Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the implications of this ruling on future healthcare policies in the United States. Participants explore various perspectives on the ACA, its comparison to other healthcare systems, and the potential political ramifications leading up to the next election.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express relief at the Supreme Court's decision, viewing it as positive news for Americans.
  • Others argue that the future of the ACA will depend heavily on the outcomes of upcoming elections, particularly if Republicans maintain control of Congress and the presidency.
  • There are differing opinions on whether the ACA should serve as a model for global healthcare systems, with some advocating for its worldwide adoption.
  • Participants discuss the perceived shortcomings of the ACA in comparison to other healthcare systems, particularly Canada's, citing issues such as wait times and patient satisfaction.
  • Some participants challenge the notion that Canadians are uniformly satisfied with their healthcare system, referencing statistics about Canadians seeking treatment in the U.S. due to long wait times.
  • Disagreements arise over the interpretation of statistics regarding Canadians seeking medical care outside their country, with some emphasizing the small percentage of the population that does so.
  • There are claims that comparing the healthcare systems of Canada and the U.S. is complex due to differences in demographics, healthcare challenges, and system effectiveness.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the effectiveness of the ACA compared to other healthcare systems, particularly Canada's. Multiple competing views remain regarding the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling and the future of healthcare policy in the U.S.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various statistics and studies to support their claims, but there are unresolved questions about the accuracy and relevance of these figures, particularly regarding the fraction of Canadians seeking non-trivial healthcare outside their country.

  • #31
I like someone to tell me how I can even apply for this wonderful affordable heath care coverage that the ACA promised me 8 years ago?
 
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  • #32
gjonesy said:
I like someone to tell me how I can even apply for this wonderful affordable heath care coverage that the ACA promised me 8 years ago?
https://www.healthcare.gov/
 
  • #33
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  • #34
Hornbein said:
Wendell Potter was a senior VP at a major health insurer (most recently doing $30B in business).

Wendell wasn't working at an ins company during any of the time the ACA was in debate or being implemented. I was. Let me assure you, this is mostly nonsense, and a gross simplification of what actually went on.
 
  • #35
gjonesy said:
I do, it was promoted as national heath care on Obamas first campaign for the presidency.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.healthcare.html

DEMOCRATS
obama_background.jpg
Barack Obama
Would create a national health insurance program for individuals who do not have employer-provided health care and who do not qualify for other existing federal programs

A national health insurance program is not the same thing as national health care.
 
  • #36
I really can't stress the above enough. Health care is not the same as health care financing.

It's not a detail, or a technicality. One is a doctor providing care. The other is money passing through ACO bank accounts. One is a pill. The other is a contract between corporations.

Example: The VA provides health care. Medicare is insurance. You can go to a doctor who works for the VA. You have to find a doctor who will take Medicare.

Health care is not the same thing as health insurance.
 
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  • #37
..
Hornbein said:
Wendell Potter was a senior VP at a major health insurer (most recently doing $30B in business). According to him the insurance sector loves Obamacare.

I'd love a law that forced people to tithe to me, too.
(Well actually i wouldn't. That's thievery.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendell_Potter
On September 15, 2009, Potter appeared before the United States House of Representatives Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Potter said in his opening statement that if Congress "fails to create a public insurance option to compete with private insurers, the bill it sends to the president might as well be called the Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act."[8]

According to PBS Frontline,
"No Public Option" was the insurance industry's condition for electing Obama .in '08
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamasdeal/

i'd have been for ACA if it'd had the public option.
 
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  • #38
gjonesy said:
Notice the words insurance and health care are interchangeable terms in the context in which they were used here.

No, those are never interchangeable, and it is not semantics. I gave very concrete examples of how different the two terms are.

I do agree that you thought they were interchangeable. That doesn't make it true.
 
  • #39
jim hardy said:
I'd love a law that forced people to tithe to me, too.
(Well actually i wouldn't. That's thievery.)

Yea, it sounds like a good deal for insurance companies that the gov't now requires people to have health insurance. However, it also capped (admin + profits) and increased administrative costs (what does that do to the above equation?).

The thing that's so bad about posts like yours, is that I worked in commercial health insurance as an actuary. I was opposed to the ACA as it was being made law, and spent years implementing it. I watched it tank commercial profitability, and watched as insurance companies moved on to new areas of business, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

You think I think it was great, when I don't.

That makes you wrong.
 
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  • #40
  • #41
This thread is off the rails and is closed. Posts that do not meet the guidelines have been removed.
 

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