I know people with good health ins who are still bitching about ACA

[NightWatcher]

And frankly that confuses the shit out of me. They are saying, "ha, I knew it. It's a tax", and I want to retort, "don't you already have good insurance? Aren't you going to keep it? Then what are you complaining about?"

I guess if Obama told them they needed to breathe air, they'd hyperventilate while blubbering about not wanting to do so.

[dionysus]

1. +1000000

[BeyondGeography]

2. Which reminds me, Chuck Todd asked Axelrod the dumbest question

on Morning Schmoe: "You keep claiming that if I like my health insurance, I can keep it. I'm insured through Comcast; if they don't offer me insurance anymore, how can I keep it?"

Chuck thought he had a real gotcha there.

Axelrod, with a "you asshat" expression, said that's between you and your employer. There's nothing about ACA that takes away your coverage...

[ieoeja]

17. Actually, with ACA Comcast would have to pay more in taxes if they took away his health insurance.

Without ACA it would cost Comcast nothing to take that away. So ACA *decreases* the likelihood of an employer dumping health insurance for his employees.

This is one of those memes that is so f'ing stupid, you can't fight it. It is so obviously, glaringly incorrect that the person saying it is either way too stupid to understand, or is lying his ass off. Either way, there isn't much you can do except to correct it so people listening and not really thinking about it do not get fooled by the propaganda.

Unfortunately, they will repeat the propaganda endlessly while we will eventually tire of addressing the inane stupidity of it. Which is why propaganda works.

[riderinthestorm]

24. That's not necessarily true. If the penalty is less than what Comcast is currently paying

per employee for their individual health insurance, then Comcast will pay the penalty and stop offering health insurance.

For example, I pay approximately $3500 per employee per year in health insurance costs (I pay 50%. Some companies pay more, some less). The plan is a royal pain to negotiate and administer PLUS I get the fun of telling everyone ANNUALLY about the horrific rate increases they will have to endure for our mediocre plan (the best I can afford unfortunately).

Honestly, it would be cheaper and simpler to drop the coverage and pay the penalty. I'm sure that virtually every company in the US is making these calculations as we speak. I'd actually end up SAVING money and time doing that. Morally, I can even walk away knowing that all of my employees can find a policy out there since its now mandated that they get coverage.

(disclaimer, fwiw, I won't drop it since my husband has a serious PEC and I have no idea how the ACA will really pan out in the long haul).

[ieoeja]

25. I'm trying to be civil here. But I find it difficult to believe you.

Before ACA: You pay $3500 for health insurance. You drop health insurance. You pay nothing.

After ACA: You pay $3500 for health insurance. You drop health insurance. You pay $3000 penalty.

There was nothing stopping you from dropping health insurance for your employees before ACA. Today there is a penalty. How does adding a penalty for dropping health insurance increase the likelihood of you dropping health insurance?

[riderinthestorm]

26. My husband has a serious PEC. There's no way we could drop our coverage - his PEC kept us in.

My comment was in general about many other corporations who aren't in MY boat, with my own family issues. For a large personal corporation, its going to be more cost effective for them. Their CEO's and elite execs will go out on the market and find their own policies like their employees and the company saves.

I've already said that I'm not dropping the coverage. We cannot.

[Firebrand Gary]

3. lol K&R

[RKP5637]

4. I know some people bitching whose families have lived off of the

welfare and support systems for years, subsidized housing, section 8, food stamps, everything for generations as a way of life and some of them are bitching, "I ain't gonna pay for someone else's health care." I told someone that knows some of them better to say, "Why the F should we pay for your subsidized housing then."

Damn, there are quite a few people in this country that are really fucked up in how the think.

[GoCubsGo]

14. They don't understand that they are already paying for someone else's healthcare?

Do they think that healthcare providers write off the expenses of the uninsured that they treat out of the goodness of their hearts?

"Fucked up" is an understatement with these idiots.

[RKP5637]

15. It frustrates the hell out of me when these people rant and rave about

paying for someones else's health care when they have milked the system for all it's worth and been proud of it for several generations. Exactly, ""Fucked up" is an understatement with these idiots."

[woodsprite]

5. The way they spell it, 'tax' is a 4-letter word. n/t

[dkf]

6. There isn't such a thing as good health insurance...we pay too much for what we have.

Ours is the least efficient system in the world and it's getting more and more expensive growing at multiples of the rest of our costs and even more times our growth in income.

It's simply unsustainable and the ACA didn't do much to address costs. Instead it sticks more people into an unsustainable system.

It's pathetic that we are so proud we got people access to perhaps see a doctor, but kept the odds of bankruptcy through medical catastrophe pretty much the same.

We should have funded more clinics. That is more direct healthcare for the buck.

[Iggy]

8. And...

Ours is the least efficient system in the world and it's getting more and more expensive
growing at multiples of the rest of our costs and even more times our growth in income.

and why is that?

because we have a for profit health care system-- one of the major problems being 1,000's
of UNinsured people showing up at hospital emergency rooms for delayed health care.

30 million additionally insured people should help stop that bad practice.

agreed that we should have more clinics

[dkf]

9. Actually 30 million more means more demand vs supply.

Which means it gets more expensive if things are really market driven.

[Romulox]

11. Nonsense! This is the NON-market-driven kind of private, for-profit insurance!

Er...

[Iggy]

12. Take it up With the AMA

which seems to be about limiting the number of doctors-- which does exactly as you say,
makes it all more expensive because doctors think they need to earn millions per year.

more doctors means (horror!) less pay for some doctors-- but more health care for those
that need it. and it's a double win because obviously our nation has to create new jobs.

[RKP5637]

16. That has been one of my main gripes too, from what I see there is not

much to keep costs down and provide an efficient system. Instead, we struggle to find a way to pay for increasing costs without effective cost controls. So, the net/net of it all is the health care system is still going to spiral out of control down the road.

[liberal N proud]

7. Those with good health insurance are out of touch with those who do not

They don't know what it's like to not be able to run to the doctor for aches and pains and only have ER care available to them.

They don't know what it's like to be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

They refused to put see it in the uninsured shoes.

[dkf]

19. And that is where we left it...access to see a doctor but bankruptcy if you have anything serious.

[Romulox]

10. It's going to raise costs for EVERYONE, regardless of insured status. Premiums will skyrocket. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Given that limits are in place and they've tried already

With little success.

[Dokkie]

13. I also know people

who are not in unions, who dont want to join a union and are content with what they have and virtually 0% chance of their line of work being unionized who protested with the unions. At least the people you talk about have a 100% chance of being affect by the ruling if they happen to lose their job or work place insurance.

It should confuse you that said people are bitching about this law maybe I will understand if you talked about non smokers voting against cigarette tax.

[SoutherDem]

18. I have mine screw you

This is the attitude of many Republicans.
I have my birth control,
I have my health insurance,
I have my religious freedom,
I have my pension,
I have my ID,
I have my WASP look,
I have my marriage,
You name it it fits.

[Ruby the Liberal]

20. I got an earful of that last night.

"Largest tax increase on the middle class, ever"

I was like, really? How did your taxes change given that you already have insurance?

Crickets.

[elias7]

21. Strange, it's not a tax for those who have insurance, it's a tax write off

If you pay 15,000 in insurance premiums, you pay 5,000 less in taxes, so you only end up paying 10,000 for insurance.

[girl gone mad]

22. But it is a tax on many people who can't afford insurance..

or can't afford care if they have insurance.

This was a really brain dead approach by our politicians.

[flamingdem]

27. We can thank Obama for protecting us from selfish creeps

who have their own health insurance and only worry if they can keep their superior position intact if others get it too.