Healthcare!

Blizzard said:
Disagree on the premise and title of the New Yorker article, II Duce. Also, having the title call out the GOP as not getting it, as though the Dems have any better insight, is laughable. I will be out of pocket for awhile but will try to get a response later tonight.
Click to expand...

The title is definitely clickbait - but I thought the content was decent despite that. It's always hard to take complex issues (economic theory, healthcare impacts) and build a succinct narrative - so I thought the article worth posting despite the flaws in the title and the incomplete nature.

I think it's fair to criticize GOP theories, policy, and legislation when that's what's being debated and voted on.
 
Ooh-Rah said:
Dems are getting their Meme on - they win this round, I think....

Democrats mock House Republicans for healthcare failure | Daily Mail Online

View attachment 18328
Click to expand...

I read somewhere this was a Republican defeat - but not a Democratic win. I think that makes a lot of sense. The Republicans dominate all three branches of government - so the drama playing out in legislation like this is all within the Republican party. Democrats just sit on the sidelines watching. Interestingly there were a lot of similarities when Obamacare was passed - on the opposite side of the aisle. The 'blue-dogs' like SEN Bayh of Indiana had much more to do with killing the public option than any Republican.

Thought this piece was a very good summary of the process and where President Trump and Speaker Ryan's strengths/weaknesses fell short: Inside the GOP’s Health Care Debacle
 
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Posting this editorial from Star Tribune because it has always been one of the most pro-liberal/Obama papers out there. Recently I have seen a change in its stance on guns/race relations and crime.

Now an editorial criticizing the Obama version and saying something remotely positive about Trump? :-o

LOL - the only thing that makes sense to me is that the paper was recently purchased by Timberwolves owner, Glenn Taylor. Maybe he is pushing a more balanced agenda...

Definitely worth a read!

The Republican bill did not merit passage, but the challenge remains.
Health care setback shouldn't be an excuse to walk away from reform

<sorry I cannot cut/paste, their site blocks that on mobile devises>
 
Ooh-Rah said:
Posting this editorial from Star Tribune because it has always been one of the most pro-liberal/Obama papers out there. Recently I have seen a change in its stance on guns/race relations and crime.

Now an editorial criticizing the Obama version and saying something remotely positive about Trump? :-o

LOL - the only thing that makes sense to me is that the paper was recently purchased by Timberwolves owner, Glenn Taylor. Maybe he is pushing a more balanced agenda...

Definitely worth a read!

The Republican bill did not merit passage, but the challenge remains.
Health care setback shouldn't be an excuse to walk away from reform

<sorry I cannot cut/paste, their site blocks that on mobile devises>
Click to expand...

I think the editorial is still operating with conventional wisdom - at least on policy - on the left. While most Democratic politicians will spend most of their time criticizing the President and the other side of the aisle I think most folks in policy on the left recognize many of the shortcomings of Obamacare. I read that the average premium increase last year was 22% for insurance on exchanges - but the rate has had significant variance by state (as high as 116% in Arizona and as low as -3% in a state I can't remember). That's compared to I think somewhere between 8 and 16% increases the previous years. The CBO and other analysts have generally predicted the exchanges are not going to collapse (or implode as I think the President said) across the nation - but there is very real danger in some states (I think Tennessee was the one highlighted - only one insurance provider on the exchange that may leave this year) of significant coverage gaps.

So, it means (from the policy positions on the left - the right likely disagrees) there are significant problems to be addressed in controlling costs, insuring access to a robust marketplace, and helping dilute the risk pools (which I've read is a main driver of pushing insurance providers out or causing them to increase premiums). If nothing is done about those problems even if Obamacare doesn't collapse it will continue to deliver poorer returns. When you take into account how significant Tom Price's DHHS is to helping administer Obamacare that downturn could be significantly sped up through executive and administrative action.

I think the political question for policy-makers becomes who gets blamed for Obamacare's failure to improve or if it gets worse? Political analysts after the failed Trumpcare vote yesterday are saying the current administration and Republicans but I'm not so sure - and I think a lot of political wonks aren't either. I listened to an interview on NPR with a journalist from the Atlantic who had done a ton of reporting in rural America about the voting of poor and working class whites who had benefited from Obamacare. Many of the people she talked to and interviewed in-depth understood Obamacare fairly well - and understood their coverage. They voted for President Trump believing he would improve Obamacare - they dismissed anything he said indicating they would lose coverage.

What voters decide to believe does not necessarily correlate to the facts or strong analysis - I don't think any modern politician has better understood or been able to take advantage of that better than President Trump.
 
These Americans Hated the Health Law. Until the Idea of Repeal Sank In.

Echos some things I brought up earlier in this thread.

People are dumb. Many believed the BS attack ads as truth and didn't even realize they had coverage thanks to the law.

My favorite/least favorite part of this article is towards the end, where a woman talks about how she would rather pay the fine than get insurance, while simultaneously not being able to afford something that insurance would cover. Not too mention, her diabetes is probably slowly killing her...
 

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