Opinion.
Democrats and Republicans are selling their points of view through a series of discussions that attempt to turn Obamacare into a MORAL issue. It’s not. It’s frustrating to see us taking the bait again. Furloughed employees? Really? They’re going to get paid back after the “shutdown,” that’s what retroactive pay means, which also means that they’ll get paid for the days off they’re taking now. No tears shed.
Socialized healthcare? Hardly. Obamacare is NOT a national health insurance program for every citizen in the US. We remain a country that has national health insurance but that’s only available for the military and seniors, everyone else pays more because we DON’T have access to programs like that. Yea say the Republicans.
Obamacare is a POLICY to expand the NUMBER of people with insurance. Obamacare is NEUTRAL morally in terms of “socializing” health insurance AND in terms of being motivated by a desire to help the poor. How do we know? Because Obamacare leaves the poorest Americans and the unemployed where they were, eligible or ineligible for Medicaid in their states, but OUTSIDE of Obamacare. It leaves the richest Americans where they were, uninterested in the details of Obamacare because they can afford medical care whether they have health insurance or not. Finally, because the individual mandate currently is small enough so that choosing NOT to purchase health insurance will not cost too much. Tears for the poor.
Obamacare DOES create a pretty great deal through rebates and credits for people earning sums of money, whether single or as family members who don’t have access to employer-sponsored health insurance. These people, regardless of their net worth, will be able to purchase health insurance on the exchanges AND have the Federal government foot the bill for their premiums, or a portion of them. Yea say those who obtain health insurance on the exchange.
For less honest individuals, self-employed, family employed, who already had the ability to fudge the numbers of how much they earn from their businesses for income tax purposes, the law incentivizes continued underreporting of income so that they can not only continue to cheat the IRS, but use the health exchange to obtain federal contributions to their health insurance premium payments. Yea say the cheaters.
Health insurance prices are going up because insurance companies are chasing WHAT IS CHARGED BY MEDICAL PROVIDERS FOR HEALTHCARE and in order to do so, instead of capping what can be charged, they’re micromanaging people, trying to find reasons to either charge them more in premiums or require them to pay a bigger share of their medical costs. Yea say the Republicans. Yea say the Democrats. Tears for the non-governmental middle class, especially those who have employer-sponsored health insurance.
The Democrats might have made this situation worse by tightening the reins on national insurance program payments to providers which, because the Republicans did NOT agree to an expanded national health insurance program, leaves unprotected Americans vulnerable to health care providers charging MORE and MORE to make up what they “lose” where there are limits to what they can charge. This is beyond those doctors who said they couldn’t “afford” to take on Medicare patients, it goes to the reality which is that non-Medicare patients will be charged more. Yea say the Republicans. Yea say the Democrats. Tears for everyday Americans.
Republicans made and are making a big mistake because few thinking Americans believe that things will be better for everyday Americans under Republican leadership. In a reality break they still talk about how the rich are job creators, yet the rich, including corporate people have merely hidden more of their money offshore or shipped jobs out of America to save a nickel instead of committing to hiring American.
In a reality break they talk about getting rid of big government, yet Republican Congressmen don’t argue for making their positions part-time or for reducing their rich salary, benefits, and job security packages.
In a reality break they talk about reversing Roe vs. Wade, paving the way for illegalizing abortion and moving it back into the alleyways and butcher shops.
In a reality break they argue for reducing SNAP, food assistance, as if that expenditure is what has done in the government.
Republicans are like clowns today, and my apology to clowns. They’re self-centered, unrealistic manipulators who intend to greedily use the Federal government and any government they control for their own benefit off the backs of tax-paying citizens, all the while dressing it up in a colorful wig and face-paint and entertaining us with their buffoonery. Many Republicans don’t come across as good, hardworking people who differ with what they believe will work for America, today they seem mean and cruel, and unrealistic.
I don’t like a lot about Obamacare, but Republicans are neither going to be the ones to help inform us about its pitfalls or the ones to help us fix its many problems, because the Republican party is, and again, apology to the clowns, a party of mean clowns, thinly disguised hate mongers who make for entertaining (albeit somewhat frightening) news clips, lost in a misinterpretation of what was in this country and committed to making what is in this country worse.
