I often like information provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, but I didn’t like their poll reported 8/1/2014, “Share of Americans With An Unfavorable View of the Affordable Care Act Rises in July; Majority Continues To Want Congress To Improve, Not Repeal, The Law.” OK, no surprises there. We’re smart…When we’re told or begin experiencing the truth, so naturally most of us don't like Obamacare.
It was the second tag line that annoyed me, “A Quarter Incorrectly Believes Newly Insured Under ACA Were Enrolled in a Single Government Plan,”( http://kff.org/health-reform/press-release/share-of-americans-with-an-unfavorable-view-of-the-affordable-care-act-rises-in-july-majority-continues-to-want-congress-to-improve-not-repeal-the-law/).
It seemed like OUR confusion was being highlighted and in a negative way, especially when you read further on, that the poll found “Most unaware that new enrollees under the ACA had a choice of private plans,” http://kff.org/health-reform/press-release/share-of-americans-with-an-unfavorable-view-of-the-affordable-care-act-rises-in-july-majority-continues-to-want-congress-to-improve-not-repeal-the-law/, and “…that four years after the law’s passage…misperceptions about the law persist.”
OK, Kaiser Family Foundation, let’s first say, it’s pretty miraculous only 26 percent of us believe that enrollees under the ACA were enrolled in a single GOVERNMENT health insurance plan. After all, we’ve been misled in order to promote political and entertainment and partisan viewpoints by politicians, media and the President himself about what Obamacare is and isn’t.
Let’s also note that people were PUSHED to get Obamacare with the promise and emphasis that the federal government would pay towards their premiums, the Obamabucks, federal dollars towards premiums for those who fall within the government defined entitlement to such funds. Naturally, the payments provided from consumers and the different insurance plan and company coverages of needed medical services and care was less highlighted as Obama pushed his “enrollment” agenda by emphasizing how much federal dollars would help pay people's premium bills.
Confusing? It’s awesome that only 26 percent of the polled individuals didn’t know that healthcare.gov was essentially a portal for finding different private health insurance plans. After all, over four years AFTER the law was passed, Congress, the President and all sorts of individuals were surprised to READ that the LAW THEY WROTE only provided for federal dollars towards premiums (Obamabucks) for individuals who signed up through state exchanges rather than the federal exchange.
And who can forget that we needed the Supreme Court to help our “leaders” understand that the individual mandate is a TAX.
Rather than discuss how “unaware” the American public is, the more important focus is the sheer sloppiness, randomness and shifting interpretations of the law known as Obamacare. That’s where our attention should be.
And to consumers’ credit, the poll found, that “The share of the public preferring to see the law improved rather than repealed has held steady for several months. It was 59 percent in May…” http://kff.org/health-reform/press-release/share-of-americans-with-an-unfavorable-view-of-the-affordable-care-act-rises-in-july-majority-continues-to-want-congress-to-improve-not-repeal-the-law/.
In spite of being told by the President that Obamacare is a “done deal,” we KNOW that laws can be changed and improved, as discussed in my 7/7/2014 post, “Saying it don’t Make it So: Obamacare,” http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2014/07/saying-it-dont-make-it-so-obamacare.html.
The poll that finds that “…about 1 in 4 Americans (26%) believe that people who got new health insurance under the ACA enrolled in a single government health plan," is what the misinformation from President Obama, partisan media and talking heads was all about, essentially tricking the American public to further their own ends.
Consider my post of 1/14/13, “Does the US have universal health care?”, http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2013/01/misleading-us-one-fact-at-time-does-us.html.
I noted that on Sunday, 1/13/13, OVER TWO-AND-A-HALF-YEARS AFTER the PPACA, Fareed Zakaria on his television show said, “He helped usher in universal health care in America,” http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2013/01/misleading-us-one-fact-at-time-does-us.html. That precious little fake-fact is from CNN. For Pete’s sake, the PPACA didn’t even help usher in universal health INSURANCE in America. That’s from CNN.
The Healthcare.gov website does much to support the wrong idea of a single government health plan as well.
The constant reference to “The Marketplace,” or the Health Insurance Marketplace on a government website (Healthcare.gov) obviously could mislead someone into thinking that the site is devoted to a single government plan.
Another confusing feature of Healthcare.gov is that it also seems to bring Medicaid (which we know is partly federally funded and part state-funded) as well as CHIP under the healthcare.gov directory assistance.
Perhaps all that tooting of their own horns led people to believe that all the bragging would have been inappropriate for THE MARKETPLACE which for most Americans functions as little more than a digital yellow pages, directing individuals to different insurance company plans. Now, understanding that on healthcare.gov an individual can better understand what is meant by, "The Health Insurance Marketplace helps uninsured people find health coverage.” Just like a yellow pages.
The President himself deliberately contributed to the confusion. In his 10/26/13, Weekly Address, entitled, “Enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/10/26/weekly-address-enrolling-affordable-care-act-marketplace#transcript, the President bragged, “It’s called the Marketplace. And for Americans without health insurance, and Americans who buy insurance on their own because they can’t get it at work, it’s a very big deal.”
Hmm, it DOES sound like a single government plan! In that same speech he makes matters worse in terms of things like the truth by saying, “If you’re one of those people, the Affordable Care Act makes you part of a big group plan for the first time. The Marketplace is where you can apply and shop for affordable new health insurance choices. It gathers insurers under one system to compete for your business.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/10/26/weekly-address-enrolling-affordable-care-act-marketplace#transcript.
Big group plan, ONE SYSTEM, misleading? You bet. Much more persuasive than telling the truth, which is that for the majority of Americans, Obamacare and healthcare.gov is an online yellow pages where you can shop and compare plans from different insurers where some minority of Americans will be eligible for some federal dollars to help pay their premiums.
I was frustrated by the President’s language at the time and discussed it in my post, “The Week, 10/27/13, ACA Entitlement,” http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-week-102713-aca-entitlement.html, where I noted that the President’s sort of not true description of the marketplace and of Obamacare was his successful attempt to mislead the public rather than ‘fess up that Obamacare was an entitlement, the payment of federal dollars to one group of people, those getting Obamabucks under the PPACA, at the expense of others who would likely pay higher premiums, and/or higher copayments and coinsurance costs in non-exchange plans.
So, the reason that 26 percent of the people polled might think the ACA is a single government plan is because of the deliberate misleading of the American public AND because of the Federal dollars that are paid to those who fall within the Obamacare entitlement. Remember, most Americans don't get health insurance through exchanges, so it's a matter of understanding someone else's entitlement.
As far as the survey? A better question might have been: Though the ACA is a directory of different private insurance plans that you can sign up for and perhaps will be eligible to receive federal dollars to help pay your premiums to your chosen insurance company if you fall within certain income brackets, do you know what SINGLE GOVERNMENT INSURANCE PLANS THERE ARE IN THE US? The answer to that is Veterans Benefits and Medicare (NOT MEDICAID)and NOT Obamacare.
But then again, that would be providing clarity, and would require some standards of truth in information, which when it comes to Obamacare, we’re really lacking.
So here’s our CONSUMER CHEAT NOTES: Obamacare is a hybrid system, awarding federal entitlement dollars (government money) to eligible individuals who sign up for a private insurance plans using the government yellow-pages program of healthcare.gov, which will EXCLUDE the majority of Americans who will likely see their own insurance plans charge them more in the form of increased premiums and/or reduced coverage with the implementation of Obamacare.
The yellow pages digital directory also redirects those who are NOT eligible for Obamabucks by purchasing a private health insurance plan through healthcare.gov to their state’s Medicaid programs if their incomes are low.
These state sites may help insure the poorest among us LEFT OUT OF OBAMACARE and previously not eligible for Medicaid if the individual lives in a state that adopted expanded Medicaid (a combined state and federal program) under the PPACA. For those living in states that did NOT expand Medicaid, which is about half the states, these individuals will be left WITHOUT health insurance options in many instances.
