In the case of one family member, he had to pay money he couldn't afford for health insurance with such a high deductible- over $5,000 before it would pay out, and virtually no preventative care that he had no available funds to see a doctor when he needed to. This was the only affordable policy we could find. Then after one year, that company doubled its premium and later announced it would no longer sell individual policies. Because of the mandate, he had to start looking for another policy. Another low-income family member, in another state, had better coverage when uninsured that when she was insured. I believe in universal health care, but the current ACA needs some work.
"I believe in universal health care, but the current ACA needs some work."
I believe in universal healthcare as well, especially a single-payer system. The one source of confusion hat many people have is that the ACA is insurance. It is not. It is a bundle of a series of regulations that control healthcare financially, technologically, and clinically to drive better health outcomes, lower costs, and improve their methods of distribution and accessibility.
Unfortunately the one thing it did NOT do was control the Insurance agencies charges and the way they implement their policies. The fatal flaws of the ACA are the penalties AND the lack of control over the Insurance companies.
Democrats failed when they had a golden opportunity to take this by the reigns and run with it. They were sneaky in how they deceived the US people through their corporatist agenda in disguise. At least the GOP are out in the open with their contempt for human life and their greed. It's no wonder Bernie Sanders was smeared and his run for office sabotaged
Spot on with everything you say here! When the smoke cleared after Trumps win, I knew the DNC was responsible for it. Bernie was exactly what this country needed and I will forever mourn what could have been.
I really wonder if anything will ever change. Everyone said that Trump would shake things up. Yeh, right! Congress is still in bed with big business and we still all have to wonder how the hell we are going to afford basic healthcare in the coming years.
Thank you for your helpful and informative answer Jane. I very much appreciate real-life examples. Happy Tuesday.
This post was edited by RosieG at March 7, 2017 11:56 AM MST
It was a poorly written bill that broke what already worked, penalized those who could neither afford coverage nor qualified for Medicaid, and expanded our already massive bureaucracy.
Many who had good policies/good coverage prior to the ACA ended up with such high deductibles that health care previously available to them became beyond their reach.
Taxing people for being too poor to afford insurance but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid was just wrong.
The Medicaid expansion worked well in some states that adopted it, and the subsidies helped those who could afford insurance with the subsidies made available.
I am curious to see what the Republican proposal ends up looking like after all revisions have been made. They have a slim majority in the Senate, so it won't be a shoo in. Some Republicans are unhappy about the credits proposed being alowed to those who pay no federal tax, while four Republicans have stated they do not want people in their states who became covered under the ACA to lose coverage. Additionally, several Republican governors are happy with the Medicaid expansion in their states.
The simple answer is, when you include for profit insurance companies into the mix, there just isn't enough money to go around, so somebody goes without..
Jane S 