Under GOP control, Senate finally passes bill to repeal Affordable Care Act

originally posted by: AboveBoard

We need to FIX it or go single payer. Go back to the "old way?" or "rip it up" and you hurt many millions of people - that's not so good in an election cycle.

There are better ways, Obamacare increased my medical expenses by 5 times, I'm not sure who is getting a good deal when even the lowest cost is still more money out of a poor person pocket then they have. Hell, give health care to the poor and leave everyone else alone. Now all the major brokers are shutting down because it is just not affordable to maintain.

As long as the insurance industry is in control it can never be affordable health care.

I didn`t enroll in obamacare and I won`t.Fines? Ha!Let them try to collect!

originally posted by: Xtrozero


As long as the insurance industry is in control it can never be affordable health care.

I do agree with that. Pesky middlemen...

I'm sorry the ACA has hurt you - I've said it a bunch of times that it needs to be fixed to be more fair for people so that we can all truly afford care. At this point I wish I'd been born somewhere with a better health care system. Now, our doctors are world class when we need extreme care, but our costs are a massive injustice.

The ACA has actually helped my family considerably (we would be paying $1400 per MONTH for a decent plan right now and we have to have a decent plan because we are higher risk). I know of others who have also been helped, and others who have felt screwed over by it.

It is very frustrating, I will also agree to that. I can't see anything really changing for the good, however, with our partisan politics being what they are - its insane.

peace,
AB

(PS - I'm very passionate about this issue because the "old way" screwed me over big time...)

a reply to: AboveBoard

One little problem with all this. People like you pick Iceland and Sweden etc and say look how good it is. On the other end we have Greece, so there is room for failure. Socialism works good when a few things are in place. Smaller populations and a large work force really goes a long way to offset the cost. Iceland has a population of 350k, small families, a lot of the population are workers, so they better be able to afford whatever they feel they need. Sweden with 9 mil is mostly the same and it works well. As we look at a country like America with 330 mil, but only 120 mil is the labor force so that really starts to put the burden on the workforce to pay for it all and things start to break down as the workforce dwindles. We see this in Greece where the workforce is mostly government nepotism type jobs and so the people suffer. Countries like France are feeling the pain too as they slide into more government type jobs and a smaller workforce. The answer might be at the state level, allowing the people of the state to do what is best for them, but government cost is a huge concern for us and Socialism for the US would be like throwing gas on a fire.

That’s right go ahead GOP senate kill people to satisfy your dogma

Just throw all those people with Obamacare to their fate and believe me many will die because of this if it is repealed I don’t believe the GOP would give a dam about the people left out to dry an would not protect those thrown off


I hope I'm wrong


This is one of the good things Obama has done though it is far from perfect

I’m 1000 percent behind Obama on this one

And this is why we have to hold our noses and vote for Hilary Clinton

originally posted by: AboveBoard

The ACA has actually helped my family considerably (we would be paying $1400 per MONTH for a decent plan right now and we have to have a decent plan because we are higher risk). I know of others who have also been helped, and others who have felt screwed over by it.

It is very frustrating, I will also agree to that. I can't see anything really changing for the good, however, with our partisan politics being what they are - its insane.

I was in favor of voucher for those who need them. That would provide you with additional help and for me I would get nothing but my healthcare would stay the same. I been all over the world and healthcare is cheaper in so many places, and it could be that way here. The funny part is once you experience healthcare in America outside of the insurance umbrella you really see the problem.

My kid got pink eye at the start of a three day holiday weekend. Could not see a doctor and was told to take him to the ER. Well ER in Texas is a 10 hour weight and 1000 bucks if you do not have insurance. I was like all hell this sucks. We a person told me of a pay by cash clinic and I went there. In and out in 20 minutes and it cost me a 20 dollar bill. If medical was actually affordable out of pocket we would only need catastrophic insurance.

originally posted by: Willtell
I’m 1000 percent behind Obama on this one

Good idea but a really bad way to do it...We need to start over.

And this is why we have to hold our noses and vote for Hilary Clinton

Throw all America under the bus for that nasty B just to protect Obamacare? Wow, I guess there is nothing else you care about.

Your individual accounts mean nothing. Just like you won't care that without the ACA I wouldn't have health insurance because of a no-impact pre-existing condition. It's the big picture that matters. And the big picture is that millions got healthcare that couldn't have it before. In this country, a supposedly compassionate and incredibly wealthy country, the bulk of the populace is unhealthy and unable to pay for unexpected health issues... even with insurance. There is no excuse. And it comes down to greed. Yup, the ACA is still rooted in the for-profit system, which is really a drag. But it's better than before, maybe not for you, but for the masses.

originally posted by: ThirdEyeofHorus

originally posted by: AboveBoard
a reply to: ThirdEyeofHorus

Norway and Sweden and the UK are on the brink of Soviet style Communism and three-block long lines for toilet paper? Wow. I had no idea. Someone should tell them.

. Ummm ok. thefederalist.com...

Your source article is hardly believable and reads more like uninformed opinion than any statement of fact.

For example, I think it stated that wealth inequality was worse over there than it is here in the U.S.. As an example, it went on to state that their top "decile" of earners controlled between 65 & 69% of their country's wealth.

According to my dictionary, "decile" equates to 10% which is nowhere near the magnitude of wealth inequality we have here in America.

If I'm not mistaken, 1% of our earners control more than 65 or 70% of our nation's wealth.

I guess I'm supposed to believe it's worse over there just because the author of the article wants me to?

Or maybe, I wasn't supposed to look up the definition of "decile?"

Or, maybe the the article was actually written for the soul purpose of telling the willfully ignorant exactly what they want to hear and believe.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

In short this was a colossal waste of time. So they passed a bill, hat will ultimately have a Veto by the President. And as they do not have the numbers there, to over turn a presidential veto, it pretty much was useless. Nor can they afford failure, as this will be touted. It also opened them up to a slew of other bills that force them to make a choice, that will put Republican congressmen at risk of being voted out of office. Combine that with the contenders for president on the Republican party and the party is going to implode.

Personally I think that trying to repeal this bill will never go anywhere not for a long while and by the time that they manage to get it again, it may not be so popular. To quote a movie: Be careful of what you seek, you may not like it.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

It was allowed to go through because it will die once out of the senate....Not even worth a fillibuster.

a reply to: hounddoghowlie

Still not enough votes. It will get vetoed.

originally posted by: JDmOKI
a reply to: Krazysh0t

I'm sure peoples opinions are going to change drastically when they find out the penalty for not having health care during tax season, I think its $695s per person[/quote

COOL! That's only about $50 more than my affordable healthcare monthly premium was going to be. I found an MD who will accept cash if I need to see her so after my fine, and a few trips to the MD per year, I'm money ahead.

I don’t know why the current day GOP calls itself the “conservative” party. It represents anything but conservative values. It’s become a radicalized version of a once-conservative party. It’s constituency largely throws it’s supposrt behind the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Can you spell “fascism”? They have no concern for the common good, and are driven by corporate capitalism and military dominance above all. These folks haven’t gone into politics to advance our nation and strive for a decent standard of living for all. The Congress has accomplished little in recent years and has openly followed an agenda to obstruct Obama at all cost. They are destroying our country.

Ryan (House Speaker) is a joke. He’s even worse than Bohner and just as incompetent as his insignificant other, Mitch McConnell. Rather than doing something for the People like working on an infrastructure bill to create jobs, or passing a minimum wage adequate for the times, they’re absorbed in things like setting up roadblocks to ensure a failed foreign policy under Obama, writing meaningless legislation to ONCE AGAIN repeal Obamacare, defunding programs like Planned Parenthood and Meals on Wheels, attempting to derail the Paris Climate Change Talks, playing politics with the NASA budget, etc., etc., etc.

As far as repealing ACA goes, what a callous, destructive move that would be. Sure, there are things about the bill needing to be changed, but that’s no reason to scrap the whole thing. Congress should be working to improve it and make it better. The American people would be grateful for that, and it’s what we pay Congress to do. But, instead of making an effort to improve the bill, they wish to repeal it without any viable alternative. Just for the record, ACA (including the mandate) was a Republican idea hatched by the Heritage Foundation before it was a Democratic idea. It worked like a charm in Mit Romney’s state. It wasn’t until Obama decided to implement it that the GOP did an about-face on the issue and decided to oppose it.

The GOP is so consumed with their hatred for this President that they’re willing to take the whole country down if need be in order to destroy any lasting legacy he might leave. How totally disgusting is that?! And the far right-wing media is booming. Their GOP recruiting methods are often as sick and convoluted as those used by ISIL to recruit new Jihadist pledges. Alex Jones is already manufacturing a conspiracy theory about the San Bernardino massacre being faked in order to take away America’s guns! Donald Trump happened to be a guest on his radio show just before the SB mass shooting took place, where Jones was making the claim that Sandy Hook was staged in order to promote a gun control agenda. My God! The leading GOP candidate for President even endorses this garbage! I don’t know how the Party can sink much lower than this. This should be shameful and offensive to anyone not suffering a serious mental disorder.

Although I’ve always leaned to the left, there was a time when I at least listened to the GOP and believed many of their views had merit. That was before today’s far right-wing radicals (not conservatives) siezed power. Now it seems the GOP brings nothing to the table but negativism, hatred, threatening tactics, and a total lack of vision. A whole lot of complaining and whining and hostage taking, while scarcely any solutions are being offered. I can only hope that one day soon America wakes up and comes to it’s senses before it’s too late. These clowns currently steering the ship are on a Titanic style collision course with an unmoveable force. And we’re allowing it happen!

Have a good day...

originally posted by: Sunwolf
I didn`t enroll in obamacare and I won`t.Fines? Ha!Let them try to collect!

YEah my dad tried that. they showed up with th esheriff and said either pay the money or he was going to jail right then and there.

originally posted by: EternalSolace
a reply to: yuppa

A bill can only be passed and sent to the president once. If vetoed, there's the opportunity to override the veto with the 2/3rds vote. If that fails, they cannot pass the same bill again. They can revise the bill, pass it, and send it to the president. But they can't do that with the same bill.

Ahh ok. thanks for clarification.wonder if they can make th eprint really small and stealth one by him.

originally posted by: MOMof3
So, does that mean the pre-existing clause will come back? I have hypertension so they won't pay for anything to do with that condition, i.e. strokes or I go to a high risk pool, again?

No one knows what would happen if the ACA went away, but the answer to your question is probably yes.

Honestly, if the ACA goes away the entire insurance sector would probably disappear for a few years. There would be no insurance and several hospitals would likely close.

When insurance finally did come back, you would be in a high risk group (if you got coverage at all) because people who are likely to need expensive treatment are going to pay very high premiums, that's an unavoidable fact of how insurance works.

originally posted by: ThirdEyeofHorus
a reply to: Kukri
Don't kid yourslf nothing is free. It is still a redistributionist scheme . All those people in those other countries are paying for it in taxes. People really need to learn the truth instead of relying on propaganda from the socialist left. Also the unintended consequences are that employers are not hiring full time because they cannot afford ACA. People are suffering from this in a palpable way. Also costs have gone up not down which is what happens when gov tries to force price controls on the market. Plus if gov pays for stuff the cost automatically goes up.

And despite that the US has a comparable tax rate, lower quality of life, and some of the highest work hours in the developed world with the least paid time off.

originally posted by: AboveBoard
And that is where you are wrong and show that you did not understand the "system" of the past.

I had cancer at a young adult age and for TEN YEARS after that I could not buy ANY health insurance. They did not care that it could kill me to be uninsured and I had NO follow up care. I'm still alive but it is in spite of big health insurance folks who care exactly as much as credit card companies and collection agencies.

My son has a congenital heart defect. Upon reaching adulthood, he can stay on our insurance now until age 26 AND in spite of being medically fragile, he NO LONGER has to choose poverty and Medicaid (your tax payer dime) to stay alive and afford his medication or future cath lab or surgical procedures.

If you think it wasn't broken, then you never really needed it.

A friend of mine is in a wheelchair. He was on disability for 15 years, but he eventually finished college, got himself a degree, and then the degree lead to a graphics job. Once he started getting paychecks he lost his disability and started making too much for Medicaid (we're not talking a lot of money here, maybe 18k per year). Basically, he fell into the gap where he doesn't get a subsidy, can't afford insurance, and doesn't get it provided. He's about to be forced to quit his job and go back onto disability at $700/month because in the past 6 months of work he has racked up $50,000 worth of medical expenses that he can't pay.

The system is screwed up, his situation now is the way it was for millions more without the ACA. The ACA fixed that for some people but not for everyone. If the ACA is repealed he'll be even more screwed as he'll never get insurance due to pre existing conditions.

Kill the ACA then impeach that traitorous POS