The unofficial Obamacare thread...

[BMAN]

Actually the spina bifida clinic at the Cleveland Clinic is at risk, and I have to change my catheters to something else. So the cuts are coming, just not for things you may relate to.

I enjoy instead of responding to this, @Whittaker decided to go on some tangent about leftist media.

 

[gourimoko]

Is there a way to voice concern that will have any realistic chance of influencing how a member of congress will vote or am I better off just complaining on a sports message board?

I'm being serious. I see people posting phone numbers on twitter and FB and all this. Is that, in reality a huge waste of time?

Voicing concern worked the last time the GOP floated the bill. But it looks like it's too late for the House.. So now would be the time to focus on your senators.

 

[gourimoko]

Have there been any cuts to these services?

Absolutely. The current bill likely cuts Medicaid spending by ~25% by 2026.

 

[Hurl Bruce]

HB, you seem bothered by recent events a bit more than most around here seem to let on.

I just wanted to ask, sincerely, are you OK?

Well, I do work with special needs kids, so this bill will rape their funding.

 

[AZ_]

Well, I do work with special needs kids, so this bill will rape their funding.

So?

 

[Cavsfan1985]

Millions of people will lose their health insurance, pay far more than they should or potentially die.

Wait why would they lose it? You mean Millions might decide they dont want to have insurance, and since there will no longer be a penalty for not having it, they will drop it. Is that what you meant?

 

[gourimoko]

Well, I do work with special needs kids, so this bill will rape their funding.

My guess is that most people really have no idea what's in the bill, and they don't really care. It's team sports at this point..

 

[Cavsfan1985]

Absolutely. The current bill likely cuts Medicaid spending by ~25% by 2026.

The part that is unknown is, yes it does cut it by the federal government, but this is when the states will have to step in and decide if they want to keep funding with state money right? It is not a state level issue not a federal issue. Whats holding back a state from raising taxes to fund the difference?

 

[gourimoko]

Wait why would they lose it? You mean Millions might decide they dont want to have insurance, and since there will no longer be a penalty for not having it, they will drop it. Is that what you meant?

No.

Millions will lose insurance and/or coverage. This bill does not offer the same protections as the ACA for preexisting conditions. It is not known at this point if those protections will be bolstered by the Senate version of the bill. And with that said, state run Medicaid programs will be forced to scale back, likely through offering reduced coverage; meaning fewer people enrolled as well as lower quality/useful coverage for those who are.

It's very difficult to imagine a removal of the individual mandate while insurance companies would still offer coverage to those with preexisting conditions.

 

[gourimoko]

The part that is unknown is, yes it does cut it by the federal government, but this is when the states will have to step in and decide if they want to keep funding with state money right? It is not a state level issue not a federal issue. Whats holding back a state from raising taxes to fund the difference?

It's not totally unknown; the CBO scored the likely scenario, which is where that value comes from. Most states do not have the revenue to cover the proposed shortfall.

And what holds state's back from raising the funds is that the vast majority of states make strident attempts, often stipulated by law, to balance their budgets. They have completely different tax revenue structures, and many states simply cannot find ways to raise the kind of money necessary to have a robust Medicaid program.

Moreover, many states don't provide coverage for reasons that seem to point to party affiliation... Take a look at this map and correlate statewide political/ideological competitiveness with state health care system performance:

So to answer your question; no, you cannot just shift the burden onto individual states. Not unless you're simply willing to accept state-level politicians to make these kinds of decisions rather than Congress.

 

[BMAN]

Absolutely. The current bill likely cuts Medicaid spending by ~25% by 2026.

Totally lies man!

 

[Hurl Bruce]

View: https://twitter.com/ajjaffe/status/860189985856770048


Bud Light? That's the beer they choose to drink to celebrate the screwing of the common man? My opinion dropped below a level that I didn't think could go lower.

 

[Huber.]

We are going to create a lot of new sanitary jobs with all of these bodies that are going to pile up on the streets.

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!












more liberal fear mongering.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

The part that is unknown is, yes it does cut it by the federal government, but this is when the states will have to step in and decide if they want to keep funding with state money right? It is not a state level issue not a federal issue. Whats holding back a state from raising taxes to fund the difference?

This, to me, is the single biggest issue in the bill. Kasich loved to tout himself as having been a budget wiz in Washington, and doing such a great job in Columbus. Well, if he wants to continue the Medicaid expansion in Ohio, why shouldn't Ohioans pay for it?

If he thinks it is that much of a moral imperative, then he should make the case for increasing income taxes to raise the additional revenue.

 

[Whittaker]

I enjoy instead of responding to this, @Whittaker decided to go on some tangent about leftist media.

My post was spot on the topic of this thread, not a response to cavman.

As to cavman's post, everything is at risk....always.

What most of these posts amount to is ObamaCare=Good. TrumpCare=Bad.
Just Because.
Many people can't afford healthcare right now under ObamaCare but nobody is airing their woes.
The healthcare system is this country needs fixed but neither political party will let it happen because they don't want the other party to get credit.
So I'm not interested in partisan shouting about the horrors that might happen when they haven't cared about the horrors that are happening.
I have relatives that worked their whole lives and can't afford healthcare. Early sixties and legally blind but nobody on the left gives a damn about him because to change ObamaCare would be a political setback and the political culture war are all that matters these days.
Straight party-line votes in Congress are strong evidence that neither party gives a damn about your healthcare or mine.

I don't get too worked up by the usual scare tactics.
Reagan was going to blow us all up.
The Bush family was going to starve the children and the old people.
Thousands of women dying in back-alley abortions,
Homosexuals being murdered on the streets.
Blacks herded back to the plantations.
No Social Security. No Medicare. No medicaid.
I've heard it all for 40 years.