Tag: Obamacare

The Sky’s The Limit

For about 6 years there has been a wealth of criticism of Obamacare….there has been about 50 attempts to end it….all failed….and a relentless drumming of “repeal and replace”….the problem is that NO one has any idea what to replace it with if it were ever repealed…..and in that lies the problem…..

Personally, I wanted a single payer….not only would it be efficient but it would also have been equal for all…..but instead we got a piece of crap that was basically written by the medical and drug industry….and thanx to them it will never work out to be a good program…

And now there is more news that will turn up the volume on “repeal and replace”…..the cost of the program…..

Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Obama’s health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That’s sure to stoke another ObamaCare controversy days before a presidential election, the AP reports. Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25% across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less.

Major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana, and Aetna scaled back their roles, meaning about one in five consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from. Republicans pounced on the numbers as a warning that insurance markets created by the 2010 health overhaul are teetering toward a “death spiral.” “It’s over for ObamaCare,” Donald Trump proclaimed at a campaign rally Monday evening in Tampa, Fla., promising that his own plan would deliver “great health care at a fraction of the cost.” Administration officials, however, stress that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will protect most customers.

Guess what?  You would not be having this problem with a single payer system…..just stating the obvious….

It will be up to the next president to handle this situation and personally I cannot see either candidate capable of finding an adequate solution……

So for the next 4 years there will be that endless mind numbing crap of “repeal and replace”…..something to look forward to in the coming months…..while the rest of society goes down the toilet…..lucky us.

Clinton and Obamacare Will Not Solve the Health Care Crisis

It is an election year so there will be lots of whining and bitching about Obamacare….mostly from the Right…..but they truth is that none of these options will not solve our health care problem…..and the ones that are offered by the Right are at best….laughable.

While it has done a lot of good, the Affordable Care Act is not a long-term solution to the US health care crisis.

Bernie Sanders’ campaign, which proposed replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with a Medicare for All system, has sparked a much-needed debate over the need for a single-payer health system. But this bold proposal didn’t win him the election. And now that Hillary Clinton has become the presumptive nominee against Donald Trump, the debate over health care reform is about to become extremely narrow.

With the media and candidates in full general election mode, Sanders’ argument that we must do better than Obamacare will soon be replaced by Trump’s insistence that we must do worse. Clinton will almost certainly respond by pushing the status quo, which remains broken. Critical dialogue, at least on the national stage, will likely be in short supply.

Source: Why Hillary Clinton and Obamacare Will Not Solve the Health Care Crisis – Linkis.com

The part I like best are the ones that are in the most opposition are the ones that have all the health care they need…..it feels like they want to horde health care for people like them….only.

Healthcare Is Healthcare

What a marvelous topic…it has been the butt of jokes and the stuff of rants for years….not to mention all the wasted time Congress has spent on the issue…..is the ACA a bad idea or is it just a bad idea because it came from a president that some dislike?

With all the back and forth over Obamacare does any one have any thing positive to say about it that is more along the facts and not a rant…..

I do!  I do! (he said waving his hand in the air like a crazed primate)…..

For the first time ever, fewer than 10% of Americans lack health insurance, according to data released Tuesday by the CDC. And CNBC calls that “a clear sign of ObamaCare’s impact.” In 2015, only 9.1% of Americans—about 28.6 million people—were uninsured. That’s down from 14.2% in 2013 when ObamaCare really started to go into effect, the Hill reports. That drop amounts to another 16.2 million Americans who now have health insurance. “Today’s report is further proof that our country has made undeniable and historic strides thanks to the Affordable Care Act.” Sylvia Burwell, secretary of health and human services, tells CNBC. “Our country ought to be proud of how far we’ve come and where we’re going.”

But regardless of ObamaCare’s success in reducing the ranks of the uninsured—the Obama administration estimates more than 20 million Americans have gained insurance since the ACA passed in 2010—the Hill reports that Republicans still plan to use it as a wedge issue in November. Donald Trump and Senate Republicans believe hitting Hillary Clinton over ObamaCare will propel them to victories. “This healthcare law has been devastating to the Democratic Party,” John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, tells the Hill.

Is there any other facts that pertain to our health care?

Oh so much more…..since Bernie entered into the race for the Dem nomination there has been a new call for a single payer health care system…..and surprisingly enough a good portion of the populace agree with Bernie……

A majority of Americans support the single-payer, “Medicare-for-all” style health care system proposed by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

A new Gallup poll found that almost six in 10 U.S. adults would prefer a federally funded health care system that provides insurance for all Americans

Gallup presented the three leading presidential candidates’ proposed health care policies, without naming the candidates, and asked participants what they thought of them. A majority of Americans agreed with Sanders’ proposal, without knowing that it was his.  (read one…..)

Source: They agree with Bernie: Majority of Americans support single-payer, “Medicare-for-all” health care system – Salon.com

Southern Blacks Are Biggest Victims Of GOP’s Obamacare Obstructionism

I live in the Deep South….so today I would like to post on the region and give those that do not know much about it a little education……

For decades the people of Mississippi, my state, as well as most of the South, been voting conservative…..and for decades those votes have kept the people from having a descent life and services……the sad part is…the voter still does not equate a sucky life with their vote……..

 

Southern Blacks Are Biggest Victims Of GOP’s Obamacare Obstructionism.

Taxes Come And Taxes Go

This is one of the few posts I will ever do on the ACA (Obamacare) because there is way too much BS flowing around the subject……but there is a firestorm going on on the web because of something a restaurant did to its patrons……

An otherwise nondescript restaurant chain in Florida is suddenly national news thanks to a new policy: Gator’s Dockside has added a 1% surcharge to cover the costs of the Affordable Care Act, reports CNN Money. Participating restaurants aren’t trying to hide it, either. “The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors,” reads a sign to patrons. “Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.” An executive with the chain estimates that it will cost $500,000 a year to provide all its workers with insurance when the employer mandate kicks in next year, and she figures the surcharge will bring in about $160,000 annually.

As one would expect there is a wealth of opinions…….

  • Dumb move: “Obviously, the restaurateur is thinking about this from the perspective of an angry talk-radio-listening Republican rather than that of a hard-headed capitalist,” writes Jonathan Chait at the Daily Intelligencer. “There are costs associated with all kinds of government regulations and spending, but he’s not creating a line item on his tab to highlight his share of, say, financing the Department of Defense.”
  • Smart move: “As the surcharge shows, Obamacare is no free lunch,” writes Katrina Trinko at the Heritage Foundation. “Most businesses probably won’t opt to add a specific surcharge in order to cover their new health care costs, but some will certainly raise prices—or reduce quality of their products. Obamacare hasn’t driven down the costs of health insurance, or found a magical new source to cover those costs.”
  • Similar move: Eater notes that a popular Los Angeles restaurant, Republique, asks diners to pay a 3% surcharge for employee health care costs. The restaurant makes it optional, however, and says it is not specifically tied to the new law’s mandates.

Now my take……you may call it whatever you like surcharge or tax….it is the same thing……my problem is with the 16th amendment…….

Article I, Section 2, Clause 3:

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Number

Article I, Section 8, Clause 1:

The Congress shall have Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

If it is a tax then why is only one individual doing it?  The name is irrelevant……..it is like the visit to the auto repair shop….take a look at you bill…….there will be a ‘surcharge’ for shop supplies……I do not like that either….but if these people can get away with it why not Gator’s Dockside?

If one opposes taxes then one should be in opposition to this ‘surcharge’.  I was unaware that an individual could level taxes I thought that was the duty of the state…….call it what you like a tax is a tax…….I will admit that it is creative….but is it legal?

Enough said?

The Wind Cries–Obamacare

For over a month now we have been hit with endless mind numbing coverage of the issue called Obamacare.   Every talk show host, every journalist, every blogger, every conspiracist, everybody have had the same thing to say……blah….blah…..Obamacare….blah….blah……

I bowed out of the conversation early because it became dueling bullshit…….but as luck would have it the other day I read something that renewed my interest in the subject….

(Newser) – Most definitely not the kind of product endorsement the White House was looking for: State troopers in Massachusetts seized 1,250 bags of heroin from a vehicle, with many of the bags labeled “Obama Care,” reports the Smoking Gun. Others were labeled “Kurt Cobain,” and four people inside the vehicle now face trafficking charges. (The backlash can’t be much worse than it was for the pajamas-clad poster boy for ObamaCare who debuted this week. See the Week for that.)

The reason I found this worthy of my attention is that it is just whacky enough to have some new conspiracy bullshit pop up around the issue……yes, Irene I expect the purveyors of crap, the yellow journalist, if you will, to use this as some sort of indicator of the wrongness of the ACA…….

That is right I expect to hear trhe usual BS artist, you know people lie Alex Jones, Bretbart, WND, and maybe FOX will slip in there…….so who will be the first to use this piece of news as a right wing weapon?

Please give me your thoughts.

I await!