Mr. Shaman
Senior Member
- May 4, 2010
- 23,892
- 822
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"The past week has brought a lot of heat if not light to the ongoing battle over health care reform in the United States. On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled a "Patients Bill of Rights" touting new consumer protections. Meanwhile, even as polls show the Affordable Care Act is becoming more popular, House Minority Leader John Boehner pronounced it a failure despite its provisions having not taken effect.But as a new Commonwealth Fund study revealed, the bottom line is unchanged. The United States' health care system is still the worst among industrialized nations. And, as it turns out, its performance is most pitiful where Republicans poll best.
That realization is increasingly dawning on the American people. As Gallup found in a poll released this week, the Affordable Care Act is popular among everyone but seniors. Which comes as no surprise, given the centerpiece of the Republican opposition to any health care reform centered on scaring the bejesus out of the elderly. (That is particularly galling coming from the Party which tried to kill Medicare in the 1960's, wanted to gut it in the 1990's, and is hoping to privatize it now.)
The United States may have perhaps the worst health care system among the industrialized nations. But despite John Boehner and the GOP's worst, Americans increasingly understand it doesn't have to be that way."
