It will be very interesting to see how the below does in November in Colorado. If this passes and is successful it could act as a catalyst for other states to try the same. Like many progressive issues before it (Same-sex marriage, weed legalization etc) single payer universal healthcare in the US might go through the states first. The insurance, pharmaceutical, and hospital industries know this and are working hard to see it defeated.
United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
61–70 of 80 posts
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#62FWIW, considering half the Democratic Party wanted to nominate a candidate who wanted to reform healthcare AGAIN (expansion of medicare for all), that should be an indicator of the quality of this piece of legislation.
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I still contend that the availability/unavailability of health insurance was not the problem that needed solving. Instead, it's one of many symptoms that can be attributed to the unreasonable cost of healthcare, which has escalated in part because of the disassociation between the actual billing and payment. The rate of increase in per-capita costs has decreased under the ACA. So, while it perhaps hasn't yet solved…
We need a period of time that isn't coincident with a huge recession before we celebrate this too much.
> We need a period of time that isn't coincident with a huge recession before we celebrate this too much.
The most recent recession ended the same year the ACA was passed, the annual average cost growth rates, for private insurance and both major public programs, after the ACA are lower than the 5 year period containing that recession and the passage of the ACA, and even moreso lower than the 5 year period before that (during which there was no "huge recession".) [0]
[0] Figure 4 in TFA.
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is the real win here. Like most legislation ACA is a complex combination of good and pad parts, but the fact that people with pre-existing conditions or terminal illnesses can still get health insurance for treatment is a huge step forward for our society as a whole. Like the report said, there's still progress to be made.
I still contend that the availability/unavailability of health insurance was not the problem that needed solving. Instead, it's one of many symptoms that can be attributed to the unreasonable cost of healthcare, which has escalated in part because of the disassociation between the actual billing and payment. Insurance is similar in concept to chips as a casino in this -- by creating distance from the actual cash tran…
Which is why insurance, unlike casino chips, has cash deductibles.
The uninsured rate has decreased from 16% to 9%, so there are now a significant more number of people insured that were not before.
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for calling out what it is but you might get down voted here. 11 thousand pages of new regulations can not be called reform. It is unbelievable how this new giant piece of regulation is even termed as "reform". The reform in US healthcare could have been destroying the monopoly of AMA over supply of doctors, getting rid of complex procedures for prescription medicine, downsizing FDA and giving more flexibility…
> 11 thousand pages of new regulations can not be called reform. Why not? Now, if you were complaining about someone, hypothetically, calling it "simplification", I can at least comprehend the objection, but what does the number of pages of regulation have anything to do with whether or not it can be called reform?
Higher the number of pages in a regulation harder it is for the representatives to read and study. The compliance cost goes significantly higher for all the stakeholders making entire healthcare more expensive all people and since IRS is roped in this cost is also passed on to entire population of United States including those who are not residing in USA and have never made a visit to a doctor in a given financial year.
Reform generally means government gives up control in favor of market so people can get what they want, forcing people to buy insurance is not reform it is tyranny.
There is a good reason why US constitution is just 4 pages and not 400 thousand.
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
ACA is the best legislation in my lifetime. It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance as a cancer survivor, allowing me to spend more time with my young family instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job. See, I can anecdote too.
> It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance You could do that before ACA. > instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
> You could do that before ACA.
The GP said he was a cancer survivor. I've talked with several people with serious past or pre-existing conditions, including past occurrences of cancer, who could not find anyone willing to sell them an individual health insurance plan at any price prior to the ACA -- the only way they could get insurance was to be in a job where a group plan was offered.
> What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA?
It creates health insurance exchanges on which people can by individual insurance without being denied for pre-existing conditions, meaning they don't need to be in a job offering a group plan in order to get insurance.
> ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
ACA has made it possible for people to buy individual plans who were not able to buy them, at any price, before (the rules that do that, such as the rule against pre-existing condition exclusions, are the reason for the cost increases for individual insurance for people who were insurable prior to the ACA.)
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance You could do that before ACA. > instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
> You could do that before ACA. The GP said he was a cancer survivor. I've talked with several people with serious past or pre-existing conditions, including past occurrences of cancer, who could not find anyone willing to sell them an individual health insurance plan at any price prior to the ACA -- the only way they could get insurance was to be in a job where a group plan was offered. > What does this lifestyle ch…
> It creates health insurance exchanges on which people can by individual insurance without being denied for pre-existing conditions
One could (and can) do this without the exchanges.
Yes, before ACA some pre-existing conditions would deny access to some policies from some insurers. This was to prevent a career smoker at age 75 from signing up for a new very large policy, and immediately get the benefits they haven't paid for.
We didn't need all of the baggage that came with ACA to accomplish this.
> meaning they don't need to be in a job offering a group plan in order to get insurance
> ACA has made it possible for people to buy individual plans who were not able to buy them
Before ACA, you did not need to belong to a group plan to get insurance. And to that endeavor, private individual insurance policies are about the same price now as they were then...
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Meanwhile... ACA didn't touch pharmaceutical companies - the true reason healthcare is so expensive ($700 salt water IV's anyone?).
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance You could do that before ACA. > instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
The entire point is that healthcare is no longer coupled to a specific employer.
> The entire point is that healthcare is no longer coupled to a specific employer.
It never was. You could always get an individual plan.
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
ACA is the best legislation in my lifetime. It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance as a cancer survivor, allowing me to spend more time with my young family instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job. See, I can anecdote too.
> It has allowed me the luxury of being able to purchase individual insurance You could do that before ACA. > instead of being chained to a 8-5 corporate job What does this lifestyle choice have to do with ACA? ACA doesn't somehow give you free time or extra money. Unless you are getting your insurance for free (which was possible before ACA, mind you). ACA often does not offer the cheapest plans either...
[deleted]
Re: United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The ACA was a sham; it measures the insured rate, not the ability of citizens to receive the care they need. On that metric, its failing terribly. Can you elaborate on this? Not because I think you're wrong, but because I haven't been able to find any data one way or the other about health outcomes and the ACA.
It simply mandates everyone buys insurance. It does not mandate affordable care. Does it matter if you buy insurance if your deductible is $6000 and you never seek medical help until its too late (because you can't afford the copay(s))?
> It simply mandates everyone buys insurance.
It mandates everyone buys insurance meeting minimum standards.
> Does it matter if you buy insurance if your deductible is $6000 and you never seek medical help until its too late (because you can't afford the copay(s))?
By definition, with "too late" as part of the premise, no; but more meaningfully, it definitely makes a difference if you buy a high-deductible plan and only use it to cover catastrophic costs.
(Of course, to meet the minimum standards under the ACA, plans must cover certain, mostly preventive, services at no cost to the covered individual, regardless of what co-pay and/or deductible they have for other services, so that also makes a difference.)