Sunday, March 30, 2014

Finally found those Obamacare "death panels."

Courtesy of the Daily Kos:  

Despite the catastrophic launch of the Healthcare.gov web site last fall, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is on pace to hit and surpass the CBO's most recent forecast of 6 million private insurance subscribers by the March 31 enrollment deadline. All told, at least 13 million people will obtain insurance coverage as a result of Obamacare, including 3 million young adults under age 26 added to their parents' (a majority of them Republican) policies. As with President Bush's Medicare Part prescription drug plan 8 years ago, ACA approval is climbing. The markets, too, have spoken, with stock prices for major insurers surging as their CEOs signal their pleasure with the total number and age mix of their new customers. 

But given the unprecedented four-year Republican war to smother it in its cradle, Obamacare's recovery is all the more remarkable. A seemingly unending torrent of court challenges by state Republicans and right-wing front groups has held up ACA implementation in many states. (If they succeed in Halbig v. Sebelius, they will effectively undo the Affordable Care Act in 34 states altogether.) A misinformation campaign about make-believe deficits, mythical "death panels," a pretend "government takeover of health care" and a supposedly simultaneous insurance industry "death spiral" and "bailout" left Americans—especially the uninsured—fearful, confused and shockingly ill-informed. 

Yet as damaging as that uncertainty and chaos has been, the Republican Party's scorched-earth opposition to Obamacare is producing something far worse: a body count. That's not hyperbole, but a grim reality. Due to what might be the greatest act of political spite in modern American history, Republicans will needlessly leave millions of people uninsured, many hospitals on the edge of financial ruin and thousands of Americans dead, mostly in the states the GOP itself controls.

So do I owe Sarah Palin an apology now? 

Or is this not quite what she meant?

Here is more from the Health Affairs blog:  

Nationwide, 47,950,687 people were uninsured in 2012; the number of uninsured is expected to decrease by about 16 million after implementation of the ACA, leaving 32,202,633 uninsured. Nearly 8 million of these remaining uninsured would have gotten coverage had their state opted in. States opting in to Medicaid expansion will experience a decrease of 48.9 percent in their uninsured population versus an 18.1 percent decrease in opt-out states. 

We estimate the number of deaths attributable to the lack of Medicaid expansion in opt-out states at between 7,115 and 17,104. Medicaid expansion in opt-out states would have resulted in 712,037 fewer persons screening positive for depression and 240,700 fewer individuals suffering catastrophic medical expenditures. Medicaid expansion in these states would have resulted in 422,553 more diabetics receiving medication for their illness, 195,492 more mammograms among women age 50-64 years and 443,677 more pap smears among women age 21-64. Expansion would have resulted in an additional 658,888 women in need of mammograms gaining insurance, as well as 3.1 million women who should receive regular pap smears.

So yes Sarah Palin, there ARE death panels, and they are overseen by Republican pieces of shit who put politics before the needs of the people whom they were elected to serve.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:17 PM

    so there should be another facebook rant in 3,2,1.....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:55 PM

    I think it's safe to conclude Republicans and organized religion have completely screwed this country up. Without the two just imagine were we'd be as a nation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:01 PM

    Add to that all of the women who uaed Planned Parenthood clinics for screenings and sliding scale access to mammagrams who no longer have this option in states like TX...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:16 PM

    Fantastic article - I have sent it to everyone I know - both Rep & Dem.

    As a side note- I was in the emergency room yesterday because half my face became paralyzed. I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy and rec'd amazing care. Pretty scary for someone in my 40;s. Up until this year, I was not able to get insurance because of cancer 10 yrs ago.

    Not having heath insurance is like walking a constant tight-rope knowing that at any time disaster could happen. My heart breaks for those that live in the Red states being held hostage by monsters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous5:41 PM

    Under the terms of an agreement announced this week between California and an alliance of good government groups, the state will mail voter registration forms to 4 million people who applied for Obamacare via California’s online exchange. The deal could end up creating 400,000 new registered Golden State voters—the actual numbers will be available later this year.

    Nationwide, Obamacare could ultimately be responsible for registering anywhere from 3 to 7 million voters.

    http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obamacare-helping-millions-register-vote?cid=sm_facebook

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:49 PM

    You're reading into this wrong Gryphen. The only reason stocks rise is either knowledge or speculation that companies are going to make more money. I don't think that the purpose of Obamacare in most people's minds was to make insurance companies richer. It was supposed to bring down the cost of medical care, bring down insurance rates, and limit profits for insurance companies.

    Go ahead and try to put a positive spin on it though.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous6:00 PM

    Yes, death panels from Republican Governors! I have been telling everyone this for months!! It's not a joke or a play with words game. IT'S THE TRUTH!

    I am so hopeful that this is just the beginning of getting the message out there. There should be wall to wall, 24/7, coverage of this on Every media outlet. Let's hope it starts soon so this can be stopped.

    Fuck Sarah Payme and all the governors who are playing their political game at the expense of peoples lives.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:54 PM

    FUCK obamacare. That shit wants to charge me $700 a month for me and my husband. Total income is 45k.

    Seriously. FUCK it.

    Btw, my kids count for nothing. Don't make medicaid due to the state (dem Gov too)

    People love to ignore the people whom the act hurts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:51 PM

      The law was written so that pretty much everyone would be covered. Those who could not afford to pay insurance premiums, deductibles & copays were supposed to get the state medicaid program as the law was written.

      Some states did not want to EXPAND MEDICAID and they fought it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that states could not be forced to expand their Medicaid program. Even though the federal government was paying ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the expanded medicaid for 3 years then no less then 90 percent thereafter.

      If you live in a non-expansion state don't blame the ACA blame your governor or legislature that will not allow expansion of their medicaid program.

      If you have young dependent children, you might qualify for Medicaid under the old rules. If you plugged in your information and came up with no subsidy it could be because you answered that you already have ACCESS to affordable health insurance from some other source.

      If you do not make enough money for the Marketplace or you don't qualify for medicaid under the old rules you are out of luck. The ACA is not to blame if you got left you out. Blame your YOUR STATE government who decided not to cover you.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:06 PM

      Gryphen- I tried sending you a personal an email which bounced back undelivered.

      You mentioned not qualifying for the ACA and I wanted to be sure you consider whether it is at all possible for you to get covered with the ACA.

      If you are close to the minimum income requirement you might consider taking less deductions on your 2014 tax return to have the minimum earnings to buy insurance on the Marketplace. I've talked to people who have taken small part time jobs just to boost their income enough to qualify. The minimum for an individual (single on tax return) is 11490. here in TN. The number is likely different for Alaska.

      Of course all this gets reconciled when you file taxes for 2014 so you want to predict accurately so you don't get too much subsidy and have to pay some back. You are allowed to report changes between open enrollment periods.

      Play around with the "shop" button on healthcare dot gov to see what income gets a subsidy in your state. If you think you can earn that you could get insurance.

      Since it sounds like you already applied, create a new account with a new user id and start from the beginning.

      Good Luck



      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:02 PM

      You wrote the same thing in another thread. My state (Colorado) has expanded Health Care coverage for children who don't qualify for Medicaid. It sounds like you would qualify.

      Delete
  9. Caroll Thompson1:24 AM

    Congressman Alan Grayson (D) FL was correct when he went to the House Floor and outlined the Republican health plan:

    IF YOU GET SICK, DIE QUICKLY.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anita Winecooler5:02 PM

    I live in one of those commie red republican governors, the thing that gets me is is that it's going to cost the state more three years from now just because a Democratic President wanted to do the right thing.
    These governors think this sabotages the ACA, but they're cutting off their noses to spite their face.

    Speaking of "Death Panels" Has Sarah done a post on the anniversary of Terri Schiavo's long, torturous death? She was from Bucks County PA, and Archbishop had a special mass for Terri. I know they were bff's and wondered if Sarah took advantage of a tragedy (again) to make money.

    ReplyDelete

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