Pulaski

As I predicted, they probably discovered that the deductibles are so high that they had to pay the premiums AND most, if not all, of the cost of their consultations and treatment.

Michael

That is not what I was saying though. I suspect that there are many that would rather take their chances and just pass the bill onto the government or increased premiums for others if they got sick.

That part is only a part but there are parents that don't want their children kicked off their policy at age 18, don't want insurance companies to cancel their policy when they get sick, don't want to be put on an expensive high risk pool when they get sick, retirees like that it fills the prescription drug donut hole and starts the government starts paying for part of the cost for the prescription drug program before the donut hole is reached, and low income earners like the idea that they can afford health insurance for the first time in their lives.

There may be less than 20% that would want to keep all the provisions of Obamacare but a large majority want to keep the ones that benefit them so they don't want a complete repeal.

HumphreyC

We're probably not talking about a mass drop-off here. That article says:

'However, Whiteman noted that some of the respondents who said they didn't plan on using the Obamacare exchanges "might just let their policy auto-renew," without shopping for a new plan on those online marketplaces.'

The people who say they are least likely to come back are the people in higher income brackets; possibly the expectation is that they are going to have insurance through an employer by the next enrollment.

Anyway - as with the death spiral, the idea that no-one was going to sign up, the death panels etc.. - the proof is in the pudding. First of all people were saying' no-one will sign up'; then they said 'OK people won't sign up but Obamacare will miss its enrollment target'; then they said 'OK people signed up, but they won't pay their premiums'. Now they are saying, 'OK they signed up but they will drop out'. Well we'll just have to see won't we?

caretaker

A comment I read on RT,
Elections have consequences Barack Obama
Erections have consequences Bill Clinton

FlaviusAetius

Everything sounds strange when taken out of context. Bush elaborated during an interview at the Miami Book Fair on November 14, 2010, while on his book tour, on that remark and what was behind the remark. He also was asked how it was he told Putin that he, Putin, was cold-blooded, and that is also explained. The interview is worth watching:

Anian

The pendulum swings in both directions.

So now that the economy is on track and unemployment is down, are the Republicans going to immediately take credit for it? I don't see much changing in congress, the blockers and blocked have just swapped hats.

Republicans won for the same reason Obama won his first time. People are fed up, whether for real or pretend reasons, and like to blame someone - although this time it is Obama. The next presidential election will be interesting, because all the half-decent Reps will be out on show, but it is unclear if any of them will actually get to the final hurdle given how the primaries attract so many wingnuts.

scrubbedexpat099

Who knows what people will do about O Care, I would assume that there will be some people paying large premiums thinking what am I getting if they have had issues finding a Doctor who will take it and then finding out they have a big deductible to pay.

Others believe it or not still do not seem to know it is available.

It was not fit for purpose which did not help, so much resource wasted.

Michael

What he said was not out of context. However he did elaborate 7 years later in his book and you believe that story which is fine. But if Obama does something, it always seems to some people to always be a conspiracy (he's spreading Ebola in the US to help terrorists, he wasn't born in the US, he bows to Muslim leaders because he is a Muslim instead of just being courteous, etc.) but when Bush held the Saudi King's arm while walking or walked into a locked door and then looking stupid not knowing what to do, people just joked about it.

thinbrit

I just don't trust him, him being born in Kenya and all...

Michael

If we compare Obamacare to Bush's Medicare reform, Obamacare subsidizes premiums, fills the prescription drug donut hole with an agreement from pharma, starts to subsidize drugs in the donut hole and pre donut hole, guarantees that insurance companies can't cancel or put a person into high risk pool, makes more low income earners eligible for Medicaid, allows children to be on their parents policy until 26, and someone can't be refused insurance.

Under Bush's Medicare reform, it paid insurance companies 15% more to provide the same coverage as traditional Medicare, it created a prescription drug plan but didn't contribute any money towards it, and the government put an agreement into the bill that the government wouldn't negotiate prescription drug prices.

Both cost the same amount to the government at about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Which one do you think helps consumer more?

In my mind, both are far from perfect but I really can't see the benefits of spending even $100 billion over 10 years for Medicare reform.

scrubbedexpat099

Getting off topic. But your bottom line is OK its crap but the other guys would have been worse.

Not a good pitch. Even when true.

SultanOfSwing

Now, wouldn't that be nice? Utterly impossible, given the mentality of the types of people who go into politics, but what a nice idea ...


A million times this. Go ahead and take whatever you want but for the love of Bohr, shut the **** up about it and don't expect me to give the slightest bit of a shit if you **** your life up while you're on it.

At least, if they were to make such substances legal, they could be taxed to shit and we could all make a bit of money off 'em ...

sir_eccles

The problem is that most people don't read the small print when shopping for a plan and don't understand what a deductible is and when it has to be paid.

Not all doctor visits are be subject to a deductible payment.

- preventative care visits
- flu shots
- many plans give you a set number of "free" doctor visits through the year

Michael

We can argue that point but I suspect a $10 trillion plan over 10 years would mean 50 attempted impeachments by the house instead of 50 attempted repeals of Obamacase.

Everyone wants the perfect program without paying for it but that is an illusion. The republican counter plan to ACA didn't pay for anything but it also didn't provide anything.

scrubbedexpat099

Despite some of the threads we see on this site, my assumption is that more peolpe on here should have a clue and do not.

Unless you are long term sick etc I do not expect people to be familiar. Just not logical. Makes you wonder how many would be up to understanding it anyway.