Repealing the ACA under Trump

[Redux]

Making the penalty stiffer could literally make people homeless unless the rates are first made reasonable. Shaving even 20-30% off isn't going to bankrupt any of them, they've been making fat cash ever since the rates became jacked.

[knapplc]

"Are you pooping me." I laughed out loud at that. Good line, Redux.

[JJ Husker]

Making the penalty stiffer could literally make people homeless unless the rates are first made reasonable. Shaving even 20-30% off isn't going to bankrupt any of them, they've been making fat cash ever since the rates became jacked.

I agree that the costs need to be made reasonable before we force people to participate.

 

Yes, rates need to be cut but it's not a simple matter of somebody slashing them by 20-30%. How would you even do that? It has to be attacked at the source of the problem and that isn't the insurers. They contribute sure, but just like we shouldn't force people to participate when costs are too high, we can't force premiums down without getting to the source. Drugs and the FDA is where I would start and then standard procedure rates.

[BigRedBuster]

I got to thinking about something this morning as I was listening to a discussion on health. The discussion was with a doctor (cardiologist) that started practicing in India. He then moved to England and now lives here.

 

The discussion was mostly about how we have so much control over our own health but how Americans don't take it seriously.

 

What I began thinking about is how statistically in America, the wealthier you are, the healthier you tend to be. There's a lot of reasons for that. But, the statistics are very clear on this.

 

However......the US is the wealthiest country in the world and yet we are pretty much the LEAST healthy and we spend the most.

Being the least healthy AND spending the most is not coincidental.

 

What is it going to take for Americans to take their health seriously and start living healthier lives? I'm talking in all socioeconomic levels. As a group, we suck at taking care of our own bodies.

 

People sit around and complain about the cost of healthcare while their downing a triple bacon cheese burger, king sized fries and super sized coke.

 

Just sit back and think a little about being the wealthiest country but yet almost the most unhealthy.

[ZRod]

It's going to take looking at the big picture. NPR had a piece on new sugar taxes in places like Philly. People bitch about paying the tax and how it's hurting buisnesses. An extra $0.32 for a soda, or something like that, is driving down sales. Only one person they were talking to really commented on the upside, that he's bought less sugared drinks and now drinks more water. As a result he's lost weight... people only see the money and pleasure, not the big picture benifits.

[Redux]

The government could easily step in and do this:

 

1) Stop the absurd inflation of medical costs

2) Force the hand of the insurance providers to accomodate their rates

3) Readjust penalties etc.

 

But they won't. Because they are making just as much money from preventing #1 or #2 to change.

[BigRedBuster]

The government could easily step in and do this:

 

1) Stop the absurd inflation of medical costs

2) Force the hand of the insurance providers to accomodate their rates

3) Readjust penalties etc.

 

But they won't. Because they are making just as much money from preventing #1 or #2 to change.

#1 and #2 have huge lobbies in Washington.

[JJ Husker]

 

The government could easily step in and do this:

1) Stop the absurd inflation of medical costs

2) Force the hand of the insurance providers to accomodate their rates

3) Readjust penalties etc.

But they won't. Because they are making just as much money from preventing #1 or #2 to change.

 

#1 and #2 have huge lobbies in Washington.

Yep, there is no desire or impetus for anybody in DC to give a crap and plenty of reasons to keep screwing the citizens and going with the status quo. I mentioned it the other day but likely the thing that has to be fixed first is our government. Funny thing is, I think that is an easier fix than healthcare....but a whole bunch of people have to wise up and become a lot more engaged in the process. Not sure this country is up to it until things get much, much worse.

[Moiraine]

I am 100% pro soda tax. I also think people should not be allowed to buy it with food stamps.

[Redux]

I am 100% pro soda tax. I also think people should not be allowed to buy it with food stamps.

Or Snickers, or Doritos. When I worked at a grocery store in HS it was mind numbing how much crap people who weaseld into an EBT card would buy. Nothing of actual food value, just junk food. Then pay for their cigarettes with armpit or boob $1 bills.

 

Or they would come get 2 grocery carts full of stuff only to leave in a huff when I had to tell them their card was empty because they were too dumb to keep track of how much free money they had on their EBT card

[Moiraine]

 

I am 100% pro soda tax. I also think people should not be allowed to buy it with food stamps.

Or Snickers, or Doritos. When I worked at a grocery store in HS it was mind numbing how much crap people who weaseld into an EBT card would buy. Nothing of actual food value, just junk food. Then pay for their cigarettes with armpit or boob $1 bills.

 

Or they would come get 2 grocery carts full of stuff only to leave in a huff when I had to tell them their card was empty because they were too dumb to keep track of how much free money they had on their EBT card

 

Do you think everyone with one "weaseled into" it?

[Redux]

 

 

I am 100% pro soda tax. I also think people should not be allowed to buy it with food stamps.

Or Snickers, or Doritos. When I worked at a grocery store in HS it was mind numbing how much crap people who weaseld into an EBT card would buy. Nothing of actual food value, just junk food. Then pay for their cigarettes with armpit or boob $1 bills.

Or they would come get 2 grocery carts full of stuff only to leave in a huff when I had to tell them their card was empty because they were too dumb to keep track of how much free money they had on their EBT card

Do you think everyone with one "weaseled into" it?

No. But I'm from a small town. A small town where everyone is aware of everyone else, how the are and what they are.

 

The problem is those that weasel into it waste it do nothing to justify getting it.

[knapplc]

None of the Republicans currently in Congress are going to go for any kind of direct government involvement in healthcare reform. We've seen what they've tried to do with healthcare over the past seven years, and very specifically what their "fix" was just this past month.

 

Any meaningful change in healthcare will have to be prefaced on a major change of scenery in Congress. That requires Republican voters to vote for other candidates, specifically ones with more moderate views.

 

That is not the direction grass-roots Republicans are trending.

[zoogs]

Making the penalty stiffer could literally make people homeless unless the rates are first made reasonable

Again, one does not wave a wand and compel companies to make rates "reasonable". What you are talking about is ultimately universal single payer healthcare, where the government has the tools to negotiate and set prices. This has been unfathomable in America for a long time. Why that is is a good question. We could look at the history of the forces that have resisted government involvement in this area. I think single payer is a good goal.

 

Second, why do you say "literally make people homeless"? People who can afford neither the penalty nor the healthcare are meant to be covered by Medicaid; another prong of the ACA. In fact, the poorest are the most direct current beneficiaries of the bill. The largest obstacle to shoring up any gaps in coverage are states refusing Medicaid expansion.

 

NPR had a piece on new sugar taxes in places like Philly.

This is a great example of policy that promotes health. It hurts Pepsi, for example, and there are costs to that. But you know what? Maybe in the long run a company that sells people syrup to put in their bodies at scale shouldn't be a global conglomerate with 60bn gross revenue annually.

 

I'm opposed to food stamp limitations, though. They're punitive in a targeted way. The soda tax is enough.

 

*** By the way, a lot of talk about lobbies, and it's true that they have power -- sometimes too much, sometimes it's fair. But I agree with what knapp says. Those lobbyists didn't create these politicians. We have been voting for the ones that align with them for AGES. You want to talk about personal responsibility? Let's look at what we, as a people, have explicitly wanted.

[BigRedBuster]