A national New York Times/CBS News poll recently asked respondents whether they approve of a specific provision in the Affordable Care Act: protections for those with pre-existing conditions. It was the single most popular element of "Obamacare" -- a whopping 85% approve of the measure.
Keep in mind, these days, 85% of Americans don't agree on much of anything, but they all like this.
Associated Press
Wait until Tom Price is writing health care policy in 2013.
That may not matter. Many Republican policymakers, if they succeed in destroying the entirely of the Affordable Care Act, have every intention of ending these wildly popular protections. Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), a member of the House GOP leadership and a point man for the party on health policy, said this week the provision is "a terrible idea."
This matters because a Republican White House, working with a Republican Congress, will roll back the clock on health care reform, pursuing a "repeal and replace" strategy. What would the GOP would replace Obamacare with, exactly? Sahil Kapur reported yesterday:
The pre-existing conditions rule is broadly popular with the public, even among Republicans. But the policy will collapse unless healthy people also enter the insurance pool, spreading costs and defraying risks --- that's the purpose of the less popular individual mandate and subsidies that are also a part of "Obamacare." [...]
That's why Republicans are struggling to come up with an alternative they can broadly support: To date, "Obamacare" remains the most comprehensive free-market approach to tackling the free-rider problem while giving Americans a financial stake in their health care.
The GOP is committed to killing the Affordable Care Act, despite its similarities to previous Republican proposals, despite its reliance on a free-market approach, and despite the popularity of its specific provisions. This leaves Republicans in an unpleasant spot: they've sworn to eliminate every letter of the reform law, but they know Americans won't like their alternative.
Protections for those with pre-existing conditions, for example, will disappear. Republicans also oppose the Obamacare provision that requires coverage for young adults up to age 26. Contraception access, obviously, will be curtailed for millions, as will coverage for low-income children. Medicare's prescription drug "donut hole" will return, too.
This isn't some liberal caricature of the GOP plan; this is what Republicans freely admit they want to do if voters give them the opportunity to govern.
In the meantime, Obamacare is working pretty well. It's already saving seniors billions of dollars, and yielding new benefits for consumers, including $1.3 billion in rebates.
It's also combating fraud and abuse, which in turns saves Americans quite a bit of money; has brought coverage to 2.5 million young adults; is giving a boost to small businesses through ACA tax credits; has slowed the growth of Medicare spending; has provided new treatment options for cancer patients; and, of course, has offered new coverage protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
To those Americans who've been convinced that destroying Obamacare will do wonders for American families, be careful what you wish for.
Leave a Comment:
The GOP is committed to
killing the Affordable Care Actmaking things more difficult for all working people and improving the bottom line of health insurance companies and corporations
There fixed it for you
All of what you say might have some validity, but every member of the funding wing of the rethugnican party will tell you that they are all really bad because they will hurt the profitability of the health care insurance
racketsbusinesses which might cause the dividends or stock value of billionaires' portfolios to decrease. And that is unacceptable. After all, what is the point in having sickness and disease and injuries if the wealthy cannot make money from it?My disabled wife has already benefited, with a physical that caught something before it became major, and saved a lot of expensive health care. The VA does a great job with me and uses methods that work even with the huge increase in vets from 2 wars, that wasn't funded. The VA system isn't perfect, but should be looked at as a model for health care. It works!
I fear that a Republican White House and Republican Congress would pursue a "just repeal the dang thing" strategy. None of that "replace" mumbo-jumbo...
The fact is that we as taxpayers cannot afford Obamacare. We were lied to about how premiums would be lower, how it would cut the deficit, and how much it would cost, among other things. Remember, whatever the govt. says something will cost...triple it!
Yet we can afford $680 billion annually for defense. With tax cuts for the wealthy individuals and corporations paying little or no tax, we will end up being able to afford very little.
Richard, you were lied to all right, but not by the backers of ACA. Most of the provisions of the bill that will reduce premiums have not even kicked in yet.
The repeal or a finding that the whole law is unconstitutional is that we would return to the previous status with all of the attendant problems. These problems will continue to grow until the voters clamor for Congress to do something. Insurance companies are fighting a battle they will ultimately lose when Congress is forced to act. And when it does, the solutions will be far more radical than what is currently proposed. The insurance companies think they can withstand any pressure to change, but when Congress is forced to act, the insurance companies will find the reform provisions are more onerous.
This is what has happened with the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act in response to complaints about cars and the banking act governing check clearing procedures. Both acts were forced upon the industries who refused to change. Had these industries taken care of the problems and stopped the abuses, these laws would have never come into existence.
If the insurance and medical care industries do not deliver low cost and better health care very soon, the Congress will be forced to pass a law when voters demand it. There is a whole generation of people moving into Medicare and many will be using private insurance policies. In addition, the premiums for employed people continue to increase faster than the cost of living. This is a recipe for disaster for both industries if they cannot fix the system.
The reason why the pre-existing conditions provision is popular is because it hasn't been explained to people. If pre-existing conditions must be covered by insurance companies, people can buy health insurance for a few hundred dollars only when they are sick, suck up thousands of dollars in benefits, then drop their policy. Obviously this would result in a rapid death-spiral. No one would buy insurance until they were sick, insurance companies would have no funds to pay for treatments. This provision only works if every citizen is forced to buy insurance, and few people like that idea.
The best solution is not one Federal health experiment, but 50 State experiments, so there can be constant innovation in providing the best care to the most citizens at the least cost.