Obamacare is Dead

[LowDown]

Regardless of whether there is a President Cruz or a President Rubio in January 2017, regardless of the existence or size of a Republican majority in Congress, the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has failed. The grand vision of an efficient pseudo-market in health insurance under enlightened federal management — the heart of Obamacare — is not coming to pass. Obamacare, meaning the operating model that undergirded the law that Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed with great fanfare — is dead, and it will not be revived. What remains is fitful chaos.

Everything that critics of the ACA said would happen has happened. The Democrats created incentives that caused insurance pools to consist of people who were older and sicker. It was too easy for young people to opt out. The result has been an insurance death spiral with premiums that are increasing in price at double digit rates. Half of the co-ops have gone belly up despite massive government subsidies. Hundreds of thousands have lost their coverage. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted. The majority in Congress is implacably hostile to the ACA having been denied any say in how it was constituted and having every one of their concerns about it ignored. They will not lift a finger to fix it. The President's own hostility to conservatives, his inability to compromise, his divisiveness and his arrogance have done this.

Obamacare Failures | National Review Online

 

[DDD]

Well, back to being exploited for access to health then.

 

[X Factor]

Clearly, then, Obamacare failed to maintain adequate health insurance. :lamo

 

[ttwtt78640]

The cornerstones of ObamaCare are very likely to remain in place; federal control of "private" medical care insurance and more income redistribution. The idea of simply repealing PPACA is nearly nonexistent the new plan is to replace PPACA, naturally that means with a federal program. Once our congress critters get handed a new federal power they will never let it go.

 

[X Factor]

Well, back to being exploited for access to health then.

You know how you were told there are sick people dying in the street daily due to being tossed out of hospitals? Yeah, didn't happen. Just FYI.

 

[SlevinKelevra]

good, bring on the path to single payer.

 

[Amadeus]

The flaws of Obamacare could have been fixed, and still could be. However, the other side was too busy trying to dismantle it and put nothing in its place. One party presents ideas, usually flawed because of their centrism and compromise. The other party spins comically in a circle, as if one of their legs is too short and they don't notice.

 

[X Factor]

good, bring on the path to single payer.

As long as that "payer" is not you, amirite?

 

[OrphanSlug]

If anything, this perhaps does add to the suspicions that Obamacare was a painfully designed way to ensure the remedy for its faults is complete socialization of healthcare in the US.

 

[SlevinKelevra]

If anything, this perhaps does add to the suspicions that Obamacare was a painfully designed way to ensure the remedy for its faults is complete socialization of healthcare in the US.

healthcare? no. health insurance? hopefully .

 

[ttwtt78640]

Well, back to being exploited for access to health then.

Is "access to" the new term for passing the cost of something to others (society?) and mandating the use of a federal government approved middle man?

 

[ttwtt78640]

good, bring on the path to single payer.

McDonald's, like many businesses, has a wonderful "single payer" system - the one placing the order is expected to pay for it.

 

[chromium]

If anything, this perhaps does add to the suspicions that Obamacare was a painfully designed way to ensure the remedy for its faults is complete socialization of healthcare in the US.

I doubt it since Obama in his address to congress before the vote laughed off any suggestion of meddling with 20% of the economy (as he put it)

 

[chromium]

As long as that "payer" is not you, amirite?

millions of full time workers would lose health care if obamacare subsidies come to an end. You can't paint this picture of deadbeat handouts when it comes to welfare, but this is more like preventing exploitation. Those who would pay a bulk of the single payer costs are the exploiters, aka the 1%. In fact, various studies have concluded it would be *less* expensive, because people won't go in for treatment only once they're in critical condition. Prevention is far more affordable

This model works quite well everywhere else on the planet, even where they aren't nearly as wealthy

 

[LetsGoBrandon]

The flaws of Obamacare could have been fixed, and still could be. However, the other side was too busy trying to dismantle it and put nothing in its place. One party presents ideas, usually flawed because of their centrism and compromise. The other party spins comically in a circle, as if one of their legs is too short and they don't notice.

You are making it up as you go along. The democrats had no intention of working with republicans on healthcare reform. They had control of both houses of congress and the white house and did not feel the need. They only started to care about republican votes when the American public came out against the ACA. Even then, they were only looking to pick off a few republican votes for the sake of political cover. Had the democrats and obama worked with republicans rather then dictating to them, they could have come up with a bill that both sides could have lived with. That would have been representative government. Instead, the democrats did it on their own and have been paying a very heavy political price for it.

 

[eohrnberger]

Everything that critics of the ACA said would happen has happened. The Democrats created incentives that caused insurance pools to consist of people who were older and sicker. It was too easy for young people to opt out. The result has been an insurance death spiral with premiums that are increasing in price at double digit rates. Half of the co-ops have gone belly up despite massive government subsidies. Hundreds of thousands have lost their coverage. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted. The majority in Congress is implacably hostile to the ACA having been denied any say in how it was constituted and having every one of their concerns about it ignored. They will not lift a finger to fix it. The President's own hostility to conservatives, his inability to compromise, his divisiveness and his arrogance have done this.

Obamacare Failures | National Review Online

Seems to be the case.

Well, back to being exploited for access to health then.

I'm thinking not. Something far worse.

President Barack Obama is on record telling the radical SEIU membership that he favored eventually instituting "single-payer" government healthcare, but he acknowledged that single-payer healthcare could not be achieved in one step because too many strong political forces opposed it. Obama stated that governmental single-payer would have to be achieved in incremental steps.

And if that's not bad enough. Single Payer doesn't seem to work in the US.

Vermont decided to scuttle its single-payer health-care plans. I predicted as much six months ago, for one simple reason: A single-payer system would cost too much. When faced with the choice of imposing double-digit payroll taxes or dropping his cherished single-payer plan, the governor of Vermont blinked.

If Single Payer Can't Work in Vermont...

Vermont’s incumbent governor, Peter Shumlin, wants his state to become the first to launch a government takeover of its health-care system. But the results of last month’s election could give him pause. He was unable to secure a majority of votes this November — after winning 58 percent of the vote two years ago. Now the state legislature will determine whether to send Shumlin back for another term.
What happened in between? Vermont botched the launch of its state-run insurance exchange. By 2017, the exchange is supposed to serve as the “infrastructure” for a single-payer system, with the state picking up the tab for just about every resident’s health care. That exchange hasn’t even gotten off the ground, and state officials have no idea how to raise the $2 billion a year they’ll need to operate a single-payer system.
Vermont’s struggle to implement single-payer health care shouldn’t be a surprise. Such systems are failing to deliver affordable, quality care all over the world. And ordinary citizens are starting to notice.
Shumlin’s administration announced last month that it would shut down the state’s Green Mountain Care exchange for repairs that could take weeks. One state senator said its rollout “has been pretty much a disaster” and “has shaken a lot of people’s faith in the ability of state government to put together something that would work.”
Even if the state could figure out how to operate a single-payer system, it wouldn’t be able to afford it. A 2013 University of Massachusetts study commissioned by the state concluded that Vermont would have to come up with $1.6 billion in new revenue every year to pay for the plan. Now the state estimates that single payer will take $1.7 billion to $2.2 billion in additional annual revenue.

The Many Failures of Single Payer

Some are saying that ObamaCare was purposefully written so poorly so that it would in fact fail, and that it would usher in a government run, government controlled, single payer system, such as Canada and the UK. Trouble is, last I heard, the UK system was cutting back on needed care because they couldn't afford it, because if they didn't, the tax hikes to pay for it would have to be massive.

So, yes, there's a lot more at stake with the next presidential election cycle than just the presidency.

 

[DDD]

Is "access to" the new term for passing the cost of something to others (society?) and mandating the use of a federal government approved middle man?

Anything else than having people pay their access to health by insurance or pocket is better.

You know how you were told there are sick people dying in the street daily due to being tossed out of hospitals? Yeah, didn't happen. Just FYI.

So just for my information, you are telling me that I know that I was told that there are sick people that are dying in the street in daily basis because the reason is that they were being tossed out of hospitals? How do you know that I know that I was told that? Who told me that? And if I know it how is this for my information (FYI?).

To complicated matters worse, the above did not happen!

 

[DDD]

Seems to be the case.

I'm thinking not. Something far worse.





And if that's not bad enough. Single Payer doesn't seem to work in the US.

If Single Payer Can't Work in Vermont...

The Many Failures of Single Payer

Some are saying that ObamaCare was purposefully written so poorly so that it would in fact fail, and that it would usher in a government run, government controlled, single payer system, such as Canada and the UK. Trouble is, last I heard, the UK system was cutting back on needed care because they couldn't afford it, because if they didn't, the tax hikes to pay for it would have to be massive.

So, yes, there's a lot more at stake with the next presidential election cycle than just the presidency.

Two things:

1) Single payer is the way.

2) I am confident that Hillary can handle it because this requires economic brilliance of the kind her and her henchmen can handle.

 

[Ontologuy]

My premiums are actually going down a dollar or so next year .. oh, but the coverage dropped too .. .. oh my .. .. . Looks like I'll have to spend more to get equivalent benefits.

By the way, I read "somewhere" that income is up 843% between 1955 and 2010, but the cost of healthcare went up 6,900% during that span!

What are we going to do ...

 

[eohrnberger]

Two things:

1) Single payer is the way.

You are free to have that opinion.

However, given the performance of many of the single payer systems in the world, not only does it seem like a race to mediocrity, lack of investment and lack of innovation, it also seems to bring greater expense, extended waiting lines, where most everyone is miserable and hates it, especially the ones footing the bill for those getting it for free.

It's also far too much government control over which the US government doesn't have a clear constitution mandate for.

2) I am confident that Hillary can handle it because this requires economic brilliance of the kind her and her henchmen can handle.

Which "economic brilliance" has she ever displayed?

Henchmen? Yeah, that most certainly fits. Corrupt politicians always have henchmen to do their bidding.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Two things:

1) Single payer is the way.

2) I am confident that Hillary can handle it because this requires economic brilliance of the kind her and her henchmen can handle.

Single payer like the VA? Good example how NOT to let the govt run something that has to do with health.

 

[DDD]

Single payer like the VA? Good example how NOT to let the govt run something that has to do with health.

You are free to have that opinion.

However, given the performance of many of the single payer systems in the world, not only does it seem like a race to mediocrity, lack of investment and lack of innovation, it also seems to bring greater expense, extended waiting lines, where most everyone is miserable and hates it, especially the ones footing the bill for those getting it for free.

It's also far too much government control over which the US government doesn't have a clear constitution mandate for.

Model from countries where single payer system worked then. For example, how about India? And if you look at Micheal Moore's documentaries, then how about other place in Britain?

Which "economic brilliance" has she ever displayed?

Henchmen? Yeah, that most certainly fits. Corrupt politicians always have henchmen to do their bidding.

Call her corrupt because she is a woman all you want, but she is surrounded with capable people, and she would be able to sort this problem financially.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Model from countries where single payer system worked then. For example, how about India? And if you look at Micheal Moore's documentaries, then how about other place in Britain?



Call her corrupt because she is a woman all you want, but she is surrounded with capable people, and she would be able to sort this problem financially.

WTF, Michael Moore? REALLY?!?!?!?!? He never made any "documentaries". He made propaganda films. Next you are going to cite Al Gore and his "documentary". You really need to get serious about what you cite.

 

[DDD]

WTF, Michael Moore? REALLY?!?!?!?!? He never made any "documentaries". He made propaganda films. Next you are going to cite Al Gore and his "documentary". You really need to get serious about what you cite.

Ad hominem.

 

[CriticalThought]

Everything that critics of the ACA said would happen has happened. The Democrats created incentives that caused insurance pools to consist of people who were older and sicker. It was too easy for young people to opt out. The result has been an insurance death spiral with premiums that are increasing in price at double digit rates. Half of the co-ops have gone belly up despite massive government subsidies. Hundreds of thousands have lost their coverage. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted. The majority in Congress is implacably hostile to the ACA having been denied any say in how it was constituted and having every one of their concerns about it ignored. They will not lift a finger to fix it. The President's own hostility to conservatives, his inability to compromise, his divisiveness and his arrogance have done this.

Obamacare Failures | National Review Online

...

Step 1: Have as many states as possible refuse to expand Medicaid or establish their own exchanges.

Step 2: Promote only the negative aspects of the law and completely ignore every success and positive aspect of it.

Step 3: After doing everything possible to interfere in its implementation, claim the damage you caused is evidence of the law's faults.

Step 4: Win power with absolutely no plan of a better system to put in its place. End up keeping most of the law but passing simple fixes and pretending that it is a whole new system because of them.