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Opposition to Obamacare Becomes Political Liability for GOP Incumbents

Greenbeard

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As a reminder, in the 2018 midterms exit polls showed health care to be by far the most important issue in that election. Those voting on health care preferred Dem candidates by a 52-point (75-23) margin. The Dems gained back the House with the largest midterm vote margin of all time, nearly 10 million votes.

And now once again the GOP's opposition to the Affordable Care Act is shaping up to be a major albatross around its neck.

Opposition to Obamacare Becomes Political Liability for GOP Incumbents
Despite Gardner’s multiple votes to repeal the ACA, he has largely avoided talking about the measure during the 2020 campaign. He even removed his pro-repeal position from his campaign website.
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“I did vote to repeal and replace Obamacare,” McSally said on conservative pundit Sean Hannity’s radio show during the 2018 campaign. “I’m getting my ass kicked for it right now.”
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Trying to take away people's health care wasn't popular when the GOP tried it in 2017. But trying it during a pandemic? Boy, I don't know.
 

This was the genius of Obamacare when it was created over a decade ago. It was generally unpopular and galvanized the Republicans then, but as people saw that it did not collapse the healthcare system, that it did give millions of Americans protection that it didn't give before, its popularity rose over time. In fact some experts believe that 2018 was secondarily a referendum on keeping Obamacare.

 
The poor have Medicaid, there's like 75 million poor people on it.

The old have Medicare, there's like 65 million people on it.

A lot of people are insured via their work, that's 150 million people.


The rest are small business owners who have to buy their health insurance on the open market. Guess what the best deal is for these people? Obamacare.


And small business owners make up a lot of Trump's base, so Trump's hurting his supporters.
 

Just to be clear, the insurance pieces of the ACA aren't just a marketplace to help families and small business owners get affordable coverage, though obviously that's part of it. The law added protections that can and do help virtually everybody.

The ACA is also what makes Medicaid into a universal program for poor people.

It added benefits to Medicare and shored up the program's finances (which prior to the ACA were on track to be exhausted by 2016).

It added protections and benefits for millions of people in employer-based coverage.

And the non-insurance parts help everyone. They invest in expanding the health care workforce, building up the nation's public health infrastructure, making our hospitals safer, recasting the business models health care organizations operate under to promote better care and lower costs. Boring, nuts-and-bolts, revolutionary stuff.

This is what the GOP has been trying to tear down and reverse for a decade.
 

Medicare by itself sucks. One must purchase additional care to survive.
 
considering the continuous Republican sabotage, i'm surprised that there's anything left of the ACA that is still functional.
 
The Democrats create problems and they try to blame others. This is a pattern that they repeat all the time. In this case, they created the unaffordable health care act, which hurt the middle class tax payer. Here is a link from the CMS or Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The entire article can be read at the link below.

Thank Obamacare for the Rise of the Uninsured | CMS


 

It's shameful we have a government agency acting as a campaign arm for the GOP and Trump. That's campaign propaganda. There's no line Trump won't cross apparently.

And here's an idea. If Trump doesn't like "Obamacare" then show us his ****ing plan. He's promised it for years, and we've seen nothing. Let's see what Trump's awesome, best ever, greatest of all time healthcare plan does for that couple nearing retirement. Show us the damn money, and quit bitching about how those other guys did the job, that he's spent the entire time trying to sabotage and dismantle.

The good news is there is NO ONE with the mental faculties to get dressed in the morning that believe the Trump/GOP "soon to be named later plan that will be awesome and so much better than 'Obamacare'" promises. It's been a decade now and the GOP has shown us nothing. Nearly four years and Trump's still got that plan coming in two weeks, two months ago....
 
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wellwisher said:
The Democrats create problems and they try to blame others.
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And yet here you are, sharing propaganda that blames the Democrats for premium hikes intentionally triggered by Trump when he illegally dismantled part of the ACA.

Obamacare bombshell: Trump kills key payments to health insurers
 

Before the PPACA, being a small business owner or an independent contractor was like being in prison without the protection of being in a gang. Obamacare was why I was able to have coverage, and as an artist, all the other models and artists I knew just took it for granted that health care was a luxury for the "other people." Always just a hair too "rich" for medicaid, and never even close to rich enough to buy an independent plan.
 
Helix said:
considering the continuous Republican sabotage, i'm surprised that there's anything left of the ACA that is still functional.
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They've thrown everything they can it, done all the sabotage they can think of, and it just keeps chugging along. For example:

Rate cuts planned by some Tennessee health insurers next year
Maine approves double-digit rate cuts for Affordable Care Act insurance
Exchange insurance premiums for NH individuals could drop by over 20% in 2021
Blue Cross projects lower individual ACA premium rates in region for 2021 [North Carolina]
Anthem proposes lower premiums for 2021 individual health plans [Virginia]
Covered California: state health service keeping premiums nearly the same in 2021
‘Obamacare’ individual policy rates for 2021 mostly hold steady in Montana
Rates To Decrease In Delaware Affordable Care Act Marketplace
New Yorkers’ Premiums Will Tick Up In 2021, But Barely, After State Steps In

With the Biden enhancements, it'll be even better.
 

just look at this, though :

https://www.cbpp.org/sabotage-watch-tracking-efforts-to-undermine-the-aca

how in the **** is it still working?
 
Helix said:
just look at this, though :

Sabotage Watch: Tracking Efforts to Undermine the ACA | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

how in the **** is it still working?
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It's a very robust design! That isn't to say it hasn't been significantly damaged, it could certainly be functioning much better if the entire GOP wasn't unified in attempting to screw it up. And the Biden enhancements really will make a huge difference for tens of millions of people.

But the fact that the GOP has landed so many blows on it and it still continues to function pretty well is indeed remarkable.
 

i wouldn't have predicted its survival of the constant assault. i've been waiting for it to collapse, and yet, on it limps.
 

What happened to the plan he was supposed to sign into law in August?
 
tres borrachos said:
What happened to the plan he was supposed to sign into law in August?
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As I've said before, FDR nailed the GOP decades ago.


 
avatar said:
Medicare by itself sucks. One must purchase additional care to survive.
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Medicare by itself covers the vast majority of the risk a recipient poses to insurers. So yes, you need a supplement on it to cover that 20% that Medicare doesn't cover, but seniors would be uninsurable absent Medicare or massive subsidies.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Medicare by itself covers the vast majority of the risk a recipient poses to insurers. So yes, you need a supplement on it to cover that 20% that Medicare doesn't cover, but seniors would be uninsurable absent Medicare or massive subsidies.
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That of course would not be true if we had universal healthcare.
 
avatar said:
Medicare by itself sucks. One must purchase additional care to survive.
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It also is totally useless if you are under 65 years old and do not have a disability. With the ACA, people don't have to wait that long to get public health insurance.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Medicare by itself covers the vast majority of the risk a recipient poses to insurers. So yes, you need a supplement on it to cover that 20% that Medicare doesn't cover, but seniors would be uninsurable absent Medicare or massive subsidies.
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And of course for poor seniors, Medicaid covers that 20% and other services not covered by Medicare.
 
avatar said:
That of course would not be true if we had universal healthcare.
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Medicare is UHC for seniors, and UHC doesn't imply first dollar coverage of every healthcare cost. There's nothing wrong with copays, or even supplemental plans, so long as those who cannot afford a supplemental plan aren't bankrupted by healthcare costs. My mom can afford the supplement - there's no reason for taxpayers to cover ALL her healthcare costs.
 

Medicare is not UHC care for seniors. Depending on which parts you have coverage will vary. If you cannot afford to purchase additional coverage such as part B,C or D you do not have universal health care.
 
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