Are you against Obama's new health care plan? If so, why?
I was for it. Now I am against it.
We need reform not government take over.
The taxes that are being included in this law are overwhelming.
Nope don't think it at all. I think it isn't worth the paper it is written on. Does not fix the problem.
For it, because we are already paying for people without insurance. The hospital can not refuse anyone treatment regardless of their ability to pay. So because a doctor's office can refuse to treat you, these people go to the emergency room (remember the post a week ago about the lady who went to the emergency room to get a pregnancy test?) which is so much more expensive. Then guess who pays for it? The whole argument about forcing someone to buy something is silly because it's not like forcing someone to buy a pen. Eventually, everyone will need medical treatment. That is a fact of life. Personally, I am hoping that there will be a government option that can be purchased in case of catastrophic events. I really don't understand why people can't purchase medicare or medicaid. How is it that prettty much the entire world has affordable medical coverage but somehow if we try to do it people will be dying in the street? Maybe we can look to our northern neighbors for a model?
There have been a lot of past threads on this, but for whatever it's worth, I am for it.
It will enable the hundreds of thousands (at least) of Americans with preexisting conditions to get health insurance at a rate they can afford.
It will forbid insurance companies from dropping people from their rolls when they become seriously ill.
It will allow young Americans to stay on their parents' policies until age 26.
All that said, I don't love the individual mandate. I'm not sure anybody really does. I would have much preferred an public option, that people could have bought into if they wanted.
I understand why people are opposed to the Affordable Care Act on the basis of the public option, I really do. However, some of the other objections -- that it amounts to a wholesale government takeover of the health care system -- are not based on the actual law at all.
Overall, I think it will be a net positive. It will enable people get preventative care rather than waiting until they're seriously ill, which will lead to a healthier population overall.
It will also be a boon to entrepreneurship, since the cost of health care is a major reason why many would-be entrepreneurs don't strike out on their own. And that, in turn, will free up job openings for the unemployed.
Not perfect. Not the law I would've written,* were I a legislator and all. But a whole lot better than what had before.
* It IS, however, the law Mitt Romney wrote. Obamacare is basically Romneycare, only national. From what I understand, people in MA are pretty happy with it.
Do I enjoy my personal rights being so incredibly violated? Do I enjoy the blatant stomping on the constitution. No, not really. Not at all, in fact.
I AM 100% in favor of healthcare and insurance reform. I'm not in fan of the administrations method of "reform." How this act was even allowed, is beyond me. The way they have violated MY rights, is scary. And, to what end? They got away with it now. What's next?
I am completely for it!
Thanks to parts that have already gone in to effect, my niece that was born 2 months premature and has health issues as a result can get health insurance. Without the Affordable Care act she would not have health insurance at all. If my father was not retired civil service and getting guaranteed health care from the government as part of his retirement he'd have no health insurance because he's has quadruple heart by-pass and has other health issues. Health insurance companies can no longer consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition so if you or your spouse change jobs mid-pregnancy you will continue to get the care you and your baby-to-be deserve. I will be able to keep my children on my health plan until they are 26, so they can focus on going to college and not have to worry about health insurance if all they can manage is a part time job while taking classes. I no longer have to pay $30 co-pays per child for their yearly exams, this saves me $90 a year for my 3 kids. I'm more willing to go in myself for a check up because I do not need to pay a co-pay any longer. Going in before there are health issues is far more cost effective than waiting to only go in when we're sick.
You still get to keep whatever health insurance you have today or buy whatever you would like. The penalty is only if you choose not to have any health insurance at all. The money collected through this penalty is then used to pay for health care bills of those that aren't insured instead of those of us with health insurance footing their bills for them. A hospital does not have to charge $10 for a single pill of over-the-counter aspirin to help defer the costs of those that come in without health insurance. This helps bring our premiums down as the insurance companies do not have to pass on that $10 to us. There are many other great reason I am for it but these are the highlights.
To the argument that "I am healthy, I eat right, I exercise so I never get sick so I don't need health insurance", what if you are in a car accident? What if you are on a ladder cleaning your gutters and fall and get hurt (my grandfather broke his back doing just that!), what if you slip on an icy sidewalk and break something? Don't some of you ladies need to get your yearly exams to get your birth control?
You have car insurance, you have home insurance, why on earth would you not want health insurance? Is your family's health less important than your car or house? I would think not!
I'm for it, even though it is only one step in fixing the problems in our system. Like B.B. said, we're end up paying for uninsured people's health care anyway. Also, treating the illnesses that land people in an ER is a lot more expensive than getting people preventative care which enables them to live healthier, happier, more productive lives.
I am against it because it will do nothing to bring down the cost of health insurance, what it will actually do is increase the costs.
It would have been easier to just amend the tax code to either give everyone an exemption for health insurance or take that exemption away from employer based health insurance.
Nope instead we get 2,200 pages of carve outs to everyone that sent money to DC. What a nightmare.
I am for it. I am comfortable financially and own a small business. I have always provided health care for my employees. I think it is way more fair for everyone to have to carry insurance than just those of us who are responsible adults. The rest of the population uses health care and I pay for it. Now everyone pays (and everyone consumes).
The Congressional budget office (non partisan rating of all govt expenses) estimated in 2011 that the Affordable Care Act will SAVE (reduce the deficit) by $210 BILLION over the next 10 years. Today the CBO estimated that repealing the Affordable Care Act will COST (INCREASE the deficit - NOT save money) $84 BILLION between 2013 and 2022.
So - more people have health insurance, the costs are spread more fairly and we reduce the deficit. I really don't see what there is to be against.
I'm for it. (not that you asked for reasons why we are for it but....)
I have had health are for all of my adult life.
We are reasonably comfortable.
We are healthy.
*There is something fundamentally wrong with employer based health care.
Many families work several PT jobs and have no option of employer based healthcare (not by accident, all the better for the employers, right?)
*For WAY too long insurance companies have denied coverage for pre existing conditions. All the better for their bottom line, right?
*For as long as I can remember, the insured have complained about "those people" (the poor, the uninsured) using the ER as a doctors office and having to "pay for it" right? Yet, now, when the rubber hits the road it's about personal liberties and big government. Huh. Odd.
*The tail has wagged the dog for far too long. The insurance companies have become fat and happy and covered in gravy. They'd like thi gs to stay just the way they are, I'm sure.
Time for a change.
I havent heard many ideas for change before The Affordable Care Act--except maybe Romneycare.
Perfect? Probably not. (although Romney can't really attack it-people in MA like it well enough)
At least SOMEONE had the chutzpah to TRY to stop an elitist system that I think we will someday look back on with shame--like Jim Crow laws.
There's no reason that the wealthiest country cannot have health care for all. Except for greed. And no O. is buying that reason any more.
So, yeah...I'm all for it. It's a beginning.
I'm not personally affected by the change – I'm about to qualify for Medicare, before most new provisions kick in. But I'm strongly for it. I'd be much happier with a single-payer system that would help create more level access for everybody. Rationing is a reality right now, based purely on how much insurance a family is able to afford, or how much medical care they can pay for without insurance. I've known of families that had to run fund-raising events to cover even a fraction of the cost of treatment for seriously ill or dreadfully burned/injured children. One such family had already sold their home and moved in with relatives. That's just wrong.
I've worked all my adult life, but only briefly for an employer that provided medical insurance. For the past quarter-century I've purchased my own insurance – VERY high premiums (now nearly half my monthly income) for a $6000 deductible policy. I have almost no budget left for anything beyond food, housing and transportation. For many years, I've put off actual medical care unless a problem becomes very acute. The insurance would kick in only after a catastrophic event. I'm afraid I'll be a pretty expensive Medicare patient for at least a couple of years while I catch up on tests and surgeries I haven't been able to afford. And I'm one of the "lucky" ones who can actually buy insurance.
People like me who pay high premiums for obscene deductibles are pure profit to the insurance companies. Millions of "us" have helped keep down the premiums for many employer-provided plans. But it's too risky to go without the insurance, especially as we get older. Or if we have young children. Or if we're at risk for some illness. One terrible diagnosis can wipe out everything a family has worked for and force them into bankruptcy – it's the number one cause of bankruptcy filings. It's a highly punitive system for the millions of Americans who are not employed with the right companies.
"My" insurance company, known for very high profit-taking, is being required to refund excessive profits in a legal settlement. Just got notice that they'll refund around $300 to my household; nice, but not even close to one month's premium. And they've been taking high profits for decades. Why did I choose this insurance? Because multiple pre-existing conditions made it hard to find any company that would even insure me.
On Medicare I'll still pay premiums for supplemental plans, but they'll be lower than my private insurance, AND will pay for much of my actual medical needs. What a concept – insurance that helps with costs!
We've hashed this out a few times here on Mamapedia ;)
As I've said before, I'm for the main provisions of the bill and I'm pro-affordable healthcare for all. (I'd prefer single payer system, actually.)
I've always had healthcare, personally, and like BB said below, I'm already paying for the uninsured. I'd like to look at this as a 'personal responsibility' -- which it most certainly is. Conservatives talk alot about this concept so let's give everyone who's talking the talk the ability to walk the walk, too.
Oh, and it's not ObamaCare ... it's ObomneyCare. Let's give credit where credit is due, LOL.
I am against the federal government having so much control over the people. I think healthcare assistance should be handled by communities and churches. If someone needs help, their local community should be able to assist them, and to also judge whether they truly need help or are just looking for an easy hand-out with no work.
Government rules/laws for every little darn thing in our lives is getting ridiculous :(
How about asking the millions of people who now have medical insurance coverage who wouldn't except for the provisions of this bill that are already in place??
t am absolutely for the Affordable Care Act. I am currently underinsured, with a $188/month premium and $6000 deductible. I will be able to take part in the insurance exchange that my state has started developing, to compare different insurance options and to be part of a "group" insurance plan. If my income is still low at this time, this insurance cost will be subsidize so that it is affordable.
Without the ACA, as a 51 year-old female, I risk incredibly high premiums (hasn't happened yet because I've been incredibly healthy) as I age or if I would have one "female" issue. Without the ACA my insurance company could drop me as soon as I do have an expensive illness.
Will it fix all the problems in our system - no. Is it a really big step in the right direction - yes!
If you are financially well-off or well-employed (for now) you may not see the need for the ACA. If you worked as a job coach for recently unemployed people like I do and saw the fear in people's eyes and the desperation in their voices when they have their employer-funded health insurance taken away, you might be for it, if you had any compassion for others at all.
I pay a large % of my income to maintain my healthcare insurance for two reasons. First so that an unexpected large medical bill won't wipe out my retirement fund, and second, because I feel it is a moral obligation to provide to the extent I can for my own medical care. The ACA will make it easier for me to meet what I feel is my moral obligation as a responsible citizen in this country.
And "heaven" or whatever help us if anyone else in this country believes the total lies about this bill that 8kidsdad states here...
For it and hope it becomes more comprehensive. People who are predicting all kinds of terrible things it will do in the future are purely speculating. We already know how things are with the status quo. It cannot continue this way. The only people happy are the ones covered through their jobs or their spouse's jobs. The rest of the working uninsured are at outrageous risk 24/7. Sick of it.
I am against it. I already have health insurance, and don't want to pay for it again, and I'm sure my company will stop providing their insurance and i will end up with government insurance, and who wants that? I don't need the government taking care of me - I do that myself. It will cost more in the long run, and if we think we have trouble getting into the doctor now - just wait. I have a friend from Denmark, who is a nurse, and she said RUN RUN RUN from any government run healthcare. You will die waiting.
I am against it and all of the other socialist taxes Obama is shoving down our throats.
Sigh... I really wish 8kidsDad would get his facts straight about Obamacare. If you're going to be against it, be against it for FACTUAL reasons, not made up ones.
Anyway... I'm against it, but only because I think it is, in fact, a violation of freedom. As a libertarian, I think the government has NO PLACE to tell me what I have to buy, then tax me when I don't. It's positively ludicrous.
That is not to say that healthcare reform isn't needed, because it absolutely IS needed. Our healthcare system sucks, and it sucks hard. But invading personal freedoms should never, EVER be an option.
I'm against the Affordable Care Act mainly because I think it will ultimately make it much harder for many Americans to see a doctor.
I also would like to see actual HEALTH care. What we have now is SICK care. I'm dismayed by the pharma and insurance industries and they seem to like this bill (scary).
I would prefer an expansion of Medicare to people who can't access insurance in other ways.
Finally - I'm against a massive database of electronic health records (though I think this was part of a stimulus bill and not necessarily the ACA). Though it sounds great it is a privacy and civil rights minefield imho.
I am unsure about this bill but don't get me started on the new welfare plan... I explode!
Congress and the Senate will NEVER put themselves on the same playing field as the public. They will always have the best perks for themselves for everything because they can vote it in.
The new healthcare plan isn't perfect. It's going to have to go through a lot of changes and tweaks. However, outlawing recission and pre-existing conditions will prevent people who make our economy work from being screwed by the insurance companies, having to go bankrupt, and taxing our whole system.
The overhaul in Medicare will actually make it so that fewer people under 65 are covered, but in my view, that's an acceptable trade-off for all the rest of the working people be able to afford healthcare.
It's going to be very different and hard for people who are used to the "status quo", who don't have the problem of having NO healthcare. They want to keep things like they are and believe all the worst about changing it. I admit that I do NOT understand why they think that the healthcare insurance companies should be for-profit companies.
Dawn
As someone who has private health insurance I am very concerned about Obamacare. In theory, it's great. I am not a fan of more government in my life, but I do love the idea of people not being denied coverage. I've had to appeal being declined because of a paperwork mix up...it was not fun. It was a bit of a nightmare to get resolved. So the idea that I can just call and be accepted is nice.
But I don't buy into that fact that it's going to save so much money. It's band aid on a huge problem. It's not controlling medical costs, it's just shifting them around. People are going to be hit with co-pays, higher deductions and other out of pocket expenses. Meanwhile the cost of CARE isn't changing. Any REAL reform would be less profitable to insurance companies and hospitals...government isn't willing to take that on.
And people compare this to Canada all the time. This is not a new concept. Many, in fact, I would guess most developed countries require all citizens to be insured. It's often forgotten that Canadians are required to buy government-run insurance, not private. In many countries in Europe that are also required to have health insurance. Countries like Germany, Sweden and France use private insurance that is NON profit and highly regulated by the government to control costs. Britain charges taxes to cover health care. Non of these countries are dealing with private and for profit insurances.
I like the idea, but I don't think Obamacare is going to fix such a broken system.
B.B.Look to our northern neighbors!!!!!46,000came to the US for medical care. Dogs can get an MRI almost instantly. Humans have to first wait to
see a doc, then the referral goes to a board who will yay or nay it. If you
get approval, several months before you actually have your MRI. Have several friends in Canada. Obamacare is a disaster waiting to happen. Medicare has $500 billion in cuts. More and more docs are dropping Medicare. There is nothing in this bill about medical malpractice. Do you have any idea what that costs .If you have not figured it out yet, I am so against Obamacare. Since the signing of the bill, my daughters premiums
have skyrocked 20% 2011,2012, and another 20% this coming January.
Totally against it - too much government control under Liberal Obama
Sorry - really late to the answer here....
TOTALLY AGAINST IT!!!!
Not only no but HECK NO!!!!
yes, our healthcare system is messed up. however messed it is it does NOT need the government to come in and "fix it" - look at the USPS oh heck - just look at our Congress and see that they haven't had a budget in almost 4 years and you want them to be in your health life???? NO FREAKING THANK YOU!!
It's NOT free. Nothing in life is free.
it's costing us TRILLIONS!!!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cbo-obamacare-would-c...
If you are against it do you actually know what you are against?
If you are for it; do you actually know why?
I'm for it because I took the time to read the details of the Affordable Care Act rather than rely upon the media or the opinions of others.
Ever wonder why insurance and medical costs are so high? One reason (in addition to malpractice litigation); is because we ALL pay for uninsured and under-insured citizens. That's right; we subsidize those that do not have coverage. You don't have a choice about this right now; this is just the way it is.
Please read all the way to the end for a quick summary of the key points. I've posted the source of my info at the end.
Here's why I support the Affordable Care Act:
1. You have the right to "grandfather" in your current health plan. So you don't have to change anything is you don't want to! Be aware that if you do choose to grandfather your plan; you may or may not be eligible for some other aspects of the ACA as indicated below.
2. Some people may receive preventative health care at low or no additional cost. (Thing about the long term ramifications of this in terms of reduced ER visits, early detection of costly illnesses etc. !)
3. Greater ability to appeal denial of payment for services. (ever try to have a procedure that you insurance wouldn't cover?)
4. Have a college student? They can remain covered on your plan through age 26.
5. Been bumped from coverage due to pre-existing conditions? No more. There will be options for you.
6. Insurance co-op exchanges. Competition lowers the cost of insurance. Consumers benefit. Every shop at Costco or Sam's Club? Same thing but with insurance. These co-ops will be run by CONSUMERS.
7. Value for your premium dollar. 80-85% of your insurance premium dollar must be spent on actual medical care! This is a GOOD thing for you and me but hospital administrators are probably not happy about it. (If you are self-insured; this rule does not apply.)
Get this: For everyone else; if insurers violate this dollar rule; you will receive a rebate in the form of lowered premiums.
8. Lifetime limits for payments will be phased out.
9. Over 65? Medicare becomes a bit stronger. Some preventative care is free. Prescription drug discounts of those in the "donut hole". (started in 2011)
Last but not least:
10. Employers
Companies with 25 or fewer employees receive 25-35% tax credit to help with the cost of providing insurance.
Will implementation be perfect. Rarely is any government program perfect but at least it's a start in the right direction.
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/index.html
Thanks!
I am for it. I work in healthcare, in the Emergency Room. So I see the effects of lack of insurance every day.
