There's plenty of polling that shows the Affordable Care Act doesn't enjoy overwhelming popularity, but this isn't stopping Democrats from celebrating 'Obamacare' at their national convention. On the contrary, the party seems to be using the convention to present a spirited defense of the maligned law.
Several months ago, Obama for America released a video featuring Stacy Lihn of Arizona, who explained that the health care reform law is saving her young daughter's life. It was a powerful clip, featuring a young family facing not only a gut-wrenching fear about their daughter's health, but also the fear that some politicians would destroy the law and take away their family's hope.
Last night, the Lihns addressed the Democratic National Convention. "Governor Romney says people like me were the most excited about President Obama the day we voted for him," Stacy said. "But that's not true. Not even close."
Lihn added, "Governor Romney repealing health care reform is something we worry about literally every day. Zoe's third open-heart surgery will happen either next year or the year after. If Mitt Romney becomes president and Obamacare is repealed, there's a good chance she'll hit her lifetime cap.
"There's no way we could afford to pay for all the cares needs to survive. When you have a sick child, it's always in the back of your mind and sometimes in the front of your mind. On top of that, to worry that people would let an insurance company take away her health care, just because of politics? One in 100 children is born with a congenital heart defect. President Obama is fighting for them. He's fighting for families like mine, and we need to fight for him."
This is, to put it mildly, powerful stuff.
But in the larger context of the national campaign, this was clear evidence that Democrats have decided to embrace the health care law with pride. As Greg Sargent noted overnight, "This doesn't really look like running away from the health law, does it? If Dems want to draw a contrast between what an Obama second term and a Romney first term would look like, this is not a bad place to start."
Note, of course, that it wasn't just Stacy Lihn making the case. I didn't literally count references, but I watched most of last night's speeches, and just about every speaker I saw touted the benefits and importance of the Affordable Care Act. "For us Democrats, Obamacare is a badge of honor," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. "No matter who you are, what stage of life you're in, this law is a good thing."
Democrats own this law; it's to their benefit to offer a spirited defense, explaining why it will make a life-saving difference in the lives of millions of American families, polls be damned.
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Connecting the dots.
"Obamacare" is unpopular, but its aggregate parts are, in fact, popular.
The perception that Obamacare just covers a bunch of poor people causes it to be unpopular.
Healing sick kids is popular.
If you have never experienced sex, a clinical description sounds "icky". However, once you have actually tried it. . .
"However, once you have actually tried it. . ."
...YEEEEEEEHAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!
"There's plenty of polling that shows the Affordable Care Act doesn't enjoy overwhelming popularity..."
It astounds me that journalists are still saying that the ACA is not popular, when most of the actual substance of it is very popular. What's up with that? Polling also shows that a significant number of people who say they don't like the ACA in its entirety don't like it because it DOESN'T GO FAR ENOUGH.
Here's the Washington Post breakdown of the polling on the specifics of the ACA.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/six-charts-to-explain-health-care-polling/2012/06/28/gJQAlBrn8V_blog.html
to state that obamacareTAX is popular because people "like" individual provisions is to miss the point entirely. We all "like" "free" stuff but, as adults, we realize there is almost never "stuff" that is really "free".
In addition, those people who "like" obamacareTAX have no idea what the Independent Payment Advisory Board is, or what Quality Adjusted Life Years does to health care, or what Complete Lives System is and why they should be very afraid of the bill and the ghoulish people who drafted the bill and jammed it down our throats.
"they" "like it" because, in large measure, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS other than "free stuff"
Will the ObamaCare Tax be popular when 50,000,000 Americans lose their employer provided health insurance - doubtful.
Will the ObamaCare Tax be popular when 30,000,000 Americans are forced to buy insurance that either don't want or need it - doubtful.
Does the takeover of 1/6th of the American economy to soak more money out of taxpayers make Democrats happy, even joyous - of course.
^ Even Romney and Ryan don't make up lies that ridiculous, and Romney in fact can't..... because none of that happened when he implemented ObamaCare in Massachusetts.
Why is that?
The choice is clear we either embrace Obamacare or we die waiting for the Republicans to come up with a plan. They're not concerned, they are more concerned about conducting themselves as a lower form of life, oblivious from the concerns that the 99% take seriously. It's time we move forward and join the rest of the human race who are waiting for us to dismiss this group of obstructionist.
your nothing but a bottom feeder. im sick of liberals running out sob stories about so called saving people. how many americans are dying every day because we are not enforcing our borders and immigration. conservatives could trot out thousands of people who lost love ones because4 of illegal immigration. may be the market place and competition should decide healthcare. healthcare is out of control because of govt.
poor baby; obviously home schooled with other tea bagger trailer trash; try some different meds for your anger and ignorance...like arsenic...lol
how many americans are dying every day because we are not enforcing our borders and immigration......
^ Ok, I'll bite....how many?
Please cite sources and facts...unless you have none, of course.
this is the human face of Obamacare that should be shown by the Dems everyday. there are a million stories like this one and they should be told.
And they should be told by these people themselves in short commercials to not only put a human face to Obamacare, but to pound home the benefits people enjoy because of it. Those personal stories are powerful stuff.
I met a small business owner two weeks ago- he's 60 years old, and struggling to keep his boat business going in this economy. He needs both knees replaced, his surgeon would prefer to do one knee at a time, it makes the post operative physical therapy easier, the man himself would prefer it too, so that he can continue working- but he's afraid that if Romney wins the election his insurance will drop him for the 'pre-existing' condition- that he will no longer have the opportunity to replace his degenrating joints and be left a cripple. He's angry and disgusted that people's lives hang in the balance of the dirty politics played by Republicans.
Actually, there are 36 million of these stories - parents raising kids with chronic and/or life-threatening health conditions. I'm one of the 1% (the OTHER 1%) of parents who have a child like Stacey's daughter. My son's had twelve heart surgeries, including the ones Zoe has had and will have, plus others.
My baby is in the bathwater of preexisting conditions, lifetime limits, and the many other limitations that threaten our financial stability, mental and emotional health, his long term opportunities, and of course his very life.
We ARE the other 1% and it's about time someone paid some attention to our truth. Add us to the cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy, ped. cancer, MD, ped. AIDS, etc. etc. etc., and you're well over 1% and in our 36 million zone of the Wyvern Moms fighting for our children's very survival and hoping for their futures.
2008 killed me with the Autism coverage. In 08 the autism numbers were the same as CHD, but no one wanted to talk about CHD. CHD kills, and each year 40,000 new CHD babies are born. Many of them don't last a whole year. For kids like mine and Stacey's, we have a 25% of not seeing age five. We're the lucky ones. We are the OTHER 1%.
I thank Stacey for speaking for us. I hope people will continue to listen because this invisible disease kills more children than any other birth defect or childhood disease.
Amanda Rose Adams
Author, Heart Warriors, A Family Faces Congenital Heart Disease
www.amandaroseadams.com
Thanx Amanda
Imagine the world we'd live in today if they had decided to embrace it two years ago, before the Tea Party madness swept clueless ideologues into office! But let's stop worrying about the Dems coming late to the party and celebrate their showing up at all.
That, unfortunately, was Obama's and the Democratic insouciance and aloofness' fault. We'd never be in this precarious predicament if Obama had decided to treat Republicans in his first two years like the country and economy destroyers that they are, and if Democrats had actually informed the nation what the ACA was.
But you're right, let's hope they finally understand they have to toot their own horns, whether they like it or not.
The most important line to me last night was from Deval Patrick:
Yes, democrats have been spineless and while I loved Deval Patrick, I thought Lilly Ledbetter put it quite nicely:
"Maybe 23 cents doesn't sound like a lot to someone with a Swiss bank account, Cayman Island Investments and an IRA worth tens of millions of dollars. But Governor Romney, when we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over our entire lives, what we lose can't just be measured in dollars."
It should have kicked in in 2010, having it wait till 2014 has to be the single dumbest idea in the history of public policy reform. What was he thinking?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w4mVycaC_o
Seven and a half cents doesn't buy a hell of a lot,
Seven and a half cents doesn't mean a thing!
But give it to me every hour,
Forty hours every week,
And that's enough for me to be living like a king!
from "The Pajama Game"
The reason it didn't start in 2010 was because they knew it was a horrible law. They wanted to get Obama re-elected first.
^ Nope, most of the benefits that are delayed , such as closing the donut hole, were delayed to prevent the costs from increasing the deficit.
Remember HCA actually finances the medicare drug benefits that the GOP simply glomed onto the debt.
I would venture to guess that the republican's would use the Lihn's as their case against the Health Care Act.If she would have appeared at their convention she would have been booed off the stage.
Obama care has already killed 1500 American jobs.
Cook Medical is not going to expand due to the tax imposed by obama care, 1500 jobs gone down the tax tubes.
Maybe Cook Medical has other issues? Obamacare doesn't seem to be hurting the Detroit Medical Center. They were purchased in 2010 by Vangard, a private company, who have gone on to invest $850 million dollars to fund an expansion. In Detroit.
I expect they intend to still be profitable. They're not only hiring people, they're paying them to live in the city with subsidized rent and mortgages.
BTW, under Obamacare, even if what you claim was true, do you know what those 1500 people wouldn't need to worry about? Taking their kids to the doctor.
Cook Medical is a manufacture of medical devices, were as Detroit Medical Center is a Hospital.
Cook Medical Inc. had been planning to open five new manufacturing plants over the next five years in small communities around the Midwest, including Indiana, but has shelved those plans because of the hit it will take from a new U.S. tax on medical devices.
The Bloomington-based medical device maker estimates it will pay between $20 million and $30 million once the tax takes effect in January, Pete Yonkman, executive vice president of strategic business units at Cook Medical, said this week.
The 2.3-percent tax on sales of all medical devices was created as part of President Obama’s 2010 health reform law to help pay for its expansion of health insurance coverage to as many as 30 million more Americans. The tax is projected to raised about $2.9 billion per year.
ho-lee-cow, take a big look behind you All articles referenced below were published prior to Obama taking office, the events occured up to or greater than 4 years before Obama took office Read it and weep.
from 12/2008
47% of hospitals in NJ posted losses in 2006, Shands in Florida had to close one hospital in 2008 AP 12/2008 (just 2 examples), the job losses that occurred under the last Republican president are what started the HUGE loss of $ needed to support the health care industry. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28394340/ns/health-health_care/t/bad-debt-triggers-hospital-closings-around-us/#.UEdXoY1lQf4
Oct 30, 2008
Financial crisis to prompt wave of hospital closures? -- Anne Zieger, writing atFierceHealthcare, predicts that the credit crunch may lead to "a wave of [hospital] closures that hasn't been seen in decade." Hospital finances are in precarious shape, with many institutions adopting risky strategies in order to keep the money flowing (see below). [Source:FierceHealthcare]http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-33640207/healthcare-roundup-aetnas-investment-hit-hospital-closure-wave-cignas-posh-new-plans-and-more/
How far to the hospital?The effect of hospital closures on access to careThomas C. Buchmuellera, Mireille Jacobsonb,∗, Cheryl WoldcaUniversity of California, Irvine and NBER, United StatesbUniversity of California, Irvine, United StatescLos Angeles County Department of Health Services, United StatesReceived 11 July 2004; received in revised form 28 October 2005; accepted 28 October 2005Available online 13 December 2005
Journal of Health Economics 25 (2006) 740–761
THAT'S NOT OBAMACARE! THAT'S GOP policy there.
Gee wiz ... I don't see much doom and gloom on their website . 2.3% isn't going to kill any company . They have to whine , they are a multi-national who have probably spent a ton of cash lobbying
http://www.cookmedical.com/news.do
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Any good business knows how to deal with operating cost increases, including tax increases. 20 to 30 million being only 2.3% of their what their items cost is really marginal-- If $30 million is only 2.3% of their sales, imagine what the 97.7% remainder amounts to! I didn't have anywhere near as much profit in my business and I was regularly able to deal with small fee increases and increases in operating costs. If Cook can't do that on a larger scale, they are doing it wrong. Of course, I highly doubt the executives would take a $5 million cut in pay to keep their business growing. As a small business owner you often take a short term pay cut if it means growing your business.
It actually seems silly to let a small increase like that stop you from growing your business. Maybe it delays something while you rework your numbers and maybe you don't grow as fast as you intended, but give up when business is booming? Something more than a tax increase is going on there.
lol , love the nic vaginaisnotadirtyword , why is it everything The Right presents turns out to be complete bull @!$%#? There seems to be a pattern here
1500 jobs gone thanks to obummer care!
That is the fact.
Liberals, rob peter to pay paul is your way of doing things.
I think that a company that makes medical equipment will have a short period of adjustment, and then will do just fine. More insured patients will mean more demand for medical equipment, from capital equipment to consumables as well as service and tech support.
So, if Obama is reelected, and Obamacare is fully implemented, if this company finds its business booming, will it throw its lot with the Democrats? No, of course not. No more than Wall Street is supporting Obama for giving them the best and most profitable years that they've had in a decade.
I have always maintained that the very wealthy don't care so much that they make more and more money, they just hate it when anyone else makes money.
You must be in the twilight zone.
Cook County Hosp. is tax supported with decreasing tax revenues. The administrator acknowledges having 117,000 newly insured can turn around the finances and will entail hiring more staff. The hospital has struggled for years and is working on improving its reputation in the community. Acc. to Modern Health.com
How????
Rick Santorum was, shockingly, spot on in his estimation that nominating Mitt Romney would be a fatal mistake for the Republican Party. The man who literally invented "Obamacare" and is now tasked with being the chief agent to destroy it has found himself and his campaign in a real pickle. How is Mitt supposed to embrace the overheated rhetoric of the right in slamming health care reform as "socialist" and a "tax" when his sole achievement in public life was the creation of Romneycare, the blueprint for the president's own signature legislative effort? What we're finding is that Romney's campaign is embarrassingly tongue-tied in attempting to explain this inopportune position to voters and to the GOP base. This will likely cost Mitt the election. - principled progressive
She was remarkable last night and my heart went out to her.
At Obama's Iowa kickoff of convention week, Sen. Harkin gave a speech that someone should repeat at the DNC. Essentially, he embraced "Obamacare," saying he is proud to have it called that because in fact Obama does care, and if Romney wants to repeal it, that shows that Romney doesn't care.
I just read an article about a woman here in AZ who was stung by a scorpion and ended up with a huge hospital bill. She went into shock and needed 2 doses of scorpion antivenin. Hospital charged her $32,652.oo per dose. Once can get it in Mexico pharmacies for $100.oo per dose. THIS is why we need the ACA!
really? now that is why you folks are scary. What we really need is prescription drug reform, tort reform, and liberalitis reform. It makes more sense to you to pay 32,652.00 than it would to pay 100.00 as long as you are covered? No wonder this government is broke
The "unpopularity" is driven by ignorance of what it entails. The republican PACs have been very good at painting a false image of the plan and of course there are those death panels and such.
Tell me oh wise and humble wiz, why are so many people willing to be fooled into voting against their own interests?
you mean there is not to be a policy of 15 bureaucrats determining what treatment you should have in lieu of your doctor? Fine, lets not call it a death panel, lets just call it a leave you in critical condition panel....YOU are the one painting the false images Paulie
Jatazus, those pesky facts often get in the way of emotionally punchy narratives like yours. At risk of hearing that fact checking is biased towards liberals... I'll suggest that you might want to check your facts.
"the 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board or IPAB... is specifically forbidden from submitting 'any recommendation to ration health care.' Though it can decrease government payments to health care providers for services and recommend ways to cut wasteful spending.
In a March fact-check, U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Kyrillos, whom Christie has endorsed, pointed, in part, to IPAB to support his claim that under the health care law "the patient-doctor relationship will be eliminated." That statement rated a Pants on Fire on the Truth-O-Meter."
The GOP was very smart to call the ACA "Obamacare" and to keep calling it that until it stuck. That got every single person who did not vote for Obama to be against it.
The reverse however is also true. If you embrace the name "Obamacare" and explain how it will help people, then the law reflects well on the man.
I don't get why the Republicans don't understand that a healthy people mean a healthy country. Mitt would not care that this little girl would die with out health care, after all he would not have to see her. The Republicans seem to be willing to let thousands of people get sicker and die.
Diane, you are simply a psychotic, lets leave it at that
As defined:
psy·cho·path [sahy-kuh-path] Show IPA
a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc.
You response to Diane's query for information is indicative of extreme egocentricity. You my friend are the psychopath here. Most republican/teatard are. Just like you.
Romney = dead children, Obama = live ones. Hmmmm, pretty tough decision there. </sarcasm>
The Republican platform in three words: me! Me! ME!
The Democratic platform in three words: We! We! WE!
That does indeed sound like a clear choice.
In October 2009 my Doctor recommended for a procedure that the closet place it was performed was in Reno, NV. I had to undergo some test to determine if they thought I could benefit from this procedure called Cyberknife. As we know, no hospital or Doctor will perform a costly procedure or test without prior approval from the Insurance Company.
I had the procedure and 7 months later I received a letter from the Insurance Company stating they are NOT approving the Cyberknife Procedure. At first I was stunned than I became angry, we called the hospital and they said they not only received prior approval but the insurance company had already sent in the payment for the claim. The problem is now they are with drawing approval and payment. I was now liable for an $80k bill. The hospital was so supportive they provided all the documentation and we obtained an attorney. They are still battling this issue. The reason they turned it down is they approve it only for a mass that is a certain size under and mine was slightly over that size. The death panels are the Insurance Companies Policies.
Here are some more facts about our wonderful for profit medical system , I was denied coverage for an operation , I had coverage threw my employer , our Personal Office at work tried to help me get info on why it was denied , to no avail , the insurance company eventually would just hang up on us , I called my state insurance regulators , they informed me it was not the insurance company denying the claim , it was the company its self , they said call the u s labor dept , after getting the run around from them for some time , a rude lady informed me since I did not file a complaint within 2 months of the denial , there was nothing they could do , this was all in 2006 , that is american health care , and all this was happening while I was STILL having some health issues , and trying to keep my job , going to work sick
Any NORMAL person can admit that going to the doc when you are sick , getting better , and being able to go back to work , is a good thing , but the gop are not normal , they seem to think people getting sick and losing their jobs is a good thing
I have paid into insurance policies for 30 years , they all maybe paid out a total of $1500 that whole time , the bill is $40,000 , sounds fair doesn't it? I find it extremely hard to believe that not one idiotic gop voter , or politician , has never witness these things happening in america
Stupid doesn't witness anything other than stupid. Notice the troll above stating that Obamacare cost a company 1500 jobs. That was totally debunked with facts and that went right over his head. Like Bill Maher states all the time, they're in a bubble where the only fact is the fiction they create. That is their reality and the real world, facts and truth have no place. The alternative to their self imposed ignorance in fact is too much for them to bear.
I live in FL and work for a law firm, I received a letter from United Healthcare at the end of July stating that we qualified for the 80/20 rebate (Medical Loss Ratio) and that we (or the firm since they pay a small portion of my health insurance) would receive the rebate as of August 1. So I pressed the firm to tell me what they would be doing with the rebate and if they would be giving any portion back to the employees (since I do pay part of my own and 100% for my kids portion). I have heard only crickets thus far and short, terse "we are working on it" response. Is there any requirement under the ACA for the plan provider to inform the employees of the distribution of the monies recevied and is there a deadline for doing so??? Since they are bunch of republicans, I can only assume that they are holding the check and hoping that the ACA is repealed. I don't think they should be able to sit on this....it is law right now!!!! So are they not complying with the law??? I would think yes!!!
""There's plenty of polling that shows the Affordable Care Act doesn't enjoy overwhelming popularity".
NO, actually there is polling showing the term "Obamacare" does not have overwhelming popularity. There IS plenty of polling showing most items in the law itself are VERY popular with Americans when it's explained to them what is in the bill.
"Obamacare" = Bad (Because Obama let the Republicans label that term as negative) what is brought to you by the bill, overwhelmingly popular. Of course Democrats should use this opportunity to showcase real life cases of how the bill has helped Americans.
If Obama had immediately embraced or (doG forfend!) coined the term, we'd be hearing about what an egotist he is.
I feel certain that there must be some elements in the 2300 page legislation known as Obamacare that most of us can agree are worthwhile. I feel equally certain, however, that most Americans do not want the government running our healthy care system... which is really the endgame for this monstrosity. After all, we have all had too much experience with the average DMV to ever saddle ourselves with that kind of bureaucratic disaster in the health care context. Obamacare was really only a "progressive" step toward socialized medicine... by Obama's own words.
I really hope Obama takes this advice. It would cement a win for Romney. Although portions of the health care law are popular, as an aggregate it is despised. More, I believe, because it was passed over the objections of the majority of the public, than the law itself. In a Democracy that is reason in and of itself.
Quit whining. Romney's repealing Obamacare is based more on election campaign rhetoric than what will actually happen.
From my viewpoint, the disfavor of Obamacare is more an indictment on Obama than the actual healthcare package. Mostly, people are fed up with this administration's promise of transparency as opposed to the reality of deals made in secret. We're fed up with over-the-hillers like Nancy Pelosi telling us "We have to pass this bill so you can find out whats in it."
Please keep in mind about 6,800 people die in the United States every day of the year from all and every reason. That number is not going to change regardless of how much Obamacare, Romneycare, godcare, devilcare or any other form of care you put on it. You may stretch it out a bit, but ultimately the balance will return.
Otherwise, it seems that on one hand democrats are pushing to spend the last nickel keeping someone alive for one more breath while on the other hand begging for more abortion rights.
There seems to be some sort of deep seated problem here.
Actually, Romney wants to REPLACE Obamacare with medical coverage that leaves the good parts intact, but doesn't steal $719 billion from Medicaid or put the government in between you and your health care provider. These are some of the distinct differences between Obamacare and Romneycare. The question to ask is, if we can't afford it what good does it do any of us? We'll all end up with nothing
I understand her statement and grief. Same as people with pre-existing conditions. But as heartless as it sounds, is it really MY OBLIGATION to pay for this medical care. It's amazing how people have come to expect to receive services in life without paying for them. Or more directly, to have someone else pay for them. Somehow the world is twisted that a multimillionaire (Obamas) can promise other people's money and assets and be seen as benevolent. Here is the net, Democrats should say this: to the 50% of Americans that rely on the Federal government to take from others and give to you via force (tax), you better vote for me or the Republicans will likely chip away at it. Its slang but sincere. The net is, the Federal Government is the most massive income transfer system every designed
We as a civilized culture have decide to treat the sick whether they can pay or not.
And when we as a civilized culture run out of money to treat the sick whether they can pay or not because they're too many of them, then what?
That assumes that she doesn't pay taxes like the rest of middle class people, which is probably not the case. I wonder what you will say a few years from now without and your health premiums are doubling every year and your actually services are diminishing at the same time.