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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (775752)	3/19/2014 8:04:37 PM
From: i-node	3 Recommendations Recommended By gamesmistress jlallen TideGlider Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578501

>> I asked you to tell me how a 60 year old person with diabetes and cancer could get affordable health insurance before Obamacare. The answer to that question is complicated, for a number of reasons, so it is in parts, all of which are significant to the answer. a) I support guaranteed issue. This could have been done in one page of US Code and maybe 100 pages of regulations. So, why did we end up with 2700 pages of US Code and 20,000+ pages of regulations? And frankly, it could probably have been done without legislation if someone had actually wanted to do that. b) It is important to recognize that "health insurance" != "health care". Before Obamacare, between 5 and 7.5% of the population didn't have health insurance for the reason (i) they couldn't afford it, or (ii) they were not able to get it due to preexisting conditions. Another 7.5%-10% could get insurance but simply chose not to, preferring instead to use their money in other ways. Which, in a land that is supposed to be known for freedom, is perfectly acceptable. My neighbor, who immigrated from Mexico decades ago, raised four kids and never had health insurance. I can remember his kids being hospitalized a couple of times; he simply paid for it out of pocket. He did well and made good money, but refused to buy insurance because he felt it was a ripoff. About ten years ago, his business fell on hard times and his money situation has been difficult. His wife now has cancer. He's struggling but he's making it. Health care is not the same as health insurance. c) Finally, how one dealt with the problem if they DID want insurance depends on many factors -- their financial situation, where they lived, their employment situation, etc. Most states had assigned risk pools of some sort, which Obamacare killed. I mentioned the one in TX which was reasonable, but I think most had something similar. But the problem was not intractable for most people; you COULD find insurance. My daughter, who was ABD, to get through her waiting period for a new policy, took an online college course just so she could get the student insurance policy. Not ideal, but it worked. It is important to keep in mind that having a preexisting condition didn't universally mean you couldn't get insurance. What it meant was that you might not be able to get coverage for that particular condition. If you had heart problems it would not ordinarily prevent you from getting coverage for potential problems like cancer or ER treatment or Rx drugs, etc. The fundamental problem is that Obamacare did not improve the situation. Today, we still have as many or more uninsured people as we did to begin with. Because instead of people being excluded by the lack of "guaranteed issue" provisions, they simply cannot afford it or don't find value in it. As with most liberal social programs, it simply did not and could not deliver what was promised. We've seen this every other liberal program -- SS, Medicare, Medicaid, Minimum Wage, Food stamps, you-name-it. Someone wants to improve the lot of the poor, and the end up fucking them over royally. Which is what Obamacare did.