Let's think back to pre-2008, to the time before the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) existed. At that time I think most of us agreed that something needed to be done about our health care system. Costs were sky-rocketing and there were vast numbers of uninsured people. For many of those uninsured, the Emergency Room became their primary care. Those of us that were fortunate enough to have insurance, either through our employer or purchased in the open market, recognized that our premiums also reflected the costs of the uninsured. If clinics and hospitals have to treat large numbers of people for little or no revenue, then the paying customers will have to bear higher prices.
Move forward to 2009-2010. Obama and the Democrats were in control of the whole congressional shebang. (Sound familiar only with opposite party?) The ACA legislation passed with only 1 GOP senator and no GOP representatives supporting it. See the link to the Forbes article by Walker Ray, MD and Tim Norbeck that recaps how the law passed.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/physiciansfoundation/2014/03/26/a-look-back-at-how-the-president-was-able-to-sign-obamacare-into-law-four-years-ago/#38dee9c4096c
It seems to me that from that point on the conservative rhetoric became obsessed with this legislation. The rallying cry of the GOP became about repealing this legislation. We have all been listening to this for 6 years. And if you're a person who consistently gets your news from 1 or 2 conservative sources, you probably had even more of this rhetoric thrown at you than those of us that consume a lot of different sources for our news. The battle cry of Obamacare Repeal. There are a number of reasons why the GOP do not like this legislation but that is a discussion for another day.
Meanwhile, according to many media sources I have read, some 20 million people have signed up for insurance through the ACA federal and state exchanges. I am most certainly not an expert on how the ACA works. I have been fortunate enough to have insurance through an employer. However, while helping millions to gain insurance, the ACA has apparently not been without problems as well. I hear of many people whose insurance premiums have significantly increased in the last couple of years. Plus there are stories that insurers are losing money and may leave the exchanges.
Mr. Trump and the GOP have campaigned relentlessly about repealing this legislation. Given that 20 million people would be without insurance, their position is that they will replace it with something better. To date, I have not read any specific suggestions on their plan to replace the ACA. A lot of what I'm reading indicates that they may repeal it but delay the effective date. That would, in theory, give them time to come up with an alternative plan.
According to the Washington Post article by Dana Milbank and the Vox.com article by Sarah Kliff (links below) a number of Trump supporters in Kentucky are now worried that Mr. Trump and the GOP will repeal this law (just like they promised). Many never believed that they would actually repeal a law that benefits so many people. These articles indicate that many Trump supporters did not take everything he said during the campaign as a literal truth. The Vox.com article also highlights that many of the KY supporters were not aware that their state exchange Kynect was a part of Obamacare. The state did not emphasize this point when they set up their exchange. The Washington Post article also points out other things that Mr. Trump has promised that, if delivered, will end up hurting regions that voted for him.
My question after this entire summary is WHY? Why would people vote for policies that will hurt them? Are we so callused to the lying that happens during the election season that we are surprised when politicians do what they promised? I have very little sympathy for people that refuse to think critically about issues. I keep hearing that people wanted "change". Well does that mean that you just vote for the opposite party with no regard for the issues? It seems like the seesaw of our politics will just keep these wide swings as long as individuals buy into things like voting "for change" with no regard for specific policies. This partisan pendulum effect is not good for our country. The change this country needs is to have politicians that work TOGETHER regardless of party affiliation. We also all need to assume our personal share of the responsibility for these wild swings if we're not voting based on ISSUES instead of vague ideas like "change".
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-voters-didnt-take-him-literally-on-obamacare-oops/2016/12/20/46ef3cae-c6f3-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.5a9c3e8b9592
http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/12/13/13848794/kentucky-obamacare-trump
No comments:
Post a Comment