The Final Nail in the Coffin for Obamacare?

[Pioneer.Pride]

In 2015 the number was 7.5 million taxpayers according to this article.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/20/irs-more-paid-obamacare-fine-than-expected.html

 

10.5 million according to this article in 2016.

 

Many See I.R.S. Penalties as More Affordable Than Insurance - The New York Times

 

So what is the issue if more people are uninsured BY CHOICE? Are the Democrats just omitting that little piece of truth because it does not meet their narrative, which btw, contributed to doubling the national debt diring Obama's presidency?

[Hatz]

So what is the issue if more people are uninsured BY CHOICE? Are the Democrats just omitting that little piece of truth because it does not meet their narrative, which btw, contributed to doubling the national debt diring Obama's presidency?

 

Maybe so. I was just trying to answer your questions you posed. :thumb:

[Clyde]

The worse possible thing Congress could do right now is to repeal the existing healthcare bill and then delay implementing a new bill to replace it. Markets would collapse.

 

I'll let you guess what POTUS advocated this morning in a tweet.

 

As a bonus I'll give you another guess as to what a talking head on Fox News was advocating about 10 minutes prior to the POTUS tweet.

[mcpapa]

The worse possible thing Congress could do right now is to repeal the existing healthcare bill and then delay implementing a new bill to replace it. Markets would collapse.

 

I'll let you guess what POTUS advocated this morning in a tweet.

 

As a bonus I'll give you another guess as to what a talking head on Fox News was advocating about 10 minutes prior to the POTUS tweet.

 

[StrongSide]

The worse possible thing Congress could do right now is to repeal the existing healthcare bill and then delay implementing a new bill to replace it. Markets would collapse.

 

I'll let you guess what POTUS advocated this morning in a tweet.

 

As a bonus I'll give you another guess as to what a talking head on Fox News was advocating about 10 minutes prior to the POTUS tweet.

 

At least you are watching a reliable news station.

[Hellcats]

The worse possible thing Congress could do right now is to repeal the existing healthcare bill and then delay implementing a new bill to replace it. Markets would collapse.

 

I'll let you guess what POTUS advocated this morning in a tweet.

 

As a bonus I'll give you another guess as to what a talking head on Fox News was advocating about 10 minutes prior to the POTUS tweet.

 

Why would he say that if he wanted the Senate bill passed?

 

Seems he just cut McConnell's legs out.

[Run To State]

There just isn't a silver bullet that will solve the healthcare problem. But Republicans have been promising a silver bullet solution for roughly eight years now, and that’s created a problem for them now that they have to act.

 

Our healthcare system is a complicated mess, and Obamacare was an elaborate stop-gap of plugs and bandages meant to fix specific problems without starting over from scratch. But all of those bandages are interwoven, and you can't rip one off without ripping them all off.

 

You can't get rid of the individual mandate and keep protections for preventive care, pre-existing conditions, or caps on costs for the elderly, among other popular issues. You can’t slash funding for Medicaid and insurance subsidies and expect more people to afford coverage. It’s hard to improve health outcomes when fewer people have insurance, less care is covered, and the government takes a more passive role in health, like Obamacare’s role in reducing hospital readmissions (and it’s harder to keep long-term costs down without some of these measures or encouraging people to be healthier).

 

That's the predicament Republicans are in now. There’s no way to improve the healthcare people are getting or their access to basic care without something that looks a lot like Obamacare (or taking on an even more drastic overhaul). While Republican voters nominally want Obamacare gotten rid of, a lot more people like the essential benefits of Obamacare. So, Republicans are stuck between rhetoric and reality.

 

That’s how you end up with a bill no one seems to like but still seems inevitable, one that had to be written behind closed doors in a matter of weeks, with no hearings and no amendments, or its chances of passing would plummet. And the bill’s sales pitch sounds a lot more like damage control than an attempt at persuasion. It’s like a slick-talking car salesman saying “I know, the wheels are falling off, but gas is cheap!” Who is buying that?

 

I suspect McConnell just wants to get this over with one way or another, and I think he’d be happy throwing up his hands and saying “we tried” and moving on.

No it wasn't, is was the main push for single payer healthcare plain and simple and it's THE reason the country is in the mess it is with healthcare. Obama and many of the the Dems wanted the private insurance market abolished.

I want our healthcare system fixed, Obamacare ruined what was already broke. We will have a hard time recovering from this, I personally don't think we will. I don't like what Trump and the Republicans are proposing, it doesn't address the problems much like Obamacare didn't. But, those that want to blame the right for what the left has completely ruined is a joke. I remember well those on here that supported the so called AHCA. It's on people like those for what we now face. Congratulations.

[mcpapa]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/politics/health-care-overhaul-collapses-as-two-republican-senators-defect.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

 

Republican Senators Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah declared Monday night they would oppose the Senate Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, for now killing a seven-year-old promise to overturn President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

[Bengal Maniac]

No it wasn't, is was the main push for single payer healthcare plain and simple and it's THE reason the country is in the mess it is with healthcare. Obama and many of the the Dems wanted the private insurance market abolished.

I want our healthcare system fixed, Obamacare ruined what was already broke. We will have a hard time recovering from this, I personally don't think we will. I don't like what Trump and the Republicans are proposing, it doesn't address the problems much like Obamacare didn't. But, those that want to blame the right for what the left has completely ruined is a joke. I remember well those on here that supported the so called AHCA. It's on people like those for what we now face. Congratulations.

 

I supported it and still do. But I, as a couple of others said, it needed to be fine tuned as it was being rolled out and moved forward.

 

I will say it over and over. The healthcare problem is the industry, not the government. In the wealthiest nation, all should be able to have affordable basic and critical need healthcare. I don't give a squat abut the debt or that other stuff people use to try and stop it.

 

If it is a single payer plan so be it. Not sure it has to bethat way, but so, so be it.

[Hellcats]

TBH, I hoped Republicans passed this. 2018 would have been a slaughter if democrats could have gotten their ducks in a row.

 

If Trump is the crazy wild card people say he is he would line up with democrats and pass what he ran on. These bills put up by republicans aren't close.

 

It's time for single payer.

[mcpapa]

TBH, I hoped Republicans passed this. 2018 would have been a slaughter if democrats could have gotten their ducks in a row.

 

If Trump is the crazy wild card people say he is he would line up with democrats and pass what he ran on. These bills put up by republicans aren't close.

 

It's time for single payer.

 

From you-know-who:

 

Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!

[Bengal Maniac]

Maybe now what will be done is what should have been going n for the last 6 years. Use Obamacare as a base, add to it what helps and delete what doesn't.

 

Of course, that won't happen.

 

They will never pass something that messes much with Medicare/Medicaid and Pre-existing conditions are costly, but they have to stay. This has to be attacked by dealing with the health care industry in a comprehensive manner.

[Bluegrasscard]

Maybe now what will be done is what should have been going n for the last 6 years. Use Obamacare as a base, add to it what helps and delete what doesn't.

 

Of course, that won't happen.

 

They will never pass something that messes much with Medicare/Medicaid and Pre-existing conditions are costly, but they have to stay. This has to be attacked by dealing with the health care industry in a comprehensive manner.

 

The base, at least financially, is the problem with ACA it its current form. There are things to keep in terms of coverage but the entire structure is unsound financially.

 

I am thinking that a new national 'entitlement' that covers long term and catastrophic conditions may be more palatable that mandated purchasing of a financial product from a financial company (insurance companies are really banks by another name).

 

Medicare/medicaid is already way underwater. ACA made it more underwater faster. Its a financial timebomb, disaster, etc. But Medicare/aid was already a financial mess before ACA it just gets hidden in the Federal budget since its on-budget with other spending and not its own pool like SSA.

 

I believe that the forced purchase of a product is an affront to basic personal freedom. It creates a feudal system-like structure where one is mandated to pay under legal penalty and threat. But if what is needed is national catastrophic health coverage then bite the bullet. Add another payroll tax and even apply to capital gains tax if you want - and take the issue of catastrophic/long term unpayable health care services out of this discussion. I have talked to enough people where this specific issue is definitely a good thing about ACA - but trying to get there by mandated, overpriced insurance on our children is not the road to fix that.

[Bluegrasscard]

I am almost as disappointed in this cycle of ACA as I was back in 2009.

 

I am disappointed in the office of the President - seems like little leadership here.

I am disappointed in our senior Senator - he seems to be going with the Repub herd.

I am disappointed with the few highlights of the current bill. It sounds like ACA V2 that simply bails out the insurance companies; adds more funding (and debt on our children) to current structure and; worst of all IMHO, keeps the purchase mandate.

I am disappointed in the national press that leads with conspiracy theory Russia headlines when a real, national political issue at hand. Meaningful information on the current bill seems to not be a priority.

I am somewhat mixed on our junior Senator - I like that he is against what seems to be V2 of a bad structure. But his reasoning is mostly financially focused. Yes, the finances have to be sound and have a chance to work but the impact on people and the services needs to be part of the of discussion.

 

I do not know of anyone that is 'up to speed' on the new bill and could really tell you what would happen if it passes. It feels almost as bad as 'we need to pass it to know whats in it.'!

[Run To State]

I supported it and still do. But I, as a couple of others said, it needed to be fine tuned as it was being rolled out and moved forward.

 

I will say it over and over. The healthcare problem is the industry, not the government. In the wealthiest nation, all should be able to have affordable basic and critical need healthcare. I don't give a squat abut the debt or that other stuff people use to try and stop it.

 

If it is a single payer plan so be it. Not sure it has to bethat way, but so, so be it.

 

You're missing the point. Yes it was broken, yes the industry was the problem. Now, thanks to Obamacare, it's two fold. It's the industry and the government. The government made it worse. The main point is they never did what was needed. To make it more affordable. You say if it's single payer, so be it. That's a horrible approach, a horrible idea and a guarantee for worse coverage at higher prices where the same people foot the bill, the middle class. No thank you, Obama and the Dems wrecked it bad enough, I don't want it even worse.

For what it's worth, I don't like what's being presented as "Repeal & Replace" either for the same reasons.