Daily Obamacare Thread: Good and Bad

[tytlyf]

This is just "Priceless"......

Ted Cruz asks his Facebook friends about Obamacare, gets an earful - latimes.com
Here the FB page and the comments......
https://www.facebook.com/SenatorTedCruz/posts/517779935000978?stream_ref=10
And there's way more than I can post.....

Wow, I couldn't find a 'NO'. Most people were absolutely destroying Cruz for his shenanigans in Congress. It's a sad day when people want him for President.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

This is just "Priceless"......

Ted Cruz asks his Facebook friends about Obamacare, gets an earful - latimes.com
Here the FB page and the comments......
https://www.facebook.com/SenatorTedCruz/posts/517779935000978?stream_ref=10
And there's way more than I can post.....

How embarrassing that must have been for him.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

esmith shakes his cane at us when we advocate for a Single Payer system....but when is a Single Payer System a good idea???.....When a republican suggest it's a good idea...of course!!

Krauthammer: Obamacare Single Payer Would've Been 'Logical, Simple'

What's interesting is that many of those on the right actually agree with him...thus they actually agree with progressives who endorse such an initiative...but just don't tell them they're actually endorsing a government run healthcare system. This isn't the first time he's suggest the single payer system but I think he's the odd man out considering his fellow conservatives in power want nothing to do with a single payer system.....

Who knew Krauthammer had a liberal streak in him.....

 

[Revoltingest]

A friend believes that Obamacare was designed to be so awful, that a single payer system
would look so good in comparison as to gain acceptance on both sides of the aisle.
Attractive though this conspiracy be, I don't buy it. Moreover, I imagine how much this
administration could muck up single payer.

 

[esmith]

Well it appears that a group of Senators are a little worried about the upcoming 2014 elections. As it is well documented seniors are one of the biggest voting blocks in the country. However, it seems that maybe there was more to the story about Obama cutting Medicare. Seems that Obamacare will drastically reduce Medicare Advantage payments. Now there are over 12 million seniors who count on Medicare Advantage for their supplemental insurance and with the scheduled cuts their premiums will be going up. Now in addition there are about 49 million Medicare beneficiaries. All it takes is the idea that Democrats are going after Medicare could cause a serious problem for all Democrats.


Total Medicare Advantage (MA) Enrollment | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Senators try to curb Medicare Advantage cuts | Daily Dose with Lisa Bernard-Kuhn
Total Number of Medicare Beneficiaries | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Well it appears that a group of Senators are a little worried about the upcoming 2014 elections. As it is well documented seniors are one of the biggest voting blocks in the country. However, it seems that maybe there was more to the story about Obama cutting Medicare. Seems that Obamacare will drastically reduce Medicare Advantage payments. Now there are over 12 million seniors who count on Medicare Advantage for their supplemental insurance and with the scheduled cuts their premiums will be going up. Now in addition there are about 49 million Medicare beneficiaries. All it takes is the idea that Democrats are going after Medicare could cause a serious problem for all Democrats.


Total Medicare Advantage (MA) Enrollment | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Senators try to curb Medicare Advantage cuts | Daily Dose with Lisa Bernard-Kuhn
Total Number of Medicare Beneficiaries | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

Republicans are a joke when they focus on this. In the Ryan budget (all Ryan budgets)...he would repeal the ACA and keep these savings in his own plan. He would then issue seniors a voucher, a pittance, they can take to a private insurance company to get a regular insurance plan like the rest of us. He would then have these seniors search for plans on an "exchange" that would be put in place to foster competition and drive down cost.......

Get the heck out of here. I'm so tired of this...as if the savings the ACA proposes is on the same level with what republicans have planned for the program....

Paul Ryan releases House GOP budget plan

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., released a fiscal road map for the next decade that would raise no taxes, repeal President Obama's health care law, and fundamentally alter Medicare benefits for future retirees

Ryan's plan includes $700 billion in Medicare "cuts," says Stephanie Cutter | PolitiFact

Ryan’s idea is to eventually move Medicare toward private insurance companies by giving people a set amount to buy their own health insurance plans. The new system would be for people who are under age 55 now, and it would give them voucher-like credits to buy traditional fee-for-service Medicare or competing private insurance plans. (The credits are sometimes called "premium support.")

........

Because we’re wonks ourselves at PolitiFact, our ears pricked up at the claim in recent days that Obama cut $700 billion out of Medicare. Just a few weeks ago, the oft-cited number was $500 billion. How did he manage to cut another $200 billion when no one was looking?

Well, there are cuts and then there are CUTS. Neither Obama nor his health care law literally "cut" a dollar from the Medicare program’s budget.

Rather, the health care law instituted a number of changes to reduce the growth of Medicare costs. At the time the law was passed, those reductions amounted to $500 billion over the next 10 years.

What kind of spending reductions are we talking about? They were mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries. The law makes significant reductions to Medicare Advantage, a subset of Medicare plans run by private insurers. Medicare Advantage was started under President George W. Bush, and the idea was that competition among the private insurers would reduce costs. But in recent years the plans have actually cost more than traditional Medicare. So the health care law scales back the payments to private insurers.

Still, the overall Medicare budget is projected to go up for the foreseeable future. The health care law tries to limit that growth, making it less than it would have been without the law, but not reducing its overall budget. So claims that Obama would "cut" Medicare need more explanation to be fully accurate. In the past, we’ve rated similar statements Half True or Mostly False, depending on the wording and context.

Because Medicare spending gets bigger every year, the cost-saving mechanisms in the health care law also get bigger. Also, it takes a few years for the health care law’s savings mechanisms to kick in. In fact, the effects of time are the main reason the $500 billion number has turned into $700 billion.

The CBO determined in 2011 that the federal health care law would reduce Medicare outlays by $507 billion between 2012 and 2021. In a more recent estimate released this year, the CBO looked at the years 2013 to 2022 and determined the health care law affected Medicare outlays by $716 billion.

So it’s timing that’s making the "cuts" bigger, not changes to Medicare.

Does Ryan’s budget keep the reductions in Medicare spending? The short answer is yes.

Here’s what Ryan said in an interview with George Stephanopolous of ABC News in June, before his selection as Romney’s running mate:

Stephanopoulos: "You know, several independent fact-checkers have taken a look at that claim, the $500 billion in Medicare cuts, and said that it's misleading. And in fact, by that accounting, your budget, your own budget, which Gov. Romney has endorsed, would also have $500 billion in Medicare cuts.

Ryan: "Well, our budget keeps that money for Medicare to extend its solvency. What Obamacare does is it takes that money from Medicare to spend on Obamacare.

So Ryan has confirmed his budget includes the Medicare savings.

......

Still, Ryan himself said his plan did include the reductions in future spending that were part of the federal health care law.

That’s because both sides agree on one point: Medicare spending is growing too rapidly, and it needs to reined in.


Our ruling

Cutter said that Romney attacked Obama for cutting $700 billion out of Medicare, but "Paul Ryan protected those cuts in his budget." Again, with this item we are not addressing whether they are cuts, but simply whether she is correctly characterizing Ryan's plan.

Cutter is correct that the Ryan budget plan included cost savings that were part of the future health care law.

An just what will the Ryan (Medicare Plan) look like......

Medicare | U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan

Medicare would offer them a choice of private plans competing alongside traditional fee-for-service option on a newly created Medicare Exchange......

The Medicare Exchange would provide all seniors with a competitive marketplace where they could chose a plan the same way members of Congress do. All plans, including the traditional fee-for-service option, would participate in an annual competitive bidding process to determine the dollar amount of the federal contribution seniors would use to purchase the coverage that best serves their medical needs. Health care plans would compete for the right to serve Medicare beneficiaries.

Program growth would be determined by the competitive bidding process – with choice and competition forcing providers to reduce costs and improve quality for seniors. The competitive market for Medicare choices would foster innovation and quality while ensuring that the program is financially stable........

All health plans that participate in the Medicare Exchange, including the traditional Medicare option, would be required to offer insurance to all seniors – regardless of age and health status – thereby preventing insurers from cherry picking only the healthiest seniors for coverage under their plan. Additionally, the federal contribution to seniors’ health plans would be increased to account for a senior’s health status and age.

Yeah...OK..!!(sounds really similar to Obamacare)......

 

[esmith]

Republicans are a joke when they focus on this. In the Ryan budget (all Ryan budgets)...he would repeal the ACA and keep these savings in his own plan. He would then issue seniors a voucher, a pittance, they can take to a private insurance company to get a regular insurance plan like the rest of us. He would then have these seniors search for plans on an "exchange" that would be put in place to foster competition and drive down cost.......

Get the heck out of here. I'm so tired of this...as if the savings the ACA proposes is on the same level with what republicans have planned for the program....

Paul Ryan releases House GOP budget plan
Ryan's plan includes $700 billion in Medicare "cuts," says Stephanie Cutter | PolitiFact
An just what will the Ryan (Medicare Plan) look like......

Medicare | U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan
Yeah...OK..!!(sounds really similar to Obamacare)......

Uhhh, have you finally lost it? My post was about 40 Senators that want something done about the section in Obamacare that takes away from Medicare Advantage and gives the savings to Obamacare. Get back on point, you are seem to be losing it by making it about Ryan and Republicans vice the issue put forth in the article:

Senators try to curb Medicare Advantage cuts | Daily Dose with Lisa Bernard-Kuhn

Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Dan Coats of Indiana signed, as did Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly of Indiana.
Other Democrats who signed the letter included Charles Schumer of New York, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership team, as well as several who are facing tough re-election campaigns, including Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Uhhh, have you finally lost it? My post was about 40 Senators that want something done about the section in Obamacare that takes away from Medicare Advantage and gives the savings to Obamacare. Get back on point, you are seem to be losing it by making it about Ryan and Republicans vice the issue put forth in the article:

Senators try to curb Medicare Advantage cuts | Daily Dose with Lisa Bernard-Kuhn

So what.....and I was on point...

And NO ONE "Took" anything away from Medicare to pay for the ACA. What was done to Medicare was necessary as was described in the politifact article. As far as Dems wanting the POTUS to make a change...well I don't believe such a change is even necessary for reasons already explained. There are many dems and a heck of a lot of republicans that simply don't understand why the reforms in Medicare were needed....and Iike I said it's very hypocritical of any republican, including you, to even raise this issue when said savings is included in Ryan's austerity budget (that's due to be voted on this week).... Some dems my be uneasy about the midterms but with over 7mil (which may get revised upward)....signed up for private healthcare plans and millions of others with Medicaid and all of them able to keep their children on their plan until 26....in the long run dems are going to be fine.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Koch Brothers Received Millions In Obamacare Subsidies | ThinkProgress

Charles and David Koch may have spent millions of dollars opposing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, but that didn’t stop them from benefiting from the law. The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Koch Industries received $1.4 million in subsidies from a $5 billion program established by the Affordable Care Act to help employers and states maintain coverage for individuals 55 and older who are not yet eligible for Medicare.

ThinkProgress first noticed that Koch applied for the program in August of 2010, along with other critics of the law, including state-run programs in Texas and more than a dozen members of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has spent millions to support Republican causes.

.......


This isn’t the first time critics of the law have taken advantage of its provisions. Just last week, Republican members of Congress praised the Obama administration for keeping open a call center dedicated to enrolling people into the law after the initial enrollment period, while others have requested grants funded under the ACA. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) even encouraged some Texans to sign-up for coverage in the federally-run health care exchange in an effort to save the state money.

 

[esmith]

Well, it seems that almost every day there is more and more bad news associated with Obamacare; Oh sorry Nancy, Affordable Care Act.

How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession - The Daily Beast

 

[tytlyf]

Well, it seems that almost every day there is more and more bad news associated with Obamacare; Oh sorry Nancy, Affordable Care Act.

How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession - The Daily Beast

It's Romneycare.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Well, it seems that almost every day there is more and more bad news associated with Obamacare; Oh sorry Nancy, Affordable Care Act.

How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession - The Daily Beast

What a stupid article and even worse what a stupid article title. There was one blurb in there about the ACA and the rest of the article making doctors into victims suggest that their supposed woes go back further than the ACA.....

 

[metis]

What a stupid article and even worse what a stupid article title. There was one blurb in there about the ACA and the rest of the article making doctors into victims suggest that their supposed woes go back further than the ACA.....

It does go back much further than the ACA as two of my relatives that were doctors got out by taking an early retirement. One did so in the '90's and the other about 10 years ago.

 

[Dirty Penguin]

It does go back much further than the ACA as two of my relatives that were doctors got out by taking an early retirement. One did so in the '90's and the other about 10 years ago.

Then we should have a dialogue about how we can make the system better for doctors and for customers instead of laying this at the feet of the ACA like esmith alluded to. Personally I think that if doctors et al. would recommend to others to get into the field instead of trying to persuade hopefuls from avoiding the medical field and to work with customers, local governments as well as the federal government to institute policies to help streamline some processes it might take the stress off of them.....just one theory. I'm sure the issues go deeper....

 

[Revoltingest]

Obamacare has finally allowed #1 son to be a non-smoker.
Woo hoo!

 

[Dirty Penguin]

Crain's Chicago Business : Subscription Center

The Affordable Care Act's health insurance subsidies will cost a little less than previously thought, according to a new report released Monday

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that health insurance subsidies under the so-called "Obamacare" plan will total a little more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, instead of almost $1.2 trillion initially estimated.

 

[metis]

Since we were inflating at a bit over 9% in the previous decade before the ACA was passed, that projection will not likely cost us any more than if we hadn't passed it. However, millions more Americans will have coverage, which seems totally meaningless to the Republicans that have put their own political agenda well ahead of the health and well-being of their fellow Americans.

 

[Revoltingest]

Since we were inflating at a bit over 9% in the previous decade before the ACA was passed, that projection will not likely cost us any more than if we hadn't passed it. However, millions more Americans will have coverage, which seems totally meaningless to the Republicans that have put their own political agenda well ahead of the health and well-being of their fellow Americans.

Doesn't this run counter to admin prognostication that costs would decrease?

An earlier post comes to mind....

Because of the exchanges are coming in lower than previous market costs, plus this competition is massive because of so much money that's at stake whereas companies desperately want a piece of that action. Also, most of volume of the ACA actually deals with cost containment.

According, the recent CBO report is that they expect a reduction in overall costs, and if my memory is correct, it's by 13% within the next 4 years, which was mentioned by the director of the CBO in Congressional testimony a couple of days ago. However, if it turns out that my "memory" is somewhat off, I'll deny ever saying this.

 

[esmith]

Doesn't this run counter to admin prognostication that costs would decrease?

Yes but didn't Obama also say:
if you like your health care plan you can keep it; period
If you like your doctor you can keep him period
this will be the most transparent administration in history
cut the deficit in half in the first 4 years
there are shovel ready project
eliminate income taxes on those 65 and over that make less than $50,000.
“I don’t take a dime of their [lobbyists’] money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.”
“I didn’t set a red line [in Syria].”
“We have not only made sure that they [Iran] have to stop adding additional centrifuges, we’ve also said that they’ve got to roll back their 20 percent advanced enrichment … down to zero.”
“We will close the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay.”
“As soon as we’re out of this recession, we’ve got to get serious about starting to live within our means.”
“We reject the use of national security … to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime.”
We “will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid.”
“We are going to work with you to lower your [health care] premiums by $2,500,” and we’ll “do it by the end of my first term as president.”
“The sequester is not something that I’ve proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed.”

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes but didn't Obama also say:
if you like your health care plan you can keep it; period
If you like your doctor you can keep him period
this will be the most transparent administration in history
cut the deficit in half in the first 4 years
there are shovel ready project
eliminate income taxes on those 65 and over that make less than $50,000.
“I don’t take a dime of their [lobbyists’] money, and when I am president, they won’t find a job in my White House.”
“I didn’t set a red line [in Syria].”
“We have not only made sure that they [Iran] have to stop adding additional centrifuges, we’ve also said that they’ve got to roll back their 20 percent advanced enrichment … down to zero.”
“We will close the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay.”
“As soon as we’re out of this recession, we’ve got to get serious about starting to live within our means.”
“We reject the use of national security … to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime.”
We “will ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid.”
“We are going to work with you to lower your [health care] premiums by $2,500,” and we’ll “do it by the end of my first term as president.”
“The sequester is not something that I’ve proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed.”

I am speechless.

(It won't last long.)