-level plan for about $300 per year with the help of subsidies.  Without subsidies, that plan would cost $2,400 per year. 

The few Americans who think subsidizing care is a bad idea should, again, note that we already subsidize health care to a far greater degree in the form of Medicaid and also when the uninsured rely on free emergency room care and pass those astronomical costs on to the rest of us.  But most Americans — 76% to be exact — support the individual subsidy.  That includes 61% of Republicans.

There's even more aspects of ObamaCare that the American people already support — including the employer mandate, the increased Medicare payroll tax on higher-income Americans and the expansion of Medicaid.   

And then, starting October 1, here's one more:

6.  State-based health insurance exchanges

Americans of all political stripes like choice and competition, which is precisely what the ObamaCare health insurance exchanges will create.  So it's no wonder that 80% of Americans — including 72% of Republicans — support the health insurance exchange program in ObamaCare.  And that's even before the exchanges have taken effect! 

Plus, a new report shows that health insurance premiums will be even lower under ObamaCare than originally projected. 

Personally, as someone who pays through the nose for individual insurance in New York State — a state where, historically, few individual insurance options have even been available — I can't wait to enroll in ObamaCare and see my premiums plummet, as they are expected to by at least 50%. 

Again, all this is why Republicans are in such a desperate rush to try and defund ObamaCare before October 1 — even if it means holding our economy hostage and even if most voters, including Republicans, oppose the repeated and wasteful defunding attempts. 

After all, the law is already popular when it's not fully in effect and most people haven't felt its benefits.  We all know what will happen when ObamaCare takes effect — and works!

Republicans who are throwing temper tantrums over sour grapes need to grow up. 

Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, President Obama signed it into law and the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality. 

The cost of doing nothing on health care reform was too great and the cost of repeatedly refighting the political battles of the past is obscene.  But then again, it makes perfect sense why Republicans refuse to just give up and shut up — because the minute they do, there will be no more distractions from all the good things about ObamaCare. 


Sally Kohn is a Fox News contributor and writer.

Weird huh?

[Hoss]

On Fox news:

Five reasons Americans already love ObamaCare — plus one reason why they're gonna love it even more, soon

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/30/five-reasons-americans-already-love-obamacare-plus-one-reason-why-theyre-gonna/

Weird huh?

Ah, she's a FINO... 

[guido911]

I like her. But you DO know who Sally Kohn is; correct?

[Townsend]

I like her. But you DO know who Sally Kohn is; correct?

Sally Kohn is a Fox News contributor and writer.

[Hoss]

Yeah, that much was pretty obvious.  I guess not to some.

[Gaspar]

. . .and now it starts to sink in
http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-world/ci_24248486/obamacares-winners-and-losers-bay-area

"I really don't like the Republican tactics, but at least now I can understand why they are so pissed about this. When you take $10,000 out of my family's pocket each year, that's otherwise disposable income or retirement savings that will not be going into our local economy."

Both Vinson and Waschura have adjusted gross incomes greater than four times the federal poverty level -- the cutoff for a tax credit. And while both said they anticipated their rates would go up, they didn't realize they would rise so much.

"Of course, I want people to have health care," Vinson said. "I just didn't realize I would be the one who was going to pay for it personally."

[Townsend]

. . .and now it starts to sink in

Probably want to read the rest of the article you linked. 

I'm sure your talking points were outlined in the angry conservative blog you found this on.

[Gaspar]

Probably want to read the rest of the article you linked. 

I'm sure your talking points were outlined in the angry conservative blog you found this on.

I did.  There is nothing wrong with more coverage for more people.  That is the idea of any healthcare reform.  The mechanism is what is at fault, and as more and more people realize that, it will be harder and harder to get participation.  The general numbers and messaging that took place to sell the program is not the reality that the majority of participants will encounter.