And why is it so debated? I see a lot of discussions about it, but just can't understand why a service meant to offer cheaper healthcare services is so debated.
It's a 2000+ page bill that is needlessly complicated and redundant. The basic premise of it was supposed to be to provide "affordable" healthcare for all. What it actually does to make a long story short is mandate health INSURANCE (not the same as health CARE) for all. And since most working people, wealthy people, and others who planned ahead already had insurance, the govt had to lie and say "If you like your plan, doctor, ect - you can keep your plan, doctor, etc...". The reality is of course that those of us who were already insured now have to pick up the slack to pay for those who either could not afford insurance, or who were un-insurable due to pre-existing conditions or whatever. That means we have to pay more. And it's an attempt to "level the playing field" because the left believes it to be "unfair" that those who use more healthcare resources have to pay more and pay higher premiums. It's basically a govt takeover of the healthcare system. Bureaucrats in govt agencies are going to be making decisions doctors and patients used to make about what gets checked, what gets treated with what, etc. Premiums and deductibles are skyrocketing for most of us. Doctors I know who already work long and hard are telling me they will need to do ten times the work to make the same pay, etc.
What's the point of insurance if you can't use it when you need it? If I paid for insurance for 30 years, never used it and got cancer. The insurer can just drop me? Why bother paying in the first place?
I agree with this statement. The insurance companies are all fine and well as long as they are taking your money but as soon as you put in a claim for something they drop you. What is the point of paying it in the first place? I know a number of people that had this happen to them. It isn't fair or right.
It is a system that provides more people with health insurance. Since it came in 9.5 million more people got health insurance. While not perfect, I think having more people able to get preventative and therapeutic health care rather than just getting sick and dying, or freeloading off other people by going to emergency rooms we pay for--that's a win. Of course not depending on your possibly fundamentalist employer to beg for possibly seeing a doctor or get some birth control seems like an even better option. i.e. have healthcare provided by the government because it is at least as important as roads, meat inspection, responding to fires, saving the desert tortoise etc. And there is no logical basis for saying poor people deserve less health than rich ones. So yes, I am Team Government Takeover of the Healthcare System. After all, privatizing it left the US with officially the most expensive healthcare system on the planet at 14% of GDP, with third world levels of access to care and health outcomes for citizens. Maybe because private healthcare makes more money off people getting sick then people staying well.
The system as it was was not perfect, but it is far worse now. Improvements should be made piecemeal, not by govt takeover of the whole industry. Just about everything the government touches it screws up and makes worse. I do not want or need big brother sticking his nose into my healthcare and telling me what I can or cannot do. I do not want or need the government making decisions for me or providing me with life's basic necessities, rationed out as they see fit. The 9.5 million "additions" are the admin's way of cooking the books - they're counting people who needed a new policy after their old one got cancelled. Many people are also now refusing to pay insurance and simply "pay as they go" and pay the fine. Small businesses are being forced to provide health insurance for employees, even if it is not practical and affordable for them to do so. This law is one reason we're seeing fewer businesses open than close for the first time in our country's history. People who are un-insurable, or unable to pay for insurance or medical care could still get healthcare in this country. When the government takes it over and tries to make it "fair" by trying to "level the playing field", the quality of care overall drops. You generally get what you pay for in life. When government tries to change this and otherwise fool with basic economics like supply/demand, etc - things will get screwed up pretty bad.
ACA was all about wealth redistribution and government control of the population. Obama was big on Saul Alinski: 1)Healthcare- Control healthcare and you control the people 2) Poverty- Increase the Poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live. 3) Debt- Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty. 4) Gun Control- Remove the ability to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state. 5) Welfare- Take control of every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing, and Income) 6) Education (and media)- Take control of what people read and listen to – Take control of what children learn in school. 7) Religion- Remove the belief in the God from the Government and schools 8) Class Warfare- Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.
Thank you A real pal, just like always. It's very hard for me to understand the American healthcare system, mainly because the system is way different in my country. In my country, if you work, you and your employer pay, but you somehow don't feel that you pay, because they fees are taken automatically from your salary and are paid by your employer (both, yours and his contribution). So if you work, you have a health insurance as well. Even the people who are paid with the minimum salary, they are still medically insured and will receive every medical service they need (within some limits).
