Is Obamacare working?

[Teddy Pollins]

Pretty straightforward question. I've seen statistics showing that Obamacare has put 13.4 million on the insurance roles. It seems to be absolute lie.That being said - it can't be as simple as these numbers. Someone please explain, in depth, Obamacare's successes and failures.

 

[emilynghiem]

Regardless if it fails in some areas or works in others,
this program should be OPTIONAL to participate in.
If you opt to use it, yes, you submit to those rules.

But any citizen should retain equal free choice of other
programs and means of providing health care on a sustainable affordable basis
and should NOT be penalized for investing in other choices
ESPECIALLY since other choices are needed ANYWAY to cover the people and costs this program doesn't.

This bill passed as leverage to force some other changes.
It is about as ethical as seizing control of someone's bank account,
threatening to start deducting costs from it to pay for some program,
until and unless a better alternative is passed. Political extortion.

Holding people's liberties and salary as hostage to force further change.
These were not seized lawfully but in violation of equal protection of the laws from discrimination by creed.
Notice that people who agree with this bill or who "aren't affected by the penalties"
are not targeted or punished, but particularly the taxpayers who don't believe federal govt has this authority and who are threatened with penalties against their beliefs are the ones punished by losing equal rights.

That's discrimination to penalize people on the basis of creed, whose beliefs are violated/excluded,
while exempting others whose beliefs in certain programs are included as "approved by federal govt."

 

[Mr. H.]

I'm on the ACA tit. It's a suck-ass policy but at least I'm saving over $600/month in premiums.

 

[emilynghiem]

I'm on the ACA tit. It's a suck-ass policy but at least I'm saving over $600/month in premiums.

Why sell out for so little? Mr. H.
If all the Singlepayer advocates join with other ACA opponents
and sue, why not demand that the Democrats who passed this pay for
ALL the coverage they promised and claimed they supported.
* The Singlepayer advocates in the suit can demand the coverage to be affordable and meet the campaign ads and promises (or else sue for misrepresentation and demand all the benefits as promised as restitution for fraud)
* The pro liberty advocates can demand that the SUPPORTERS pay for this, and NOT charge it to taxpayers who didn't agree to this contract with insurance companies.

By teaming up, you get the full terms you were promised, while the opponents force PROPONENTS to pay the costs of their own program and promises, not charge this to the public who didn't make such promises. Why not go for the whole deal?

 

[Greenbeard]

Pretty straightforward question. I've seen statistics showing that Obamacare has put 13.4 million on the insurance roles. It seems to be absolute lie.That being said - it can't be as simple as these numbers. Someone please explain, in depth, Obamacare's successes and failures.

The top line stuff is pretty easy to come by: the lowest uninsurance rate ever (already), the lowest health care cost growth on record (year-over-year hospital prices just fell in January, for the first time ever), indicators of care quality and patient safety are trending upward. The list could go on.

But the bottom line is that it's re-shaping the health care system, from the way markets function down to the way care is delivered. More transparency, more market dynamics, more cost and price sensitivity guiding behavior on everybody's part, more explicit rewards for improving quality while holding down cost growth, incentives for improving the way care is delivered and organized.

If you want the case that the ACA's "reforms are empowering patients, driving public and private health insurers to achieve better value, forcing existing providers to shape up and providing opportunities for disruptive newcomers," The Economist presented it a week or so ago.

PwC also did a deeper dive this week into how the ACA has been transforming American health care in Healthcare reform: Five trends to watch as the Affordable Care Act turns five. They remind us that "In its first five years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had a profound, and likely irreversible, impact on the business of healthcare... By energizing five fundamental shifts over the past five years, the law has given rise to a New Health Economy predicated on value."

The law is insuring millions, holding down cost growth and driving quality improvement, all while helping transform a historically bloated, sclerotic industry into something that can meet the challenges of the 21st century. That's what it was supposed to do.

 

[SpinDr79]

Greenbeard hit the nail on the head, Teddy Pollins. You got your answer there. If you want more detailed monetary info go here: Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage - Baseline Projections Congressional Budget Office

 

[Politico]

Is Obamacare working?

No...........

 

[LoneLaugher]

Greenbeard and SpinDr79 .....please check this thread out.

Debate Now - An Unhappy Birthday for Obamacare US Message Board - Political Discussion Forum

Thanks.