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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Getting rid of nice things makes people unhappy"
Getting rid of nice things makes people unhappy
May 18, 2012 at 8:54 am Aaron Carroll
Ive seen a lot of chatter in the last few days on what might happen if the ACA is struck down or repealed in the future. Make no mistake about it. A lot of things about the bill are going to be missed. How angry do you think seniors will be when the donut hole reopens? How angry do you think families will be when young adults are suddenly kicked off family plans? How angry do you think parents will be when lifetime and annual limits suddenly reappear in their sick childrens plans? How angry will small business owners be if tax credits for employer purchased plans disappear? How angry will those in the high risk pools be when their insurance disappears? How angry will states be when their implementation grants go away? How angry will researchers be when PCORI money instantly vanishes?
And thats just the stuff thats already going on. How angry will everyone who is currently uninsured and counting down the days until 2014 be? No more not being denied if you have a pre-existing condition. No more not being gouged if you have a pre-existing condition.
Im somewhat amused by reports that lawmakers might try and keep some of the popular pieces such as these in place. Will they keep the donut hole closed? That will be a massive expenditure. Ditto for the grants, infrastructure funding, and tax credits. With no unpopular offsets, its just deficit spending.
And as to the not being denied if you have a pre-existing condition, are there really people out there who dont understand that you cant have that without some measure (like the mandate) preventing adverse selection?
The reason there are unpopular parts of the law is because it was trying to be accountable. Its easy to pass popular laws that give people things. Those laws cost money, though. Whats hard is trying to balance the popular things with less-fun measures that pay for the good stuff or regulate things so that the nice things for some people dont affect others too badly. The mandate was for the insurance companies, after all.
Its easy, and fun, to serve only dessert. But its not healthy, and its not responsible.
http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/getting-rid-of-nice-things-makes-people-unhappy/
May 18, 2012 at 8:54 am Aaron Carroll
Ive seen a lot of chatter in the last few days on what might happen if the ACA is struck down or repealed in the future. Make no mistake about it. A lot of things about the bill are going to be missed. How angry do you think seniors will be when the donut hole reopens? How angry do you think families will be when young adults are suddenly kicked off family plans? How angry do you think parents will be when lifetime and annual limits suddenly reappear in their sick childrens plans? How angry will small business owners be if tax credits for employer purchased plans disappear? How angry will those in the high risk pools be when their insurance disappears? How angry will states be when their implementation grants go away? How angry will researchers be when PCORI money instantly vanishes?
And thats just the stuff thats already going on. How angry will everyone who is currently uninsured and counting down the days until 2014 be? No more not being denied if you have a pre-existing condition. No more not being gouged if you have a pre-existing condition.
Im somewhat amused by reports that lawmakers might try and keep some of the popular pieces such as these in place. Will they keep the donut hole closed? That will be a massive expenditure. Ditto for the grants, infrastructure funding, and tax credits. With no unpopular offsets, its just deficit spending.
And as to the not being denied if you have a pre-existing condition, are there really people out there who dont understand that you cant have that without some measure (like the mandate) preventing adverse selection?
The reason there are unpopular parts of the law is because it was trying to be accountable. Its easy to pass popular laws that give people things. Those laws cost money, though. Whats hard is trying to balance the popular things with less-fun measures that pay for the good stuff or regulate things so that the nice things for some people dont affect others too badly. The mandate was for the insurance companies, after all.
Its easy, and fun, to serve only dessert. But its not healthy, and its not responsible.
http://theincidentaleconomist.com/wordpress/getting-rid-of-nice-things-makes-people-unhappy/
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"Getting rid of nice things makes people unhappy" (Original Post)
Pirate Smile
May 2012
OP
True. It has been bizarre to me how people have just forgotten about all the horror stories that the
Pirate Smile
May 2012
#2
dickthegrouch
(3,172 posts)1. Dems need ads pointing these out as consequences of votes for Rmoney
With the right campaign we can bury the Repugs for a generation with a landslide vote for Obama, but we *REALLY* need creative ad writers for the last month of the election cycle.
Pirate Smile
(27,617 posts)2. True. It has been bizarre to me how people have just forgotten about all the horror stories that the
Law ended or will end when fully implemented. All the bizarre reactions have really shown why this took 70+ years to get done & why no one would touch it again for decades if it gets thrown out or repealed.