Obamacare's Secret Success With little notice, the ACA has racked up a big win

[malaise]

– near-universal coverage.

https://www.politico.com/news/agenda/2020/01/27/obamacares-secret-success-103589
<snip>
The Democratic campaign has crackled with energy around “Medicare for All,” with one candidate after another jumping into the argument about how best to bring health care to all Americans.

Lost in all the back-and-forth is that much of this revolution has already happened. Under the Affordable Care Act, several states have already achieved near-universal coverage, and without anywhere near the national disruption that a full system reboot would cause. As of 2018, six states and Washington, D.C. have achieved over 95 percent health care coverage for their resident

This coverage triumph does not mean that the American health care system does not need reform. But it does demonstrate that the ACA can catalyze near-universal coverage. And by adopting some modest policy reforms, every state, and the country as a whole, can get there, too.


This has happened despite the fact that the Trump administration has tried to sabotage health care expansion. The administration has cut the insurance exchange open enrollment period by 50 percent, reduced advertising and navigators to help people buy insurance by nearly 90 percent, added requirements to Medicaid to discourage enrollment, and authorized “skinny” insurance options with bare-bones coverage designed to lure healthy enrollees away from comprehensive plans in the ACA insurance pools.

But the trend is not uniform across the country. Some Republican-controlled states have especially high uninsured rates. Texas has an uninsured rate of 17.7 percent, with a fifth of the nation’s uninsured children. Georgia’s uninsured rate is 13.7 percent, and Florida’s is 13 percent. Together, just these three states account for roughly a third of all uninsured Americans.
Countering these failing states are Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and D.C., which, using the tools provided in the ACA, have all achieved coverage rates over 95 percent and as high as 98 percent.
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Go Dems!

[Iliyah]

1. Yep . . .

[Progressive dog]

2. The ACA reversed the increases in the

percentage of Americans without health insurance.
Texas and the other states that are trying to get rid of the ACA will have to explain to their people why they refuse federal aid for the uninsured.

[Skidmore]

3. Build on the foundation

President Obama established. Make it better.

[Thekaspervote]

4. Absolutely!!

[iluvtennis]

5. + 2. nt

[malaise]

6. It's the only way to go

Fuck the Con and his anti-people goons

[BlueIdaho]

8. Evolution not Revolution.

We always knew the ACA would need improvement. The groundwork is done, time to grow the program.

[uponit7771]

29. THIS !!!!

[CaptYossarian]

7. We don't hear any good news on MSM.

It doesn't sell a product. It isn't sexy or involve famous people. And good news doesn't scare us.

That's the big thing: scaring the hell out of us. Our local news has a guy in the morning that overemphasizes the words Death/Dead or Murdered. I have nicknamed him Dr. Death. He's going to hurt himself one day while saying these words. I believe he graduated from the Burt (Robin on the real Batman) Ward School of Diction. His inflection pattern must look like a seismograph.

I don't know if the intent is for us to crawl under our beds and stay there all day or what. On a competing station, they read the news straight, without the sensationalism. They're more professional that way. Of the locals I talk with, the conservatives watch Dr. Death and the lefties watch the professionals--without fail.

I'm glad the ACA is successful in those states. That miserable little SOB Scott Walker refused to use the federal money, so we have some work to do here in WI. Our gerrymandered legislature won't allow anything beneficial for the people.

[malaise]

9. To be honest Dems have failed miserably at promoting the social good

they delivered - from the days of Roosevelt. meanwhile ReTHUGs gloat about destroying the social good.
Time to wake up and promote it ourselves.
I'd have so many ads of sick and dying people in red states versus people in those states which have introduced Obamacare, they'd beg me to stop

[CaptYossarian]

10. They might think sickness and death is God's will.

It's easy to brainwash something that miniscule.

[malaise]

13. That would put their gawd on the side of the liberals

and the states that introduced Obamacare.
That would fuck up their belief about the Con being the chosen one

[CaptYossarian]

16. He was the chosen one--by the Electoral Pre-School.

He sure as hell wasn't elected.

It's time we stop getting golfers (Dubya, Trump) as presidents. They always think the lowest score wins.

[malaise]

17. They stole the 2016 elections

History will absolve me.

Come to think about it ReTHUGs stole 2000 and 2004 as well

[CaptYossarian]

19. Nixon used Watergate in '72. Reagan's Iran-Contra was '80, leading to his '84 sequel.

And which party does all this thievery?

[malaise]

26. ReTHUGs of course

Power and wealth by any means necessary

[yaesu]

11. less the hundreds of thousands being thrown off expended medicaid do to work requirements or

lowering the amount of money someone can make, repukes can't even make up there minds, more work or less work, oh, and the fascist states get to keep the money they save throwing people to their deaths.

[IronLionZion]

12. Why aren't Dems promoting this everywhere?

Dem successes shouldn't be such a secret. Talking about the successes is the only way to build up support for more reforms. This opinion piece brings up some good affordable simple policies that would further close the gap to get everyone covered and lower premiums. Why do we get this from a Politico opinion piece and not our party's leaders or candidates?

This can help win state elections too since the main successes are in blue states run by Dems.

[malaise]

15. Particularly when the Con and his goons begged to courts not to rule on this

before the November elections - I wonder why?

[Chakaconcarne]

14. the aca also created hundreds of thousands

of high paying jobs.... no one ever mentions this.

[IronLionZion]

18. Our people should mention this

it's frustrating to see the other side spew complete falsehoods when our side has solid successes backed up by hard data and won't talk about it.

[AlexSFCA]

20. interesting about Iowa

isn’t it also GOP controlled state? Why is it so different from other red states?

[IronLionZion]

21. They expanded Medicaid and are relatively small

[Skidmore]

24. How Iowa has dealt with healthcare.

https://www.healthinsurance.org/iowa-state-health-insurance-exchange/

[stillcool]

22. seems to me that big legislation...

starts at the state level. Some states have to be forced to allow anything that favors life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If a rising tide lifts all boats, they'll be doing some scuttling.

[iamateacher]

23. I have Massachusetts "Romneycare" (ACA based on this)

Works great and I live in another state. Cost has stayed low over the years.

[erronis]

25. Unfortunately the ACA was cobbled together with a lot of vulnerable parts.

And the vested interests are working at disabling some key parts.

The various hospital/insurer lobbying groups have huge accounts to wine/dine/etc. congress-critters and spread a lot of false advertising/newz.

[druidity33]

27. I live in MA...

I have a Union job. I pay FAR too much for healthcare. So does everyone I know who isn't a Vet or so poor they qualify for MassHealth. The system really needs to be better than this. And I am in one of the "better" states.

[malaise]

28. The system really needs to be better than this

you are correct but it is a start