The health care headline hidden behind the horse race
Published May 7, 2014
by Chris Fitzsimon, NC Policy Watch and NC SPIN panelist, May 6, 2014.
t’s been hard to keep up with all the stories about the fight for the soul of the Republican Party in North Carolina that have dominated the news of this primary election season.
The battle between the Tea Party wing of the GOP and the only slightly less conservative establishment faction of the party is an interesting tale for sure, but the pundits’ almost singular focus on the insider political intrigue has obscured another story that is far more important to people’s lives, even if doesn’t fit the narrative of the Republican primary season.
The Affordable Care Act is working in North Carolina. That’s right, the much-demonized “Obamacare” is now responsible for providing health care coverage to roughly 430,000 people in the state and the vast majority of them were previously uninsured. That’s the fifth highest enrollment level in the country.
That’s a story you’d think would be front-page news especially given all the screaming headlines about the ACA’s problems when enrollment started several months ago and the fighting among Republican candidates over who dislikes Obamacare more and who will work harder to repeal it if they are elected.
Then there is the $8 million worth of anti-ACA ads already run against Senator Kay Hagan by the misnamed and Koch-brothers- funded group Americans for Prosperity.
Republicans have tried hard to make the ACA the defining issue of this election season. They have been attacking each other for not hating Obamacare enough.
You would think news that more than 400,000 people have signed up for coverage in the state would be a major front page story, but it’s been relegated to the business pages of Raleigh’s leading newspaper and the subject of a weekend story by Associated Press that a handful of papers carried.
And it’s not only the startling enrollment in North Carolina—which was almost twice as a high as the goal for the state—that’s newsworthy, it’s all the other ways that the health care law has already helped thousands of people in the state.
Close to 100,000 young adults who would have been uninsured are because the ACA allows parents to keep children on their health policies until they are 26.
More than four million people in the state with pre-existing health conditions can no longer be denied coverage because of the ACA or charged exorbitant premiums because of their chronic illness.
Parents of 539,000 children with pre-existing conditions no longer have to worry about finding coverage for their kids. They can no longer be denied a policy either.
Thousands of people now have access to free diagnostic services and seniors on Medicare have received help paying for their medication.
And it’s not just North Carolina of course. More than 8 million people have signed up for coverage nationwide and 28 percent of them are young adults, the population vital to the success of the law that critics said were unlikely to enroll in high numbers. The doomsday predictions about people losing their health care coverage or being forced to change doctors have also faded away.
All that seems awfully newsworthy in a year when repealing the health care law remains the obsession of one political party and a litmus test for its candidates.
The success of the Affordable Care Act deserves more attention and somebody needs to ask the repealers why they want to take health care coverage away from the 430,000 people in North Carolina who recently signed up for it.
This election is not just about a horse race or battle for control of one political party. It’s about people’s lives.
See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2014/05/06/the-health-care-headline-hidden-behind-the-horserace/
May 7, 2014 at 3:13 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Regardless of what libs think about the Republican party or TEA people, one fact remains.
The socialist faction of the DemocRAT party took over long ago. Not just on the national level. Not just in any one state. But across the country, centrist Demoncrats and DoDo birds have something in common. Socialists push centrists out of the party.
The demon party claims to have a big 'tent', but it's actually smaller than the Republican tent. They will allow in blacks, latinos, women, men, gays, transgenders, terrorists, or anyone from any other group. So long as they are socialists as well. Once any person crosses the line and stands against socialism, concentration of power in Washington, and anything that benefits only the party, the Demons push that person out. Everything that demons say about conservatives is actually true about themselves and they hope people like NBC and Chris ignore this fact in all of their coverage.
May 7, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Facts are funny things. Mostly because libs have so much trouble recognizing them.
Case in point. Chris's post. He writes socialized medicine 'is now responsible for providing health care coverage to roughly 430,000 people'. But that is NOT true. There are NO FACTS out on how many people have actually paid for, therefore have health coverage, because of socialized medicine. The information currently available seems to indicate that some 430,000 people may have signed up on the website. Not all of them have purchased. But this info is not yet available. And some of the people who used the website were SHOPPING but were unable to shop without 'enrolling'. Unlike real web commerce where I can SHOP all I want without committing to anything or being considered 'enrolled'. The socialized medicine website requires one to enter all information AS IF the intent was to complete a business transaction.
What's next for misleading information? Chris continues with spewing unsupported demoncrat talking points that have no basis in fact. That's because this information is NOT YET available. Chris writes 'the vast majority of them were previously uninsured'. Except SOME of those WERE covered on their own, private pay health insurance plan but were FORCIBLY REMOVED from their plan. They had virtually no other option but to enroll in socialized medicine. In addition, some of those enrollees actually WERE eligible for things like medicare/medicaid/SHIPP but hadn't done anything about it. So can they really be counted as now insured but previously uninsured?
But the most important tidbit of information that MUST ALWAYS be mentioned when discussing the impact of socialized medicine is the number of people who will be SUBSIDIZED by others. The current stats are that some 91% of enrollees are eligible for a subsidy. This means that 91% of these people will have someone else paying at least part of their premiums. How does that math work out? How is this going to lower my premiums by $2,500 per year? How is this NOT going to affect deficit spending? Who exactly IS going to pay for these premiums?
May 8, 2014 at 1:58 pm
Norm Kellly says:
I hope Chris & other socialists continue to point out that freedom loving, independent people like the Koch brother still have the right to promote & work for the candidate of their choice. Reminding people that we are free to spend our money on whatever we want is a good thing. Conservatives will continue to remind all socialists, including Chris, that the Koch brothers are outspent by Steyer and unions. There is NO evidence that the Koch brothers have gotten paid back for their donations. There IS EVIDENCE that Steyer has been paid back for his donations. The occupier of the White House has delayed the XL pipeline not because there are any outstanding questions about it's usefulness, but because Steyer paid him & the demon party to prevent the pipeline. Payback for the demon supporters but no evidence of same for the Koch's. Does this sound fair to you Chris?
The 'Americans for Prosperity' is a misnomer? Because they support freedom? Or because they are funded, at least in part, by the Koch brothers? Would the XL pipeline bring jobs & prosperity to parts of the US? Yes. Is it the Koch's that are standing in the way of the XL? Nope. It's the socialists in the way of private sector job growth. And while we're at it, who was opposed to job creation in South Carolina when Boeing built a plant there and wanted to hire people? It was the socialist, Demoncrat party, led by none other than the occupier. So it seems that Americans for Prosperity is properly named. It's the democrat party that is apparently misnamed as it IS the party that stands in the way of Prosperity. It should be renamed the Socialist Party of America. Where only government sponsored business activity is allowed.
Many NC's are able to get coverage through socialized medicine even though they have a pre-existing condition. But this didn't take socialized medicine to accomplish. As for people with chronic conditions paying a higher premium because they actually cost the insurance companies more, it only makes sense that people pay for the services they will use. Only in socialist countries do people get subsidized by other people who don't use the service or don't use it to such a large extent. Is it fair that my health insurance premiums are higher because someone I don't know, someone I am not related to, has a chronic condition? Are my automobile insurance premiums artificially inflated because my neighbor is such a terrible driver that he has been involved in 3 accidents, has had 4 moving violations, and 1 DUI? Well, maybe, but that's not right either. My neighbors points should not be reflected on my auto insurance premiums. Just like it's not right for me to pay more for health insurance because you are sickly or more expensive to insure. Isn't it the libs who constantly, repeatedly, always rant about 'their fair share'? What exactly does this mean in the 'mind' of libs? Is 'their fair share' only a 1 way street? Well, look at the facts and you will see that in the lib 'thought' process, it really is only 1 way. Take from 'the rich' always, give to 'the poor' always. It's only 'fair' for 'the rich' to pay for stuff, even if it means stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Remember Robin Hood? He has become the poster boy for the Demoncrat party. And people like Chris are celebrating this.
Lib warning: here comes one of those fact things that you can't recognize or deal with: in order to get Obamacancer passed and lie to us that it wouldn't raise the debt demons in Washington included a HUGE, MAJOR cut to medicare. The cost of medicare, the payments to doctors, the drug coverage was DECIMATED by the libs in order to implement the lie that is socialized medicine. So when Chris carries on the lie about seniors getting help paying for their medications, remember that the demons/socialists CUT medicare drastically. Or as the libs would put it 'this was a draconian cut'. When they say it, the rate of increase was reduced. In this case it was AN ACTUAL cut. Implemented by the kindly, loving, caring demons in Washington.
No, Chris, repeating the same lie does not work. Thousands of people HAVE been FORCED off their private-pay, individual and family coverage BECAUSE of the demon plan for socialized medicine. Thousands of people actually HAVE LOST access to the doctor of their choice. Because of Obamacancer/socialized medicine. These are NO LONGER doomsday predictions, as you call them. These are those pesky fact things. I've written before that libs are genetically incapable of recognizing and dealing with facts. When libs speak or write, they prove my point. Don't take my word for it. Read what libs write. Listen to what libs say. There are no facts that show 8 million people have been helped by obamascare. There are no facts that show 8 million people have paid for insurance under obamascare. The fact is that 8million people created an account either at the website or by phone or paper. But there are no facts that 8 million people acquired insurance because of obamacancer. And what are we to celebrate about 91% of NC's being eligible for a subsidy? How does this get paid for? What's to celebrate about this, other than proving the lie that it won't cause the debt to skyrocket? We know that the occupier is a liar; this is proof that K is also a liar. But this is known, not new. What's the celebration about?
Thank you for the way you ended this post, Chris. You are dead right. I don't think you know it, but you are. It's just sad that it took you so long to get to the conclusion. And it's extremely sad that your conclusion is right but your preceding 'logic' is so far off the mark. The next election is so absolutely about people's lives. Will we have the choice in our lives to make our own health care decisions? Will we have the right to purchase the health insurance we want for ourselves and our families? Will we have the right to pay the premium that fits US best or will we be forced to pay higher premiums and deductibles because we are subsidizing someone else? Will our budgets be devastated by health insurance premiums that are no longer our choice? Will the decrease in the number of doctors and/or hospitals we have to choose from cause our families health related hardship? At the same time that fewer doctors are taking government-sponsored health insurance plans, the number of people looking for doctors could have a negative affect on our families. Is this the type of affect on our families that you were referring to? All the negative impacts could be devastating to more people than are helped by socialized medicine. But you don't want to talk about how it will negatively affect our lives, do you? Not a single lib wants to look at the downside to central planner control of our lives. For some reason, giving up control of my life to central planners is considered a good thing. By the central planners of course. This is about people's lives. And the more people negatively affected, the more momentum for repeal and replace of socialized medicine with a MARKET driven alternative that allows PEOPLE to make choices, not central planners. Choices that are good for OUR lives, not good for the central planners.
