When President Obama signed his landmark health care reform measure into law two years ago today, there was no shortage of debate surrounding the package, and not all of it was policy focused. For example, what were we supposed to call it?
These major pillars of American public life need good names. We all know what Social Security is. We all know what Medicare is. But the health care reform law's given name -- the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- didn't exactly roll off the tongue, and PPACA was unwieldy.
Following Matt Yglesias' lead, I always liked the "Affordable Care Act," or "ACA," while the right went with "Obamacare." I was never fond of that name -- the health care law, it seemed to me, was about us and our ability to seek quality care we can afford, not about the president -- and it's not like anyone was running around referring to Medicare as Johnsoncare or Social Security as FDR Security.
But it was hard not to notice the ubiquity of the "Obamacare" label, and in an interesting move, the president's re-election team has decided to embrace it with both arms. David Axelrod sent an email to supporters this afternoon with a subject line that read, "I like Obamacare." The letter said:
The Obama campaign's new website
I like Obamacare. I'm proud of it -- and you should be, too.
Here's why: Because it works. So if you're with me, say it: "I like Obamacare."
Obamacare means never having to worry about getting sick and running up against a lifetime cap on insurance coverage. It gives parents the comfort of knowing their kids can stay on their insurance until they're 26, and that a "pre-existing condition" like an ear infection will never compromise their child's coverage.
It's about ending the practice of letting insurance companies charge women 50 percent more -- just because they're women.
And Obamacare can save seniors hundreds of dollars a year on prescription drugs -- and gives them access to preventive care that is saving their lives.
The email also refers supporters to a new "I Like Obamacare" website.
This doesn't completely come out of nowhere. Back in October, the president told an audience, "They call it Obamacare. I do care, that's right. The question is, why don't you care?"
But this new, unambiguous embrace of the name Republicans have used derisively for years is something neither the White House nor the president's campaign team has done before.
Incidentally, while the political/rhetorical shift is interesting, let's not overlook the policy. Axelrod's email boasts that the law "works," and it's worth considering whether he's right.
From where I sit, there's no real doubt that he is. Much of the Affordable Care Act won't take effect until 2014 -- assuming it survives until then -- but several provisions that have already been implemented are having a positive impact.
The health care law (1) is combating fraud and abuse, which in turns saves Americans quite a bit of money; (2) has brought coverage to 2.5 million young adults; (3) is delivering major savings to seniors on prescription drugs; (4) is giving a boost to small businesses through ACA tax credits; (5) has slowed the growth of Medicare spending; (6) has provided new treatment options for cancer patients; and (7) has offered new coverage protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
These are tangible, real-world benefits, making a meaningful difference in people's lives.
I'm well aware of the polls. The right has invested an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and cash into convincing the public that the reform law is a freedom-crushing disaster, hell bent on destroying Western Civilization. The p.r. offensive has taken its toll, and Americans who don't know much about the law's details have been misled -- there's ample data that shows the public loves what's in the Affordable Care Act, even if they think they oppose the law itself.
But if we ignore perceptions and deal with reality, "Obamacare" is, in fact, delivering on its promise, and helping millions of families who need the support.
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"it seemed to me, was about us and our ability to seek quality care we can afford, not about the president -- and it's not like anyone was running around referring to Medicare as Johnsoncare or Social Security as FDR Security"
I agree & find the name a bit distasteful. But, even Talking Points Memo is taking to using the word as some "neutral" label, so at some point, for Obama it is a lost cause to avoid it.
The problem is not what to call it but that many people haven't a CLUE what they get as a result of it. The president's campaign needs to do a series of ads that tell people in simple terms what the bill does for THEM! In a country where people are used to text messages make it simple, direct, and easy to understand. No big words. This is a pretty good bill when you know what it does. Where do I sign the "I like Obamacare." declaration? By the way...I'm an RN.
They have been putting together some pretty powerful videos about that very thing. Not sure if they're going to be aired on TV but I'm ready to plunk down some cash toward that. See here:
http://www.barackobama.com/record/health-care?source=primary-nav
I think selling it is important but "Obamacare" is part of the argument used to attack it -- it isn't an imperfect law that does a lot of good but about "Obama" and it isn't a bipartisan idea, but something out of Great Society ("Medicare") and a "leftist" thing. I think the name framing is not trivial in that respect.
I've been seeing ads about the anti-fraud portion on US TV channels.
Outstanding.
Seems to me that if liberals embrace the name "Obamacare," it neutralizes some of Republicans' derogatory meaning for the name.
Own the name and make it yours.
Turn it into a positive.
Disarm the critics who support Don'tCare policies.
A positively brilliant strategy. Republicans simply cannot compete when it's so glaringly obvious they're way out of their league intellectually.
Smart move. Embrace the name and tell everybody you are proud of what we have accomplished and why.
How about an "I like Obamacare but would love socialized medicine" Site?
Or maybe a "kill the insurance con game" site?
I would LOVE to see Social Security renamed "Roosevelt Retirement Insurance". The former is a warm, fuzzy whatsit, the latter conveys what the Act does. I would LOVE to see Medicare re-branded as Johnsoncare, as with Obama, it was the President who made it happen. Would that the Rebublican'ts go back in time and send us these choice epithets!
The right wingers love to put simplistic labels on things for their base for several reasons. However right from the very beginning I have actually embraced the "Obamacare" label because 1. Presidents both Democrat and Republican have been trying to pass Healthcare reform for decades so reminding people that Obama did it is great 2. This was Republican legislation that Republicans worked on for years spending god only knows how many hours and how much money on so again giving Obama and the Dems credit... and 3. This I believe is just the beginning, the legislation will only improve with time as our legislators refine it.
I actually find it hilarious that the extreme right wing propagandists like those at Fox and Clear Channel put this "Obamacare" label on the Healthcare Reform Act because they have forever given credit to Obama for this great plan the Republicans created and everyone is going to love forever when they could've taken credit themselves eventually if they had just left it with a neutral label. As usual in these modern times the Republican Party has been betrayed by the extremists in the right wing media who control their party more so than their actual senior party leaders.
But darn it! I guess Roosevelt and Johnson just weren't considered Black enough for their names to help undo legislation.
Obamacare(s).
Obamacare?
Obamacare(s) - how about
Obama Cares!
Romney Cares - no - he hires people to do that for him - then fires them.
Santorum Cares enough to give you statehood - but only if you all speak English
Gingrich Cares enough to let poor children clean up the excrement and urine of richer children - who already understand the work ethic. They understand that work ethic from watching their maids make their beds.
I was hoping for bumper stickers - but I'll have to do some editing.
Look, I'm from the George Lakoff school of "don't fight the frame with the frame" - but it's a little late for that, so, okay, I can get wiggy with the martial arts idea of "use your opponent's strength against him."
Because "Obama cares," my nephews with pre-conditions are looking at a trajectory for their lives that is much more positive than it was before healthcare reform.
GOBAMA 2012!
Obama Cares, Obamarama, or NooneCares like Obamacares! Don't chance it, let's keep moving forward. The 99%'s voice vote Democrat. Think twice and vote Democrat once. Someone could come up with a dance called the Obamarama.
Please don't try and say the 99% are democrats, when that is so far from the truth. We are talking about a huge group, 99% of our nation, and they are very diverse. Many, like myself, are independent; fed up with a two party system that does not address our needs. Tired of being lied to and sold a bill of goods to see no change in the system.
It really speaks volumes about the political discourse in America that "we want to help you be healthy" is met with such scorn, hatred and anger from a pretty significant portion of the population.
I'm still just trying to figure out how 'wanting people to be healthy' somehow makes Democrats the bad guys. Someone's going to have to explain that to me, because it baffles me.
I mean, I come from the UK. We have the NHS, that's our system. I don't think I've ever seen or heard, or even heard of anyone calling the government Communists because they want people to have health care. Because that would be insane.
No offence meant to America, I love your country and very much wish to, at some potential point in the future, live there but seriously? You need to sort this kind of thing out. A 1st world nation where a chunk of the population carries pictures of the President dressed as Hitler because he wants them to have more than 3 teeth and not be coughing up blood really needs to collectively get together and pull its head out from where the sun don't shine.
The idea that the government could get the power to bargain for a better deal for everybody makes insurance companies queasy.
They will fight anything that remotely resembles a group discount, and they'll fight dirty - with OUR money.
I hate the fact that most of the people who hate Obamacare have no idea what's included in the law.
Personally for me, and a lot of people under 26, the best thing about the bill is being able to stay on our parents' health insurance (which they pay for, not taxes), regardless of student status. Because of this, I was able to take some full-time paid engineering internships (which are leading to well paid full-time positions) during the academic semester without losing health insurance coverage, which I really can't afford to go without.
They don't know the reality because they don't want to know. And that's the problem. They're more than happy to just listen to what Sean Hannity tells them than to actually look this stuff up themselves.
They start from the opinion and work backwards. It's "I hate Obama and everything he does, now I need to find reasons to justify that!" and because there really aren't any, or at least not many, they end up turning to total nonsense that can be easily disproven to justify their predetermined hatred.
Seriously one of these days someone needs to collect a list of every bogus claim the Republicans or their supporters have made about Obama and just go through disproving every single one with simple facts and information.
Though even then the Republicans would still ignore it because it's "part of the liberal media".
It's insane! I'm pretty sure most people would agree that increased access to preventative medicine saves money for everyone (the insured, the insurers) in the long term. Guess which law increases access to preventative medicine?!
And I'm sure that most families earning $88k or less a year (aka most American families) would love having a 10% cap on their out of pocket premium. We should make a law for that too!
Why is it so evil to make healthcare, which is an absolute necessity for a lot of people, more affordable for hard working Americans who pay for it?
Scamming people has become a national past-time with Most Companies and businessess. When you're paying $180.00 dollars for something that cost $25.00 to make. Something is wrong. I think we have an epidemic in this country and it's called Greed. Plain and Simple. Our Service providers are no longer in it for the benefit of their customers they are in it to make money. Every BHT tech knows this just ask them what is their pay based on. It is based on how many times you talk to the patient and how many different meds can you prescribe to a patient. This brings them in money they could care less if they actually helped a patient. And Patients have no choice. Welcome to the world of modern medicine.
"Why is it so evil to make healthcare, which is an absolute necessity for a lot of people, more affordable for hard working Americans who pay for them?"
It's evil because giving the government the power to make things more affordable for people leads directly to Communism and Obama establishing himself as Supreme Ruler for Life!
Sure to us that argument makes no sense but the people who believe that... they don't perceive reality the same way as regular people do.
They're the same people who believe legalising marijuana leads directly to people's children servicing Belgian businessmen in phone booths for their next hit of heroin, or that if gay marriage is made legal there'll be people doing their dogs openly in the street.
These people base all of their arguments on Slippery Slopes, paranoia and fear. There's just no reasoning with them.
I thought of another bumpersticker because of the other discussion. "Stayin With What We Have"
My union is completely against obamacare. And so am I. It's a waste of american money. I take care of my own. Not my neighbors.
Which specific parts of the law do you dislike?
Justy Pickle
You must be part of the 1%. Sending or troops to war with people who did nothing to us and subsidizing big oil is a waste of American money.
You were being sarcastic right?
I am curious what union opposes Obamacare. Could you please identify the union to which you are a member? I assume there are documents that outline their reasons, and I would like to know what they are.
What is so f'n wrong with taking care of your neighbors? Should volunteer firefighters just go home and let people's homes burn? Should people not volunteer at hospitals, food banks, or for search parties? Would you really advocate that we turn our backs on one another?
Obamacare vs. GOPdon'tcare now that's a bumper sticker
I never thought it was a bad name... Obamacare is not negative. It is in the minds of those that have been whipped into a near frenzy at hearing the name Obama.
Liberal is not a bad name, it is the same idea. Think about it, the public that listens to shows that permeate the airwaves and internet that make them react predictably at the sound of a word. Hypnosis or mind control?
How about a sticker for the car
Repeal Obamacare!
We need to start from the drawing board and come up with a better solution.
The problem I have is that most people that voted for this bill don't know what is in it. That is very scary to me.
Speak for yourself about not knowing what's in the bill. BTW, absolutely no one in the GOP has come up with anything to replace it with. And why should they? Insurance companies siphoning off billions from the economy into their pockets is exactly what the GOP wants. You want scary? Take a look at a graph showing the rising cost of healthcare s a percent of GDP over the next few decades without Obamacare. That's a lot more scary than phantoms and paranoia.
The trouble is, if we repeal it, try to start over, then what will we get? Nothing? The whole idea is to get costs down by expanding the coverages.
Currently those of us that pay for insurance subsidize those that do not. So in essence, repealing Obamacare would only make that continue to cost us all more whenever we pay for care. On top of that, the higher costs would be transferred to taxpayers.
I would rather have made a tax that is pooled to combine with copays at time of service and dependent on what service. If someone wants more that standard care, they can buy it. But if we have people paying into the pool, at least there is that being paid and not have taxpayers or having insurance and other businesses pass on the costs to customers. They are surely not going to voluntarily take less profit.
I don't want to repeal Obamacare and if the R's win, they will do it and do nothing else. The costs will continue and they will say we have to end Medicare.
I forgot to add that I accidentally hit the up arrow again (IndependentGuy), it was the reply I was aiming for.
If the Republicans voted without reading it, shouldn't your issue be with elected officials too lazy or stupid to do the job they are over-paid for? I read the damn thing from one end to the other and no one paid me to. Other than a mandate I don't agree with it is a good bill. The mandate can be dealt with through the courts. The other's are right, to scrap it would mean we lose all, there would be nothing to replace it...taking care of the working and middle class doesn't make money.
@Independent - I agree with Paisleyspeaker. If Republicans keep up this argument, maybe Rachel will do a "Republicans are bad at their jobs" story!
She does a fine job of showing that is true on a regular basis, but perhaps we could see a segment addressing this gripe that "nobody" read the Obamacare bill.
Let’s call it “Affordacare” ! It easily rolls off the tongue and goes well with “Medicare”. And the campaign slogan should be, “Affordacare: Because Obama Cares”.
Dear GOP,
Judo. It's kicking your ass.
Love, Obama.
While it isn't morally correct to do so, one kind of hopes that the ones who don't like Obamacare would not take advantage of it. It would be adding a whole new category to the Darwin Awards, and at the same time would reduce the number of flaming idiots running loose in the country.