Thursday, December 05, 2013

The GOP Effort To Kill Obamacare Is Nothing Short Of Evil

While Republicans might not like it, the graphic above is true. The Republicans don't have an alternative to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). They have tried for months to come up with something, but have been unable to get enough of their members to agree on anything -- which means their only plan is to do away with Obamacare (and the problems with our health care system that it will solve).

I think they are finally beginning to realize they will not be able to repeal Obamacare. Even if they could get a repeal through the Congress (which they can't), it would be vetoed by the president. And by 2016, there will be so many people who have purchased better and cheaper health insurance through Obamacare, that repealing it will be tantamount to committing political suicide (even if they were able to gain control of the Senate and White House).

This leaves them with nothing but underhanded methods to try and stop Obamacare -- and do it before it gets most Americans on board. I told you a few days ago about the right-wing efforts to stop Obamacare by trying to keep the website for it from working. The Homeland Security Department has verified at least 16 different cyber attacks on the health care website. The most effective so far has been a DDoS (denial of service) attack -- where right-wingers are spreading a program which will overload the website, not allowing people wanting to purchase insurance to be able to access the site.

But that's not all they are doing. California Republicans have created a fake site to mimic the government website and fool consumers. Their fake Obamacare website contains lies and propaganda to try and convince consumers that they shouldn't sign up for health insurance -- that it will cost them too much, won't work, and would be a giant step toward socialism. Of course, none of that is true.

The Obamacare website is being fixed, and many are beginning to sign up. And people are starting to save money, by finding better and cheaper insurance through the website -- and many who really think they can't afford it are finding that the government subsidy will make the insurance affordable (or even free). As for it being socialistic, that is the biggest lie of all, since the health care exchange just helps consumers to buy insurance from private insurance companies (and that's pure capitalism).

But their pernicious effort to to keep people from buying health insurance is working with some people (those willing to put themselves in jeopardy to prove an ideological point). These people may think they are saving the country from socialism, or saving themselves some money, by paying a fine instead of purchasing health insurance -- but neither is true. They have just been convinced by the Republican lies to put themselves and their families in danger -- and when a serious illness does strike (as it will to everyone sooner or later), they will find themselves either unable to access the needed care or find themselves having to declare bankruptcy because of huge medical bills.

Personally, I think it is the epitome of evil for Republicans to be urging people not to buy decent and affordable health insurance. They are convincing these foolish people to put their health and financial security at risk -- proving once again that the Republicans are mean-spirited and hard-hearted, and care about no one but themselves (and their rich friends).

The chart above was made from information contained in a recent Gallup Poll (done between November 20th and December 2nd of 655 uninsured Americans nationwide, with a 5 point margin of error).

7 comments:

  1. Curious Texan12/05/2013 1:08 PM

    The Republicans don't have an alternative to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). They have tried for months to come up with something, but have been unable to get enough of their members to agree on anything

    Wrong! The American Health Care Reform Act is supported by a majority of House Republicans. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), contains the following provisions:

    •Fully repeals President Obama's health care law, eliminating billions in taxes and thousands of pages of unworkable regulations and mandates that are driving up health care costs.

    •Spurs competition to lower health care costs by allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines and enabling small businesses to pool together and get the same buying power as large corporations.

    •Reforms medical malpractice laws in a commonsense way that limits trial lawyer fees and non-economic damages while maintaining strong protections for patients.

    •Provides tax reform that allows families and individuals to deduct health care costs, just like companies, leveling the playing field and providing all Americans with a standard deduction for health insurance.

    •Expands access to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), increasing the amount of pre-tax dollars individuals can deposit into portable savings accounts to be used for health care expenses.

    •Safeguards individuals with pre-existing conditions from being discriminated against purchasing health insurance by bolstering state-based high risk pools and extending HIPAA guaranteed availability protections.

    Here's a link to the bill itself.

    The Republicans don't need to "kill Obamacare"; the law is committing suicide on its own through everything from unviable and unsecure website enrollment, one-size-fits-all insurance mandates that lead to higher premiums and deductibles as well as cancelled policies and fewer physicians in the network. Young people would rather pay the small penalty -- oops, I mean tax -- and without young, healthy enrollees to offset the cost of older, sicker ones, the whole system falls into a death spiral. There are just too many moving parts in this thing called health care to be micro-managed from Washington -- something that people who never worked in the private sector couldn't have foreseen. Medicare and Medicaid are safety nets; Obamacare, in trying to be all things to all people is simply a bridge too far.

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    1. Doesn't sound like much of a plan to me. But if the Republicans think it is so good, why hasn't it been passed in the House of Representatives (where they hold a solid majority)? Why hasn't it at least been scheduled for a vote? Could it be that enough Republicans oppose it to assure it cannot pass?

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    2. And why can't you respond to the question idiot texan!

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    3. Liberal AND Proud12/06/2013 11:58 AM

      This is the same warmed over crap the GOP has been pushing since the healthcare debate first started. HSAs were an abject failure. People hated them, doctors loved them. People had to use their dollars or LOSE THEM. Yeah, that sounds very capitalist to me.

      The healthcare deduction? That exists now, but you pretty much have to be terminally ill to get a benefit.

      Yeah, "reform" tort so that people damaged by shyster doctors and lawyers and companies cannot receive fair compensation.

      As I said, the same warmed over crap that the people have already turned their back on.

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    4. It is amazing the lengths the willfully ignorant will go to delude themselves. Just a couple of quick examples: Texas has had "tort reform" since 1996, (and since then, they have been joined by CA and AZ) yet health care costs have not gone down at all. Insurance profits are up, though. And so is medical malpractice - all without penalty.

      HSA? That means if you have managed to save 3 or 4 hundred dollars before you have a heart attack, you might be okay. Have a second medical problem? You get to die.

      The rest of Texan's points are similar nonsense. Do some INDEPENDANT research. (And, no, Fox so-called-News does not count.)

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    5. Let me reply to a little of this so-called plan.

      First of all, the notion of "purchasing insurance against State lines" is nothing but a scheme to pit States against one another to see which one will offer insurance companies the least regulated environment, starting a race to the bottom for consumer protection.

      Second, the so-called reform of medical malpractice laws is just one more version of the long term Republican goal of "tort reform," which is nothing but a way to make it more difficult for victims of corporate abuse to get any compensation.

      The "tax reforms" are useless to people who don't have the money to pay their gigantic medical bills and then wait until the next April 15th to get a small portion of them back; "Health savings accounts" are part of the long-term Republican goal of undermining all government assistance for health care.

      And we all know that they have only thrown in the talk about pre-existing conditions because that feature of Obamacare is so popular that they don't dare propose doing away with it.

      As is standard with Republicans, once you strip the mask away, this plan is nothing but a gigantic giveaway to the rich and to corporations, at the expense of all the rest of us.

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  2. I've heard of this supposed Republican health care plan sited above, but on the face of things it doesn't appear to improve the number of Americans actually having good quality health insurance and seems to be more of a give-away to big business. Has there been any serious attempts by reputable groups to score this proposal?

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