By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
Even as the GOP struggles to hold onto to its wacky Tea Party base and appease the country clubbers who finance the show, it finds it can unite on one thing: It Loves the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). That’s right, the party who issued dire warnings over death panels and runaway costs, and rationing, and lost jobs just heard from its grass-roots and … they LOVE it. According to the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that “aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable,” polling shows 74% of persons who had the guts to identify themselves as Republicans “said that they were very or somewhat satisfied with their new insurance plan.” And even more remarkably for that “sky-is-always-falling” crowd, they’re optimistic .. yes, optimistic, that “new health coverage will improve their ability to get the care they need.” What ? No waiting lines, no rationing of health care ? No shadowy board saying Grandma must die because she needs hormone replacement therapy?
What is this our conservative brethren cry? Well, it’s reality and everything Republican leaders hoped — for purely political reasons — it wouldn’t be. Like the number of uninsured dropping from 15.6% to 13.4% in just one quarter. This is “the lowest quarterly average recorded since Gallup and Healthways began tracking the percentage of uninsured Americans in 2008. ” Oh, then there’s the actual people who now can get the healthcare they need (and that most civilized nations regard as a civil right). Over fifteen million Americans have signed up for coverage by the end of the last enrollment period and about 8 million went through the exchange. A Kaiser Survey found that nearly 6 out of 10 of the 8 million who enrolled in the marketplace were previously uninsured. Maybe that will reduce the 25,000 American per year who, pre-ACA, were dying from little or no healthcare.
And what about the demographics of those recently insured? Those cut across all age groups except those 65+ due to their eligibility to Medicare.
Not seeing the doctor of their choice, I bet. Nope that canard has gone the way of the buggy whip too, according to the Washington Post. “Just about one in five of those with new coverage, though, said they tried to find a primary care doctor — but of those, 75 percent said their search was somewhat easy or very easy.” So 80% kept their doctor, and 75% said getting a new one –if they had to — was easy. That lying Obama saying that everyone will get to keep their doctor and plan. Throw him in jail for that whopper!
And lastly, what about that great Republican bugaboo. You know the one where we’ll all wait years for surgeries or even just to see a specialist under Obamacare? Well, the Commonwealth Fund says that 58% of those newly insured who needed to see specialists did so in two weeks. Two weeks? That’s how long it tales me to get a plumber out to my house!
So, with the dire predictions of the demise of healthcare system via the ACA effectively debunked what does it mean for the GOP’s singular wedge issue? Plan B: The President’s travel schedule? ( He won’t “visit the border,” you know) Well, maybe, but the bigger problem is the disconnect between GOP leadership and its apparently healthy and satisfied membership. Taking away the things that people like by their own government has never really been a winning political strategy. See, Prohibition, i.e. disaster.
Even more politically challenging is that independents love Obamacare more than Republicans. By a 85% to 15% gap, independent voters can’t get enough of quality affordable health care that, for the first time in a long time, actually costs less per month than their mortgage. Try that on for size GOP. Who’s left to vote? Undocumented workers? Oh, sorry, they can’t and well, a lot are Hispanic and … you know … you’re not doing so great on immigration reform. Next subject, please.
Already facing a demographic nightmare in 2016 when even more young people and minorities are expected to vote, the GOP presidential chances stand at a crossroads. Give up the best issue you thought you had: government “takeover” of the healthcare system or change? What would a savvy political party do? Well, change of course. For the GOP? Well, they do love a good collision course with reality sometimes.
Ok, all you political operatives in the making, what do you think:
Source: Commonwealth Fund and throughout.
~Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
By the way and for better or worse, the views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not necessarily those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays of art are solely the author’s decision and responsibility. No infringement of intellectual property rights is intended and will be remedied upon notice from the owner. Fair use is however asserted for such inclusions of quotes, excerpts, photos, art, and the like.
http://www.realclearpolicy.com/2014/01/14/how_obamacare_opens_the_door_to_single_payer_16925.html
Could this be one of the reasons the GOP hates Obamacare? A little known provision in the law opens the door to Single Payer, ooooo scary…to some.
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/why-does-the-gop-really-hate-obamacare.html/?a=viewall
Here’s why the the GOP really hate Obamacare, it opens the door to yet FURTHER reform… Single payer?
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/07/republicans-love-obamacare “That’s a lot of Republicans who are satisfied with their Obamacare coverage. They might not realize it’s Obamacare—perhaps they know it as Kynect or Covered California—but they like it. And if you take it away, they’re going to be unhappy. That’s several million potentially unhappy Republicans if the national GOP continues its anti-Obamacare jihad. Just saying.”
Those news reports crack me up when the people tell how much they hate Obamacare but the ACA is pretty good.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118652/boehners-obama-lawsuit-proves-obama-isnt-lawless Boehner limits his lawsuit to a few provisions of Obamacare. Looks like much to do about nothing and to top that off republicans love obamacare.
Actually Sid, I don’t like any private health insurance company being involved in our health care, I too prefer a Single Payer system. However, I’m just LOVING the irony of this Gallup poll.
Btw forcing people to buy health insurance was NEVER a Democrat principle until Obama. Blind partisanship is pure ignorance.
I call BS on this. The only people I know who are even marginally happy are those who have gotten it for free and haven’t had to use it. Who would ORGASMICALLY LOVE higher deductibles??? This study will turn out to be crap is my prediction.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Now the Democrats are for corporate profiteering? *shakes head*
These guys are spinning so much they cant even see they are now for what they were against.
Annie you claim the Republicans are against what they were for. But what does that say about you now that you are for what you were once against?
Jim Jones fed his followers purple koolaid. Its funny when you mix Red and Blue that represent the 2 main parties that you get what? Purple.
Yes Sid, ignore the troll. They don’t know how to post links, so they only spout stuff they dreamt up and hope the rest of us won’t do our own research, lol!
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2013/1028/The-irony-of-Republican-disapproval-of-Obamacare
The irony of Republican disapproval of Obamacare.
Sid, Attention is what trolls crave. They are incapable of positive attention so they seek negative attention.
“When you mandate that Americans have to purchase a particular good or service, why wouldn’t stock prices for that particular industry rise? So no matter if the law is terrible public policy and a drag on Americans’ bottom line”
Health care is the domestic equivalent of national defense. Claiming it is a drag on the economy is like claiming buying groceries is a drag. It is not a drag to buy a good or service that you need and will use.
Health care insurance is something that all of us need and every one of us – EVERY ONE OF US – will eventually use. What is not fair and what is wildly inefficient is to allow people to choose not to have insurance or to choose policies so austere they offer no real protection in time of need. It is not fair because many of those who choose not buy insurance will need care that they will likely get from the emergency room – which is the most expensive health care of all and which we all really do pay for.
Sure there are flaws in the current health care system. But ACA has real programs to identify cost efficient approaches to quality health care and make them know to health care professionals. In that sense ACA is dynamic and will improve efficiency as time passes.
Every other industrial nation pays less than half – LESS THAN HALF – what we pay and they get better results in many measures of health care performance.
Remember the basic principles of ACA were developed by conservative think tanks. Republicans were for the principles of ACA before they were against it.
Why would anyone in their right mind want to continue with the old system?
There are two possibilities 1) profound ignorance or 2) perceived political advantage.
Sid, Ignoring cultist trolls is the only way. It will make you free. What works for me is simply not reading them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/why-obamacare-is-a-conservatives-dream.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
They loved Obamacare….before they hated it, after all it was THEIR idea.
Also i think the fact that Ive posted sources from alot of leftwing sources says alot.
See Annie I post facts. You post insults and no facts. Why is that? I already know the answer. Keep drinking the purple koolaid
http://www.drugsdb.com/blog/big-pharma-political-contributions.html
Hey Sid, that vein in your forehead is bulging, I’d have that looked at.
SIngle payer LOL
Never going to happen. The Democrats are in bed with Big Pharma and the Insurance companies.
How the hell cant you see it? Man I swear people refuse to see the truth sometimes.
Obama duped all of his voters
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2010/06/crew-calls-for-house-investigation-into-obama-staffers-use-of-personal-email-meetings-with-lobbyists/
CREW Calls for House Investigation into Obama Staffers’ Use of Personal Email, Meetings with Lobbyists
By Alex Pepper
Jun 30, 2010 12:44pm
ABC News’ Karen Travers reports:
On Monday good-government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked a House committee to look into whether the Obama White House violated federal laws regarding electronic records by using private email accounts to communicate with lobbyists and meeting with lobbyists outside the White House.
CREW wrote a letter to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asking it to investigate and hold hearings to determine any violations of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and Federal Records Act (FRA).
The group’s letter is in response to an article in The New York Times on June 25 that said Obama White House officials have met “hundreds of times” over the last 18 months with prominent Washington lobbyists.
“But because the discussions are not taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, they are not subject to disclosure on the visitors’ log that the White House releases as part of its pledge to be the “most transparent presidential administration in history,” the New York Times reported.
The Times also reported that lobbyists said they “routinely” get emails from White House staff members’ personal accounts, not their White House emails which are subject to public records review.
The White House declined to comment on the CREW letter calling for the investigation.
As a candidate and as president, Obama has been sharply critical of lobbyists and their influence in the political process. He pledged to institute greater transparency and to close the revolving lobby door in Washington.
“It is outrageous that White House staff are deliberately using personal email accounts – in violation of the law – to hide the fact that they are in touch with lobbyists,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a paper statement. “This is what all the administration’s anti-lobbyist rhetoric gets you – less transparency. Rather than being open and clear about who is influencing White House policy, the White House is trying to hide who it’s really talking to. Even worse, the public is being suckered with lofty rhetoric about the evils of the same lobbyists White House officials are meeting with.”
This isn’t the first time CREW has called the Obama White House out for transparency.
After CREW filed a lawsuit last summer to force the President Obama to share White House visitors logs with the public, the White House on September 4 announced its new disclosure policy to regularly make public most of the names of visitors to the White House.