Good morning!

“Just noticing…”

From the New Republic:

The Huge Obamacare Story You Aren’t Reading

Today it’s a few hundred thousand people. By next year, it will be at least a few million. Their health insurance status is changing dramatically: What they have in 2014 and beyond will look nothing like what they had in 2013 and before. For many of these people, the difference will be hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. In a few cases, it may be the difference between life and death.

You probably think I’m talking about the people getting cancellation notices about their private insurance policies. I’m not. I’m talking about the people getting Medicaid. Both stories are consequences of the Affordable Care Act. But one is getting way, way more attention than the other.

It’s no mystery why. Stories of people losing something are more compelling than stories of people gaining something. The policy cancellation story is also newsier, because fewer people expected it to happen. Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid was something the advocates of reform advertised. Reform’s effect on people with skimpy or medically underwritten insurance policies they liked was something that few advocates, including the president, even acknowledged. Had Obama pointed out, all along, that some people might lose existing plans or pay more for coverage in 2014, it would seem a lot less shocking.

But there is also a class element to the way this debate has evolved. By and large, the people receiving those cancellation notices and facing large premium increases are at least reasonably affluent. They’re not necessarily rich, particularly if they live in higher cost areas of the country. Many of them sweat monthly bills just like most of the country does. But, by definition, they don’t qualify for huge subsidies that would offset premium increases mostly or completely. By contrast, the people getting Medicaid are poor. They have to be, because it’s the only way to sign up for the program. And as political scientists have shown, the poor don’t command the same kind of attention from politicians that the middle class—and particularly the upper middle class—does.

And this fact, I suspect, is also magnifying the impact of those cancellation letters. The best estimates suggest that 12 to 15 million people currently buy coverage on their own—i.e, in what’s known as the non-group market. It appears that only a fraction of them will get to keep their current policies. The rest will end up having to get new coverage, or updated versions of their old coverage, that offers greater benefits and/or is available to everybody, regardless of pre-existing condition. That will drive up the price of insurance.

But when you take into account the subsidies, which for many people will knock the price of insurance right back down, and the number of people who would gladly pay more for insurance that offers real protection from financial shock, the number of people who truly end up feeling worse off ends up a lot smaller than 12 or 15 million. And even those people will end up with good health insurance, though they’ll be paying more for it and may not want it.

Meanwhile, the best available projections suggest that 13 million people will eventually sign up for Medicaid. That’s a much larger number of people, most of whom had no insurance—none—before. That doesn’t even include more than ten million presently uninsured people expected to get insurance through employers and the new marketplaces, assuming all of the websites start working better, or the millions of seniors getting extra help with their prescrpition drugs.

Of course, the story of the Medicaid expansion is also one of suffering. But that’s because Republicans governors and lawmakers are blocking expansion of Medicaid in their states. About 5 million people who would be eligible for Medicaid under Obamacare’s new guidelines won’t be getting it. Here’s a mental exercise. How many stories have cable news and the networks run about people with private insurance getting cancellation notices? And how many have they run about people who would be getting Medicaid if only their state lawmakers would stop blocking expansion?

You can find examples, usually from domestic policy writers in print. My colleague Alec MacGillis has waged a lonely crusade to remind people about this situation. The New York Times had a terrific front-page story on this in early October, and Politico‘s Jen Haberkorn wrote about it a few weeks later. In the Washington Post, Ruth Marcus on Friday wrote about Paul Tumulty, in Texas, who can’t get insurance because Governor Rick Perry has blocked that state’s Medicaid expansion. Tumulty, who is the brother of Post staff writer Karen, has kidney disease. Wiithout Medicaid he can’t get comprehensive coverage, because, as Karen put it, “he is, paradoxically, too poor for subsidies.”

But these articles are the exception more than the rule. Obama tried to draw attention to the issue last week, when he visited Texas. But the trip didn’t generate much in the way of new coverage of Medicaid.

Should the president have been more candid about the impact his plan would have on people buying their own coverage? Yes. Should we pay attention to those people, particularly when they must now pay more for equivalent coverage? Definitely. Should this put extra pressure on the administration and some states to fix their websites? You bet. But that’s not the only Obamacare news right now. The law is making life better for a great many people—and would help even more if only Republican lawmakers would relent. Those stories need attention, too.

Helen: I can’t tell you how shocking it was for me to reach such comments when I first starting reading the comments on my blog years ago. So yes, not censoring works twofold. I don’t censor any comments no matter what. And, when readers can be anonymous here, they don’t need to censor themselves either. So we get to experience truly how people feel – and what they may not say to each other, but they can easily say here without having to fear being known or exposed.

Silvia: Really? Huh…If I remember correctly,  back in the day…it wasn’t me that said Doug was “hung like a porn star.” I don’t believe those would be words that would come from my mouth. I believe that it was Azza who had been “looking.”  I will speak for myself, and reveal things about myself, but it is not like me to divulge such personal info about my partner. But I could be wrong, and just hinted about it using different words. No biggie. However, if I did it was certainly “a moment,” and one that I won’t repeat here for obvious reasons. :)

But to answer your question, a lover can satisfy me in many ways. Yes, it is very important to me that I have an exciting and healthy sexual relationship. However, I am much more interested in the total package, and I am not just talking about the visuals. What I want from a man is far more than just dick size. So much more has to be revealed to me before he’ll even get a chance of getting a peek at seeing the juiciness between these thighs.

Trina: That’s a good question to ask when you’re applying. Let me know if you get and answer. I’m sure other girls would want to know too. :)

Eddy: Haha! Good for you for having a good attitude and working that asset!

Shelia: Now we’re talking. Good love comes in all sizes.

Brittany: I think you got played girlfriend. You thought you were showing her something. This girl was experienced. She knew way before you kissed her you were her bitch.

Evelyn: That is quite the family story. Yes, life is stranger than fiction. Happy to hear you and your sis made up and all is good. Too bad your parents are racist. They are missing out.

I miss Anna and Peter too. Where are you two? Howie? There are plenty of readers making comments  - how about coming back and saying hello?

I love that I have so many readers who visit this blog, but yes, without the longtime faithfuls spending time here, it would be pretty strange. No, ZL and Prism Princess hold their own all by themselves. I barely have enough time to be here everyday as moi. I certainly don’t have the time to be someone else, let alone two girls!

Speaking of…ZL: I’m so happy to hear you and your man are happy, and enjoying each other thoroughly. I could hear it in your voice on the phone. You can’t get any better when mind, body, and spirit are connected.

Troy: Thank God no one agrees with me all of the time, otherwise I wouldn’t get to experience another viewpoint to compare it too.  However, with all due respect, I am not sure our opinions differ as I haven’t really given a well-informed opinion yet, which is why I am asking what others think. Like I mentioned I like her, yet I know very little of her, spiritually and politically. What I said was mostly HOPEful thinking.

Dafne: I’m with you sister. My thoughts exactly.

Mike, TM: I am happy to see your comments here. I feel the same way about our president. And I always learn something from your posts. Be well and be safe.

Social Butterfly: Nice to hear from you. Thanks for taking the time to express your informed viewpoint. I agree with you about the need to rely on God – I can’t hang with that one. Although I am not sure that I got the same impression as you did from watching the video. Thanks for posting. With respect to Hillary Clinton, I am still a supporter, and …Elizabeth warren, like you, and Shellie, I think she’s amazing too, and would get my support.

Erica: Thanks for your opinion too. Nicely stated. That was eye opening and didn’t occur to me earlier. I do not trust anyone who uses God to assist in the arguments either, especially in politics. I would HOPE that she would leave the God message out of politics but the truth is…well I think we may already know the answer to that one.

Silva: You’re welcome!

Readers: I am on a deeper spiritual path currently and I am looking to break some limiting beliefs of mine, so my mind is quite focused on the spiritual aspects that she addresses. Not necessarily appropriate for politics. I may have been blinded by the “Light” so to speak. :) So, thank you. This was personally a juicy topic for me. So happy that it spurred some insights for me to think about.

Happy Sunday Everyone!

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 :)

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“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

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