Saturday, August 03, 2013

Today the House voted for the 40th time to either repeal or keep Obamacare from being implemented. So in response the Administration gives you forty reasons why that should piss you off.

Today the House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would bar the IRS from any role in carrying out the Obamacare law or in collecting taxes to help pay for it. It was the fortieth time Congress has voted to defund, repeal, or sabotage the Affordable Care Act since it was signed into law in 2010.

This was the Administration's response, courtesy of Organizing for Action:

To mark the occasion, here's a quick rundown of 40 ways that Obamacare is already working for millions of Americans and will impact more beginning in 2014. 

1. Say goodbye to lifetime limits: Insurance companies will no longer be able to place an arbitrary cap on coverage. 

2. Children can no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. 

3. Starting in 2014, adults will no longer be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Free preventive care, including: 

4. Annual check-ups 

 5. Contraception 

6. Vaccinations 

7. Gestational diabetes screenings 

8. Mammograms 

9. Screening and counselling for HIV 

10. Cholesterol screenings 

 11. Colonoscopies 

12. Blood pressure screenings 

 13. Cancer screenings 

 14. Osteoporosis screenings 

 15. Young adults can stay on their parents' insurance plans until the age of 26. 

16. If insurance companies aren't spending your premium dollars on your health care—at least 80 percent—they've got to give you some money back. 

17. Insurance companies can't raise your rates by double-digits without justification. 

18. Insurance plans can’t require higher co-payments or co-insurance if you get emergency care from an out-of-network hospital. 

19. Women will no longer be charged more than men just because they're women. 

20. The health insurance marketplace will be ready to go in every state starting October 1 of this year. 

21. No-hassle comparisons: The online marketplace provides easy access to information on all available plans, so you can do a side-by-side comparison and find a plan that works for you. 

22. Many Americans will be eligible for financial assistance to help them buy health insurance on their own, so you can afford a plan that will be there if you get sick. 

23. When you buy insurance through the marketplace, premiums can be determined based only on these four factors: where you live, how old your are, how large your family is, and whether or not you are a smoker. 

 24. In the marketplace, you can choose a plan that matches your budget and needs: Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze. 

25. By 2020, the Medicare prescriptions drug "donut hole" will be closed for good. 

These are the essential benefits that all health plans in the marketplace must cover: 

26. Ambulatory patient services 

27. Emergency services 

28. Hospitalization 

 29. Prenatal care 

30. Neonatal care 

31. Mental health services 

 32. Prescription drugs 

33. Rehabilitative services and devices 

34. Laboratory services like bloodwork 

35. Preventive care 

 36. Wellness services 

37. Chronic disease management 

38. Pediatric services, including oral and vision care 

39. Lower prescription drug costs for people on Medicare. 

40. These states are already foreseeing dramatic drops in premiums: New York, California, Nevada, Connecticut, Oregon. 

There you have it. 40 ways Obamacare is helping and will help Americans—benefits the House of Representatives is about to try to take away for the 40th time.

Oh but don't think that is the ONLY trick up the conservative's sleeve, they are also trying to undermine it by convincing young people not to buy into it,

This courtesy of Salon:

First, some background. The “plan,” such as it is, works like this: Young people tend to be healthier and thus cheaper to insure, so they essentially subsidize the cost of older and sick people. If enough young people don’t sign up, and the pool is mostly older and sick people, costs will skyrocket. A price “death spiral” is health policy experts’ biggest fear with the law, but it’s exactly what the conservative groups want to artificially induce, thus dooming the law. 

To that end, conservatives are trying to rally young people to skip the healthcare exchange and pay the fine for violating the individual mandate to have health insurance. They’re making their case with GIFs, Op-Eds and a campaign to burn Obamacare draft cards (which don’t actually exist, but can be downloaded from FreedomWorks’ website for later incineration). Americans for Prosperity is even considering setting up kiosks at Universal Fighting Championship matches and college football games to tell people not to enroll. 

But, if this gambit is successful, wouldn’t that lead to millions of young people living without health insurance, and older and sick people paying higher health insurance premiums? And since Obama will never repeal his signature law, we’re talking about at least three years of intentionally inflicted misery, all for a shot at repealing Obamacare sometime in the future and replacing it with something that doesn’t even exist yet. What about the human toll?

Pissed off yet? Yeah, me too!

29 comments:

  1. The Democrats should have been parading this list, every day, in everybody's in box and mail box. There should have been ads on Fox News. This should have been done since DAY ONE. I've said it before and I'll say it again, our side REALLY dropped the ball and lost the war of definition.

    Let's hope some brains get together and get this list OUT!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you 100%, phoebes. It's all on my Facebook page now. (Thanks, Jesse, for putting it up for us to share.)

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:04 AM

      We each need to forward this information to every news outlet (especially Fox), Facebook page, email to friends and family members and every Republican we know!!!!

      Thank you, IM!!

      Delete
  2. Boscoe2:44 PM

    This whole scenario fascinates me to no end. The republicans are basically going all-in on the idea that:

    A: they can undermine Obamacare and cause it to crash and burn
    B: will be able to pin the blame for the hellscape of misery and suffering onto the democrats

    And if either of those things fail, the republicans are basically committing political suicide right before our eyes.

    The truly amazing aspect of this is that the republicans have never put forth their idea of something better to replace Obamacare with. That just boggles the mind. No effort whatsoever to show they have a superior plan, just underhanded attempts to make sure the plan that HAS been implemented fails, so that they can say "see, we told you it wouldn't work".

    Like I continue to say, Conservative Brain Orientation should be classified as a mental illness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:57 PM

      They have no idea the 'authorities' they rely on to tell them what to believe are plutocrats and corporatists. They will never be in on the joke. It could be a mental illness, or it could be they are just scared uneducated dumb people.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous2:47 PM

    Essentially that's how all insurance works. Somehow the GOP has forgotten all about that. What imbeciles. And why, why, why do Republicans not want all Americans to have access to good health care?
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:58 PM

      They hate us?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:32 PM

      Because they get major funding from insurance companies.If a republican is involved it's all about the money and greed.The hell with compassion and humanity.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:00 AM

      They also hate Obama.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous2:49 PM

    41. Mental health care for Sarah Palin and her worshipers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous3:16 PM

    What happens when those "young people" get old and have to pay for their healthcare in about 20 years? Obamacare is a "pay it forward" program just like social security. I paid SS taxes all my working life so that my mother could have a SS income when she got old. Now I am collecting SS that my children paid into, which, by the way, keeps me from having to move in with them to make ends meet. (My 401K and my IRA were decimated by the "great recession" so I have a little put away and the rest of my income is SS.) We don't need to return to a Feudal society of the "haves" and the "have nots". Obamacare really should have been or should become "Medicare for all" which will help people and business too. Think about it, business could use the money it spends on Medical Insurance to reinvest in the business and reap more profits. -RANT OVER-

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:04 PM

      Unless your state is "compliant" with the ACA then it does basically become a "paying the tax is cheaper than the insurance" scenario. My state didn't adopt it, therefore I'll just pay an extra thousand on my tax bill, which is about 1/5 what I would pay for ACA care. Luckily, I have a solid 401 and take out an IRA each year prior to tax time to protect my income from taxation. My parents purchased a vacation home in my name and I get to write that off as well. So I have no health insurance but I guess if something happens the entire family will have to dig deep to assist financially. I'm 43 and own my home and cars, but for the las 10 years have worked in a field that doesn't provide insurance and certainly I can't afford the $600/month that the ACA would cost in my state.

      I wish I lived in a state that had adopted Obamacare, but I don't and I'm not willing to move so I will just pay the penalty and hope for the best.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:57 PM

      So you're finding money for a yearly IRA, but don't think health insurance is worth the money? I think you will find that there are alternatives. And I hope you will rethink this. A major illness or even an auto accident could wipe you out.

      Delete
  6. Anonymous3:35 PM

    Assholes! I think we should repeal their heslth insurance and let them find and pay for their own.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dinty4:02 PM

    Shortly after the vote, Speaker Boehner tweeted a link to an article that supposedly supported his anti-Obamacare views, unfortunately for him, most of the article included information that indicates that Obamacare is, indeed, working:

    http://www.forwardprogressives.com/boehner-tweets-link-showing-obamacare-works-after-voting-to-repeal-it-for-the-40th-time/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Winecooler7:58 PM

      Thanks, Dinty, for the link! I emailed him a "Thank You" note for realizing the errors of his ways.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous4:47 PM

    One minor point: The Congress did not pass the bill; the House of Representatives did. The Senate will probably ignore it.

    Elizabeth 44

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  9. Anonymous5:30 PM

    I am not totally thrilled by every bit. For instance, I AM upset that the business portion has been delayed, and the waivers to the bigger businesses. They're the ones that can afford it! When it is implemented, it should be as written. I think that it will put a bigger pressure on the working man, if his job isn't required to pay for it.

    Also, and this will never happen, whatever Congress passes for the union, should apply to themselves... whether it is healthcare, insider info, or whatever!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous5:55 PM

    Keep trying
    Obamacare must be stopped

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Are you lost again?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:55 PM

      Did you bother to read the post? Are you that stupid, or do you just come here for money? Health care is not some pie in the sky thing reserved for people who work for big corps. Healthcare is for all of us. Don;t you see that if the poor are ill, they can't work, their kids will infect your kdis at school, and the whole antion pays the price? Lord, conservatives are like dealing with fire ants.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:04 AM

      Sarahpac must be stopped.

      Delete
  11. Much of these procedures are supposed to be with no extra charge for those of us with Medicare as well. In the area I live in that is not true. First of all they health care professionals here are undereducated, so they do the procedure, freak out and send you to have it repeated by someone who does know what they are doing. The first one who was confused charges you as if they completely said procedure in a professional way. Then they manipulate, such as doing colonoscopies in an OR which of course gets them more money. There is always something extra they come up with to do such as an ultrasound with a mammography, so you get an extra bill when you weren't expecting it. That is just one of the reasons I call Alaska Grift-opia.

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  12. Anonymous7:48 PM

    They plan to push their anti Obama care at sporting events? Wasn't it just two weeks ago that the Senate Republicans berated sports teams that were asked to promote Obamacare?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous7:53 PM

    Weren't they all in a tizzy because Sebelius wanted the NFL to promote the law? Now they plan to influence college students? Hate to tell them, but those kids are still on their parents' plans, so they will blow you off. Morons.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous8:20 AM

    Hey, 7:55pm

    I didn't say that healthcare wasn't for everyone. What I said was that it was written that if you work, it should be a benefit. Period. No escape holes for Mega companies. Read MY post! Why should the big companies get out of paying for this when the small local companies have to provide it, simply because they can't afford to hire big fancy lawyers to get out of it. Way to support the big conglomerate.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous8:57 AM

    In the upcoming elections, the assholes in Congress that are up for their seats should lose their positions big time! Friggin' jerks! McConnell from Kentucky especially! He, and they, are not representing the American people in any way, shape or form!

    Their name of the game is also to obstruct President Obama and the majority of us are sick and tired of it. He was elected twice by a large majority and they still haven't gotten over it.

    VOTE THEM OUT OF OFFICE!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Beldar J Conehead10:55 AM

    Just cut it out, Gryphen! Obviously, you have ZERO empathy for people in deep emotional pain and you should be ashamed of yourself!

    Do you have any idea what it's like for teabaggers to wake up in the morning and realize that other Amercians whom they deem unworthy of receiving medical care will soon be receiving it thanks to President Barack Obama? Do you know what it's like to quietly sob in your bed covered in your own human waste (or the human waste of others) while vomiting on the sheets at the thought of 'The Unworthies' getting that medical care?

    No, I'm sure you don't.

    All you seem to selfishly care about is so-called 'sick people'. Do you ever care about the suffering of teabaggers???

    No, I KNOW you don't, buddy boy!

    It's called 'being callous', Gryphen, and that's just exactly what you are. Callous.

    Deal with it!

    ReplyDelete

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