Obama Cares
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 30th, 2013
Good morning!
You would think that because the republicans have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act so many times, that it was the worst kind of health care reform imaginable. Nope. Not the case at all. We don’t need to get rid of ACA, we just need to get rid of the racist repubs who really don’t care about lives, and who are doing anything they can to ensure Obama and whatever he does is a failure, regardless of all the lives that will be saved because of ACA.
I cannot wait until next year when people really get to see and experience the benefits of ACA. Millions of peoples’ lives will be changed and saved because of Obama and the ACA. Will they be appreciative? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Here’s a write from the New York Times:
The Obamacare Shock
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: May 26, 2013
The Affordable Care Act, a k a Obamacare, goes fully into effect at the beginning of next year, and predictions of disaster are being heard far and wide. There will be an administrative “train wreck,” we’re told; consumers will face a terrible shock. Republicans, one hears, are already counting on the law’s troubles to give them a big electoral advantage.
No doubt there will be problems, as there are with any large new government initiative, and in this case, we have the added complication that many Republican governors and legislators are doing all they can to sabotage reform. Yet important new evidence — especially from California, the law’s most important test case — suggests that the real Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success.
Before I can explain what the news means, I need to make a crucial point: Obamacare is a deeply conservative reform, not in a political sense (although it was originally a Republican proposal) but in terms of leaving most people’s health care unaffected. Americans who receive health insurance from their employers, Medicare or Medicaid — which is to say, the vast majority of those who have any kind of health insurance at all — will see almost no changes when the law goes into effect.
There are, however, millions of Americans who don’t receive insurance either from their employers or from government programs. They can get insurance only by buying it on their own, and many of them are effectively shut out of that market. Insome states, like California, insurers reject applicants with past medical problems. In others, like New York, insurers can’t reject applicants, and must offer similar coverage regardless of personal medical history (“community rating”); unfortunately, this leads to a situation in which premiums are very high because only those with current health problems sign up, while healthy people take the risk of going uninsured.
Obamacare closes this gap with a three-part approach. First, community rating everywhere — no more exclusion based on pre-existing conditions. Second, the “mandate” — you must buy insurance even if you’re currently healthy. Third, subsidies to make insurance affordable for those with lower incomes.
Massachusetts has had essentially this system since 2006; as a result, nearly all residents have health insurance, and the program remains very popular. So we know that Obamacare — or, as some of us call it, ObamaRomneyCare — can work.
Skeptics argued, however, that Massachusetts was special: it had relatively fewuninsured residents even before the reform, and it already had community rating. What would happen elsewhere? In particular, what would happen in California, where more than a fifth of the nonelderly population is uninsured, and the individual insurance market is largely unregulated? Would there be “sticker shock” as the price of individual policies soared?
Well, the California bids are in — that is, insurers have submitted the prices at which they are willing to offer coverage on the state’s newly created Obamacare exchange. And the prices, it turns out, are surprisingly low. A handful of healthy people may find themselves paying more for coverage, but it looks as if Obamacare’s first year in California is going to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.
What can still go wrong? Well, Obamacare is a complicated program, basically because simpler options, like Medicare for all, weren’t considered politically feasible. So there will probably be a lot of administrative confusion as the law goes into effect, again especially in states where Republicans have been doing their best to sabotage the process.
Also, some people are too poor to afford coverage even with the subsidies. These Americans were supposed to be covered by a federally financed expansion of Medicaid, but in states where Republicans have blocked Medicaid expansion, such unfortunates will be left out in the cold.
Still, here’s what it seems is about to happen: millions of Americans will suddenly gain health coverage, and millions more will feel much more secure knowing that such coverage is available if they lose their jobs or suffer other misfortunes. Only a relative handful of people will be hurt at all. And as contrasts emerge between the experience of states like California that are making the most of the new policy and that of states like Texas whose politicians are doing their best to undermine it, the sheer meanspiritedness of the Obamacare opponents will become ever more obvious.
So yes, it does look as if there’s an Obamacare shock coming: the shock of learning that a public program designed to help a lot of people can, strange to say, end up helping a lot of people — especially when government officials actually try to make it work.
********
Blog me.
Anonymous: Exactly. That is what I want to know. Perhaps Sandberg will chime in, and give us an answer.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:
Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129
Thank you for your loyal support!
All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012
“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream
" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"
May 30th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
The top ten tax deductions, credits and exclusions will keep $12 trillion out of federal government coffers over the next decade, and several of them mainly benefit the wealthiest Americans, a new study from the Congressional Budget Office shows.
The top 20 percent of income earners will reap more than half of the $900 billion in benefits from these tax breaks that will accrue in 2013, the non-partisan CBO said on Wednesday.
Further, 17 percent of the total benefits would go to the top 1 percent of income earners — families earning roughly $450,000 or more. The same group that was hit with a tax rate hike in January.
The benefits of preferential tax rates on capital gains and dividends, a break worth $161 billion this year, go almost entirely to the wealthy, including 68 percent to the top one percent of earners.
House Democrats, who requested that Congress’ budget referee conduct the study, argued that it backs up President Barack Obama’s proposed approach to tax reform and deficit reduction: raise revenues by limiting the amount tax preferences for the wealthy.
“This shows that we could achieve a significant amount of deficit reduction by limiting the preferences to the highest income earners,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
May 30th, 2013 at 7:33 pm
Hi Mischa, apologies fr blowing up your email inbox, it was the only method that worked.
That’s exactly the prob with ACA, it’s not kicking in till January 2014 so they’re talking about now and it’ll all start working then…can you say: patience? Answer: re thugs cannot lah
Luv, Zen Lill
May 30th, 2013 at 9:07 pm
Well known billionaire investor has a few people wondering what he’s up to:
George Soros has dumped his position with several major banks including JPMorgan Chase, Capitol One, SunTrust, and Morgan Stanley. He has reduced his exposure to Citigroup and decreased his stake in AIG by two-thirds.
In fact, Soros’ financial stock holdings are down by roughly 80 percent, a massive drop from his position just three months ago, according to SNL Financial.
So exactly what is going on?”
May 31st, 2013 at 6:11 am
Anonymous:
The republicans will never abandon the 1% that is where they get their paychecks.
May 31st, 2013 at 6:16 am
Anon#3:
There was a rumor that Holder was going to go after the banks. That is one of the reasons the 1% have set their republican attack dogs after him.
They want to get him out before he gets his feet under him. If that happens the bank stock with drop precipitously.
May 31st, 2013 at 6:53 am
The Red Secret to Stroke Prevention
I hope you like tomatoes.
Why?
In a recent study that looked at various antioxidant nutrients that help protect the body’s cells from damage, the superpower in terms of stroke prevention was a nutrient that’s abundant in tomatoes.
In fact, this antioxidant is what gives these plump garden beauties their appealing red coloring.
Its name is lycopene.
ANTIOXIDANT CONTEST
Now, you’ve probably heard of lycopene before because we’ve known for some time that it—and the tomatoes it comes from—can help prevent cancer and promote immune health.
But you may not be aware of the new research linking lycopene to a reduced risk for stroke. So here’s the good word…
Participants included 1,031 men who were 46 to 65 years old and healthy at the start of the study. Researchers from Finland measured the men’s baseline blood levels of five antioxidants—alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamin A and vitamin E—then divided the men into four quartiles based on their levels of each antioxidant. Participants were followed for a median of 12 years, during which time 67 suffered strokes.
What the data analysis revealed: Compared with men in the lowest quartile for lycopene blood levels, those in the highest quartile had 55% lower risk for stroke. This held true even after researchers adjusted for known stroke risk factors such as age, body mass index, smoking, LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.
The other four antioxidants measured did not affect the likelihood of having a stroke. This suggests that it wasn’t just an overall healthy diet that spared the men from stroke, but rather something specific to lycopene.
According to Jouni Karppi, PhD, the study’s lead researcher, there are numerous ways in which lycopene may lower stroke risk—for instance, by limiting cholesterol’s negative effects on the body…reducing inflammation…preventing blood clots…and/or improving immune function.
TOMATOES AT EVERY MEAL?
Now, this study is interesting, but it doesn’t prove that eating tomatoes lowers stroke risk—because there may have been other reasons that the men with the lowest stroke risk had the highest lycopene levels, such as differences in how peoples’ bodies process antioxidants.
But even so, it still makes good sense to eat lots of fruits and vegetables—and to focus on those with abundant lycopene to help guard against stroke.
Tomatoes are the richest food source of lycopene. While raw tomatoes (such as those you toss into your salad or onto your sandwich) are excellent, it is interesting to note that cooked tomatoes may be especially beneficial.
That’s because the cooking process breaks down tomato cell walls and releases even more of the lycopene. And concentrated tomato-based products, such as sauce and paste, provide particularly high levels of the nutrient.
What if tomatoes disagree with your taste buds or aggravate your acid reflux? Don’t worry. You also can get lycopene from apricots, carrots, guava, papaya, pink grapefruit, red peppers and watermelon.
It isn’t clear whether taking lycopene in supplement form would be helpful for stroke prevention. Dr. Karppi recommends getting the nutrient from food because lycopene in its natural form may be absorbed better and, with food sources, you get other important nutrients at the same time.
There’s no official recommendation on exactly how much lycopene we should get. Dr. Karppi’s advice: As a simple safeguard against stroke, consume lycopene-rich foods every day.
Source: Jouni Karppi, PhD, department of medicine, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio.
May 31st, 2013 at 7:00 am
You will soon be hearing about the creepy criminal “Whitey” Bulger from south Boston. He is a hero to a lot of whites(goes to show you that they are in love with violence) because he got away with murder, crime and double dealing for so long.
This is another coup for Obama because like Osama he could not be caught for about 20 years although he was on the FBI’s most wanted list for most of that time.
Inept white boy presidents and crooked republican politicians kept him safe. But not to Obama. When he told federal law enforcement he wanted that chapter closed, it was.
Bulger was captured post haste and his trial will begin shortly.
Robert, RT
May 31st, 2013 at 7:01 am
Zen Lill or should I be addressing this to you Michelle? Where are the Zen Lill fashion shots?
Just how patient do you expect us to be?