This whole ACA thing seems to be so dependent on the state in which you live, and whether the state decided to stonewall the ACA by refusing to set up health exchanges or expand Medicaid.
Here in CT, our health care exchange website seems to be working pretty well, based on what I've read.
What is pissing me off is the concerted conservative/GOP effort to discourage healthy young people seeking insurance from signing up. The ACA needs younger, lower risk people to sign up to help mitigate the higher risk of folks with pre-existing conditions. It's all about the spread of the pool.
But some people will do anything, and spread any lies, to see the ACA fail, because they hate the president whose name is on it. It's shameful.
Do you like Obamacare?
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
As a retired math teacher, I usually evaluate and make decisions in part by looking at the mathematics of the situation.
Simply put, the mathematics of Obamacare don't, and never will, add up.
When insurance companies need to expand the typical premium holder's coverage to: include no limits on coverage, provide insurance for adult children until they are 26 years old, require benefits that aren't necessary for their age group or sex, and so on, the premiums need to go up. My high school students could have figured that out, but we were told that we would see our premiums go down.
We were also told if we liked our plan, we could keep it; if we liked our doctor, we could keep him or her. This was promised by the promoters who knew it wasn't true.
The crux of the plan rested upon requiring young, healthy, uninsured people to purchase insurance so their less costly plans would subsidize the premiums of older people. But many of those young, healthy, uninsured people are now covered until they are 26 years old under their parent's plan. They would be foolish to sign up for their own insurance. Many of them also don't want health insurance. Their enrollment numbers are way below what was expected and there doesn't seem to be any chance of it turning around. Without their premiums supporting the plan, all rates will necessarily increase even more in the future.
My daughter just told me that her husband's family insurance will go up $240 a month next year, plus their deductible will go from $1200 to $1500 per year. It seems that the only people who are seeing a reduction in their premiums are the people who qualify for subsidies, thanks to the taxpayers. Over 6 million people have had their insurance cancelled and are looking at premiums which are suddenly prohibitive.
This program is a disaster and cannot financially be sustained without putting the government even deeper in debt and seeing premiums skyrocket. The majority of taxpayers didn't want the bill to pass originally, and even fewer want it now that they see its impact.
Gloria
Simply put, the mathematics of Obamacare don't, and never will, add up.
When insurance companies need to expand the typical premium holder's coverage to: include no limits on coverage, provide insurance for adult children until they are 26 years old, require benefits that aren't necessary for their age group or sex, and so on, the premiums need to go up. My high school students could have figured that out, but we were told that we would see our premiums go down.
We were also told if we liked our plan, we could keep it; if we liked our doctor, we could keep him or her. This was promised by the promoters who knew it wasn't true.
The crux of the plan rested upon requiring young, healthy, uninsured people to purchase insurance so their less costly plans would subsidize the premiums of older people. But many of those young, healthy, uninsured people are now covered until they are 26 years old under their parent's plan. They would be foolish to sign up for their own insurance. Many of them also don't want health insurance. Their enrollment numbers are way below what was expected and there doesn't seem to be any chance of it turning around. Without their premiums supporting the plan, all rates will necessarily increase even more in the future.
My daughter just told me that her husband's family insurance will go up $240 a month next year, plus their deductible will go from $1200 to $1500 per year. It seems that the only people who are seeing a reduction in their premiums are the people who qualify for subsidies, thanks to the taxpayers. Over 6 million people have had their insurance cancelled and are looking at premiums which are suddenly prohibitive.
This program is a disaster and cannot financially be sustained without putting the government even deeper in debt and seeing premiums skyrocket. The majority of taxpayers didn't want the bill to pass originally, and even fewer want it now that they see its impact.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
I agree Leah and Lori.
Gloria - Mit Romney made the last election a referendum on the ACA. He lost by a lot of votes. So it seems that a majority of tax payers want it.
In stead of spending MILLIONS voting to repeal it 41 times and shutting down the government, use that energy and money to improve it, give more subsidies, include more people. No one denies it needs improvement. The republicans, instead of spewing hatred and anger and downright destructionism (my word) and obstructionism would be so much better employed in using their considerable brain power into helping people get covered with health insurance. Why they want to keep a system where people die for lack of medical care (I worked in the system, and know this to be true) or lose everything is beyond my comprehension.
I know what it is to get sick and go broke. I am lucky. I got out of it. Not the illness, the broke part, but it was touch and go for a while, the broke part, not the illness.
Gloria - Mit Romney made the last election a referendum on the ACA. He lost by a lot of votes. So it seems that a majority of tax payers want it.
In stead of spending MILLIONS voting to repeal it 41 times and shutting down the government, use that energy and money to improve it, give more subsidies, include more people. No one denies it needs improvement. The republicans, instead of spewing hatred and anger and downright destructionism (my word) and obstructionism would be so much better employed in using their considerable brain power into helping people get covered with health insurance. Why they want to keep a system where people die for lack of medical care (I worked in the system, and know this to be true) or lose everything is beyond my comprehension.
I know what it is to get sick and go broke. I am lucky. I got out of it. Not the illness, the broke part, but it was touch and go for a while, the broke part, not the illness.
Mit Romney made the last election a referendum on the ACA. He lost by a lot of votes. So it seems that a majority of tax payers want it.
I respectfully disagree. The 2010 election was a referendum on Obamacare and the Democrats were soundly defeated. Many didn't trust that Romney would, in fact, get rid of Obamacare because of Romneycare. Poll after poll during the proposal showed that taxpayers didn't want it then, and they are showing the same dissatisfaction now.
I think we all agree that some reform is needed, but I don't think the entire system needed to be overhauled. Republicans have suggested tort reform, allowing policies to cross state lines, and other proposals that would lower rates, but there isn't any meeting of the minds. There won't be on this board, either, because the two sides have different philosophies on the role government. The amount of money that has been spent (and has yet to be spent) on the web site could have gone a long way to provide benefits to those that need health care.
There is hatred and anger spewing from both sides of the aisle. Others here have called their opponents liars, but the administration knowingly lied to the entire country about this bill. We were duped - there's no other way to phrase it. It would never have passed, even by the Democrats, had the truth been told.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Hi All,
Lesley is quite correct — this is definitely not the place for a political discussion, and it's certainly not the place for a discussion about a topic that inspires such strong emotions as this one. And as Lesley so eloquently put it, "with people I like and respect", is a key consideration here.
My initial inclination was to remove this topic when I first saw it, since it is definitely not allowed by the terms so service of this board. But then I decided that it might provide an interesting little experiment, just to see where it would go. IOW, I had a hunch that the sophistication level of the members of this board is so far above the level of the membership of virtually any other internet discussion board in the world, that you would be able to keep it relatively civil. So I decided to let it run for a while.
On any other discussion board, it probably would have taken all of approximately 10 or 15 minutes for this discussion to escalate into a bitter name-calling contest, marked by profanity and no telling what else, as tempers flared, and emotions got out of hand. I have to say that I am extremely proud of everyone who participated in this discussion, and I'm impressed by your overall ability to keep it at a dignified, relatively reserved level, even after a day and a half of discussion. You passed the test. I was sure you could do it.
But religion and politics are 2 topics that are verboten on most discussion boards, for obvious reasons, so let's halt this one here, and avoid these topics in the future — OK?
Tex
Lesley is quite correct — this is definitely not the place for a political discussion, and it's certainly not the place for a discussion about a topic that inspires such strong emotions as this one. And as Lesley so eloquently put it, "with people I like and respect", is a key consideration here.
My initial inclination was to remove this topic when I first saw it, since it is definitely not allowed by the terms so service of this board. But then I decided that it might provide an interesting little experiment, just to see where it would go. IOW, I had a hunch that the sophistication level of the members of this board is so far above the level of the membership of virtually any other internet discussion board in the world, that you would be able to keep it relatively civil. So I decided to let it run for a while.
On any other discussion board, it probably would have taken all of approximately 10 or 15 minutes for this discussion to escalate into a bitter name-calling contest, marked by profanity and no telling what else, as tempers flared, and emotions got out of hand. I have to say that I am extremely proud of everyone who participated in this discussion, and I'm impressed by your overall ability to keep it at a dignified, relatively reserved level, even after a day and a half of discussion. You passed the test. I was sure you could do it.
But religion and politics are 2 topics that are verboten on most discussion boards, for obvious reasons, so let's halt this one here, and avoid these topics in the future — OK?
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I agree. I like what Leslie said and I am so glad the discussion stayed civilized. Thank you my friends. My stomach turns flip flops when I read the vile things people write. I have made the mistake of getting into discussions with some of my dearest friends who feel very differently than I do. It never makes me feel any better and we have never solved a darn thing.
And Tex....that's what my Dad used to say 50 yrs ago..... Religion and politics - stay away from the discussions if you want a peaceful day!
Jean
And Tex....that's what my Dad used to say 50 yrs ago..... Religion and politics - stay away from the discussions if you want a peaceful day!
Jean
Everything will be ok in the end, if it's not ok, it's not the end.
I also agree. I've seen the total lack of respect on other boards and didn't want that to happen here. I'm glad that Tex stepped in and ended the discussion. I feel as though many of you are friends and want that relationship to remain. We can agree to disagree and still respect each other.
Gloria
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
I didn't mean for this to be a political post, I was hoping to hear that some on the forum who may have been struggling with healthcare costs were finding some relief.
I also did not get notified of follow-up posts so I didn't know until today that it had become political. I happened to click on the link in my inbox as a way to get to the website quickly.
I also did not get notified of follow-up posts so I didn't know until today that it had become political. I happened to click on the link in my inbox as a way to get to the website quickly.
MC diagnosed 2007