A leftist writer at Talking Points Memo openly acknowledges how Obamacare can still fail. I'm loving it. Just remember that it wouldn't have been possible for the Republicans to cause the implementation of Obamacare to be botched if Obamacare didn't contain inherent defects. Check it out: "Now that Obamacare has survived at the Supreme Court and the ballot box, proponents and opponents of the law agree its here to stay. But Republicans remain committed to botching its implementation, which along with inherent complexities in implementing parts of the law leaves in place significant obstacles to achieving its key goals. Although the GOPs efforts to repeal, invalidate and defund the law have not succeeded, here are the four biggest obstacles the law faces in meeting its key goals: 1) Ongoing Disapproval Of The Law...I think that the biggest obstacle to ACA implementation is the relentless negativity and opposition of the Republicans and their media outlets, said Tim Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University and an expert on health care law. Every step the administration takes toward implementation is resisted by the Republicans in Congress and in the state houses and sympathetic media. 2) States Declining To Expand Medicaid...The problem: Even though some Republican governors say theyll look for other ways to expand coverage, its an open question how or whether Americans below 133 percent of the poverty line will obtain insurance in the states that do not participate. 3) States Refusing To Build Insurance Marketplaces...The problem: The ACA lacks a funding mechanism for Department of Health and Human Services to set up exchanges for states that decline to do so themselves and congressional Republicans are unlikely to appropriate additional money for that. HHS, already stretched thin with the laws implementation, must find the money within its budget. 4) Nullification Of The Medicare Cost-Cutting Board...The problem: Senate Republicans can and have signaled their intention to filibuster nominees to the board unless its altered. Theyve already demonstrated their willingness to use the blocking tactic to nullify or reform agencies they dislike. Theyd have motive to do the same with IPAB: not only is it a key element of Obamas agenda, the health industry despises it, and even some House Democrats have voted to repeal it." http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/02/the-top-5-obstacles-to-making-obamacare-work.php Sahil Kapur Sahil Kapur is a congressional reporter for TPM. He previously covered politics and public policy for numerous publications including The Guardian and The Huffington Post. He can be reached at sahil [at] talkingpointsmemo.com.
There are 16 states that have told HHS regarding setting up the exchanges "You wanted it, You do it." Good for them. Hopefully, enough people will choose to pay the fine instead of buying from the exchange that we can crash the system.
I think this process is revealing a bit more about the inherent defects in the modern Republican party.
Oh BS. Obamacare is a disastrous law. It began as a cost cutting measure and amassed into a 2700 page hodge podge of tax increases and regulations and only became law because Democrats, who willing covered up the details and lied through their teeth, had a majority in both houses and a fixated media hell bent on supporting Obama.
No contest at this point. Poll Finds Bipartisan Public Support for Creating State Insurance Exchanges Despite Continuing Party Divisions Over the ACA Poll finds broad support for Medicaid expansion
I appreciate the information given, however, that indicates the continuing desire for Health Care reform. BUT, in no way indicates support for the ACA which the public was and is still against. If you go back to the Zogby poll most Americans wanted them to start over, NOT pass what they did. Your graph indicates more of a desire for real health care reform. The ACA ain't it.
That's been the great paradox in the polling all along: the policy provisions in the ACA generally poll very well, but just polling on the law generically returns mixed results. Well, not much of a paradox as the reason for this is obvious: the law as some amorphous, abstract concept has been the subject of a disinformation campaign since day one. When its opponents weren't attacking made-up provisions, they were demonizing it in sweeping and vague terms, usually interspersed with vast overestimates of its length and the like (see only as far as this thread: "Obamacare is a disastrous law... amassed into a 2700 page hodge podge of tax increases and regulations and only became law because Democrats, who willing covered up the details and lied through their teeth"). The problem the GOP faces now is that they have to engage on the policy. We're past the phase where the hardest question a GOP governor has to answer is whether he likes Obamacare (no!). The concrete questions before them are whether to expand their states' Medicaid programs and whether they want control over their states' exchanges. The public generally wants both, yet the GOP's kneejerk opposition to the law doesn't allow them to move in the direction of embracing any of its policy provisions. Because that would call into question the last three years of generic attacks.
"3) States Refusing to Build Insurance Marketplaces." ObamaCare "encourages" states to set up "exchanges" for the sale of one-size-fits-all health-insurance policies, but many states are balking. "The problem: The ACA [Affordable Care Act, an abbreviation for the law's formal title] lacks a funding mechanism for Department of Health and Human Services to set up exchanges for states that decline to do so themselves--and congressional Republicans are unlikely to appropriate additional money for that." This is what I've been saying since the Supreme Court's recent ACA decision. The leftists made a big mistake.
They've become a parody of a political party. As I said, even though states running their own marketplaces and expanding Medicaid are popular among the public, many (not all) in the GOP leadership are opposing them. The gist of the article is that the author is worrying about potential residual effects of GOP attempts to actively sabotage reform. In truth, they're on a perpetual campaign: 1) to deny people coverage (and if they fail in that, to at least deny them access to financial assistance for that coverage), 2) to keep people in the dark as to what they're eligible for in a craven bid to prevent them from shopping for insurance in the new marketplaces, 3) to voluntarily hand autonomy over state markets to the feds in hopes that'll give them something to complain about or bash the Obama administration for, and 4) to disrupt the current unprecedented slowdown in Medicare spending growth. And why? I don't know if even they can answer that anymore. Their goal is simply destruction, in hopes that if they burn everything to the ground they might somehow come out of the ashes slightly ahead of the Democrats. This process has been revealing for the GOP and what it's shown hasn't been pretty.
The angst in your post is palpable. I used to be a Democrat of the George Meany and Scoop Jackson variety. There are very few of such people left in America. One of the few is Walter Russell Mead. I respect and admire him. I think this comment from his site answers your question about what is happening: ................................................................................................................................................................... "...The fate of the Democratic party in America over the next decade is tied to Obama’s healthcare reform. If it is seen to be a success, America could trend Democratic for the foreseeable future. If it fails, liberalism as we’ve known it will take a massive hit. But, so far, support for Obamacare has been waning instead of waxing. Even a recent piece by Talking Points Memo that placed the blame for Obamacare’s potential failure on Republicans noted that the law’s unpopularity with the public at large was the number one threat to its success. Democrats are getting nervous and consequently are trying to put some distance between themselves and the ACA...." http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/02/15/key-democrats-turn-on-obamacare/ ................................................................................................................................................................. Long story short: This is all about power on both sides. Nothing more. Don't look for heroes or villains. It's just ordinary business according to America's political culture.
You don't need to make it into a morality play to find it sickening that the GOP is not just rooting for but actively attempting to induce higher costs for families, less access to insurance and needed care, and higher Medicare spending. They seek to destroy so that they can "prove" the ACA is destructive. A dangerous and petulant maliciousness whose victims (were they successful) would be ordinary Americans.
Obama should have proceeded incrementally instead of giving Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid subject matter jurisdiction over health care coverage. Obama's mistake was not to get conservative buy in the way LBJ and FDR did over Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security respectively. The lack of conservative buy in ensured that the ACA would become fodder for ongoing political struggle. The better approach would have been to cut the defense budget gradually to begin an incremental program to cover the uninsured...while leaving the rest of the health care sector undisturbed. Remember please that Republicans had the opportunity to throttle Social Security in the 1950s, during the Eisenhower presidency, but consciously decided to refrain from doing so because there was conservative buy in. Obamacare will come on line, but its implementation will be botched. Tens of millions will be adversely affected. Btw, my Republican phase ended in 2004. I don't care what happens to Republicans. They are neither friends nor foes. However, the Democrats are another matter.
Obamacare has not been "botched", but consciously sabotaged by Republicans. As people in states where the Republicans have screwed so many of the citizens from getting access to healthcare, see the states where the governments have worked to HELP the citizens, the Right will find itself further marginalized once again. This Republican strategy used to work, but so many companies have cut benefits and pay to reach their RECORD profits and RECORD pay levels for management, the numbers of "Haves" are going to be outvoted by the "have nots". Sorry, Righties, that is the problem with "winner take all" types of capitalism, it always produces just a few "winners" and LOTS of people who have been fleeced.
All the filibusters will do is to cement in the minds of Americans that the Republican Party remains the party of obstructionists.
It is indeed fascinating that the "ways Obamacare can still fail" has become a laundry list of the ways Republicans are simply trying to SABOTAGE the program by DISOBEYING THE LAW! The Republicans even complain that the bill doesn't contain ways to implement the program when Republican LEADERS choose to disobey the law and refuse to do their job! Let's see, Liberals do civil disobedience to try to PREVENT our troops and others from getting KILLED! Righties do civil disobedience to try to PREVENT people from getting access to good affordable healthcare. And Republicans can't figure out why they are losing elections. Derp!
The only real weak spot is funding of the exchanges, Medicaid has two strong points to encourage taking the money. The first its a lot of money going to states that means more medical care jobs, more money trickling through the economy and they are being taxes and all anyway they opt out the money goes elsewhere. The second is simpler hospitals are GOING TO LOSE most of the the funding they get for indigent care from Medicaid that money will need to be made up either by expanding Medicaid, the local and state governments doing so and/or sharply raising fees. [An example if New York opted out they would lose $750 million a year, other states take proportional hits based on population and other factors.] As for state exchanges run by the Feds they can ask insurers participating to pay for the costs its a lot of Federal money when did you see companies not take large amounts of money for a big government program, paying some of it could be seen as a good investment. And they likely wouldn't cost much to set-up and run if done properly. There is no provision to ban this its not a tax its a participation fee freely requested by the government and not forced upon companies they can opt in or out. As for the Medicare panel there are options not having them, instead assign a Medicare Reduction Czar to make a report to suggest things to cut and giving that to the HHS to decide how to act he can then executive order they enact reforms that will cut costs and do not unfairly impact the Medicare participant after a fair review by a panel they choose. He is the CEO of the nation he has lots of tricks he could do. And he is a lame duck president that takes pressure to hold back off some. If I was Obama I would play hardball give states enacting all the measures a 10% bump up for all Federal contracts, funding requests through agencies, grants through agencies and all citizens in that states and business would also be affected unless there is a standing contract or its mandated by the US Constitution or Federal Law. The Supreme Court did not say that they could not reward states participating did they? See then how long they opt to not join the program. It would only take one executive order!
The policy problems we have is cost, being dropped when you are sick and pre existing conditions. Of course the majority wanted to see them fixed. They could have been done through minimal legislation. That's a neat little box you carved out there. However the major concerns of the Per- ACA can easily be addressed while dumping Obama Care. Cost: Those Governors just need to eliminate their states requirements of the Insurance company having a corporate presence in the state and allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Insurance companies would need to compete for business with every carrier in the country. Dropping patients when they are sick: Write the legislation. Pre-existing conditions: Write the legislation.
I am happy to see you admit that Obamacare will not succeed. I like it when you admit the truth. - - - Updated - - - Only the conservative constituents of House Republicans can influence House Republicans. The broader non-constituent American people have no influence on House Republicans.
