Why I don't believe ObamaCare is good for us.

[Amanda]

A lot of people here have made a lot of thoughtful posts here about ObamaCare (tho sometimes it's hard to find them for all the complete blather that's posted) but all the citing of news sources and stuff is hard to read through and make sense of (at least for me). So when a friend of mine told me something interesting it made me realize that ObamaCare, despite what some would like to believe, is not being set up to benefit us, the people.

What did my friend tell me you might ask?

She works for a company that is a subsidiary of 1 of the major health insurance companies and the company gave out cards that were printed with what basically amounted to "I support ObamaCare" for the employees to sign and send to their representatives.

What this tells me is that the insurance companies WILL be benefitting. When was the last time your health insurance company put your medical needs before their profit? If they are in favor or this you can be damn sure it has nothing to do with making your life or health care better.

Since I know the skeptical will demand it, I will see if I can get 1 of the cards from my friend and scan it so you can all see it.

 

[Ravi]

There's no such thing as ObamaCare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)

 

[Mad Scientist]

There's no such thing as ObamaCare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)

That's right. It's a PsyOp designed by the Righties to continue denying your Constitutional Right to Healthcare and clean, safe abortions.

And it was called Hillary care in the 90's by those same evil ReichWingers who successfully foiled Americas attempts to be healthy. Those bastards!

 

[Ravi]

Thanks for proving my point.

 

[toomuchtime_]

There's no such thing as ObamaCare.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)

And the way things are going, it appears there won't be any Obamacare in the future either.

 

[smickley22]

All Law and Governance is considered "social engineering to some extent, that doesn't mean it has no existence. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or "ObamaCare" (whatever the hell you want to call it I don't give a damn) does and will exist until Obama is out of Office.

 

[signelect]

Blah blah blah blah! The economy WAS MESSED UP before Obama and the economy continues to be MESSED UP and if we dont do anything about it will continue being messed up. Obama ALMOST TRIED to do something but ALMOST DOESNT COUNT! Five years ago the economy was good. 10 years ago it was great. Its been getting bad. Obama is not the only on to be blamed.

 

[Greenbeard]

What this tells me is that the insurance companies WILL be benefitting. When was the last time your health insurance company put your medical needs before their profit? If they are in favor or this you can be damn sure it has nothing to do with making your life or health care better.

There's another active thread right now where half the posts in it are railing about how the ACA is too hard on insurers and it's designed to drive them all out of business (a Trojan horse for single-payer!); the other half of the posts are alarmed that the ACA is so generous to the insurance industry, a big gift to the insurers that gives them everything they want and more (crony capitalism!). I find the bipolarity in reactions fascinating.

The reality is that it's not entirely clear if overall the law is good or bad for the insurance industry, in part because it's not clear what that means. Are we talking about higher profit margins? (medical loss ratios are now regulated) Are we talking about sustainability? (insurers are about to get a boatload of money pumped into their pools, and robust risk adjustment to smooth out the disadvantages of having sick enrollees)

Ultimately, that doesn't seem to me to be the most important question. What's happening in the individual and small group insurance markets is that the incentives under which insurers operate are changing, to the benefit of the consumer. The experience of shopping for insurance in the individual or small group markets is being revamped--simplified, streamlined, improved--to the benefit of the consumer. Employees at small businesses whose employer has been choosing their health plan for them will now be able to shop for their own plan in the market, which I take to be a benefit to the consumer.

If insurance companies do well under new rules that improve the experiences, products, and processes open to consumers, so be it.