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"Obamacare’s Secret Success" by Paul Krugman at the NYTimes
Obamacare’s Secret Successby Paul Krugman at the NYTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/29/opinion/krugman-obamacares-secret-success.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&
"SNIP...................................
So what aspects of Obamacare might be causing health costs to slow? One clear answer is the act’s reduction in Medicare “overpayments” — mainly a reduction in the subsidies to private insurers offering Medicare Advantage Plans, but also cuts in some provider payments. A less certain but likely source of savings involves changes in the way Medicare pays for services. The program now penalizes hospitals if many of their patients end up being readmitted soon after being released — an indicator of poor care — and readmission rates have, in fact, fallen substantially. Medicare is also encouraging a shift from fee-for-service, in which doctors and hospitals get paid by the procedure, to “accountable care,” in which health organizations get rewarded for overall success in improving care while controlling costs.
Furthermore, there’s evidence that Medicare savings “spill over” to the rest of the health care system — that when Medicare manages to slow cost growth, private insurance gets cheaper, too.
And the biggest savings may be yet to come. The Independent Payment Advisory Board, a panel with the power to impose cost-saving measures (subject to Congressional overrides) if Medicare spending grows above target, hasn’t yet been established, in part because of the near-certainty that any appointments to the board would be filibustered by Republicans yelling about “death panels.” Now that the filibuster has been reformed, the board can come into being.
The news on health costs is, in short, remarkably good. You won’t hear much about this good news until and unless the Obamacare website gets fixed. But under the surface, health reform is starting to look like a bigger success than even its most ardent advocates expected.
...................................SNIP"
33 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
it known! 
Thanks Krugman~applegrove
Keep sharing!
It is GOOD to be smart. 
Below just a sample from the link I provided. We need to get the word out. We need to get the media to report these stories (of which there are and will be MILLIONS more with the SUCCESS of ACA):
http://www.walgreens.com/topic/pharmacy/reform-insurance.jsp
And other link from another great website:
http://theobamacrat.com/2013/10/24/find-your-states-health-insurance-marketplace-then-get-covered-and-enroll-in-obamacares-2/
A website with information on AIDS and the ACA:
http://greaterthan.org/
None of this will be reported in the media, it will be just as invisible to the shills as the voters in 2012:
http://www.examiner.com/article/if-fox-is-your-sole-news-source-you-were-shocked-by-president-obama-s-victory
Fox News Resorts to Race-Baiting, and White Boards, on Election Night
Election night, before the results come in, is awfully dull on cable news. Anchors desperate to fill the air resort to factoids about where, for instance, the most pickup trucks in the country are sold and What It Means. (Virginia, for the record, per MSNBC. What it means remains to be seen.) On Fox, the factoids were less automotively focused. “Independents are breaking for Romney in most states,” Michael Barone told Megyn Kelly at 7:24 p.m., before anyone had broken for much of anything, really. There, as everywhere, it was mostly a waiting game. “We have to wait and see how many white men turn out," Kristen Powers said.
Results began to come in that were unfavorable to Romney. Powers revised her urgency. “They need more white people voting, basically.” Suffragettes, even...
“It’s not a traditional America anymore. There are fifty percent of the voting public who want stuff. They want things. Who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it and he ran on it. ... Twenty years ago, President Obama would have been roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney. The white establishment is now the minority. And the voters, many of them, feel that economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You are going to see Hispanics vote for President Obama, overwhelming for President Obama, and women will probably break President Obama’s way.”
“Stuff.” Those welfare mothers in their Cadillacs sure have been driving around for a long time looking for stuff...
http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/plank/109776/racebaiting-and-white-boards-fox-news-election-night
The country is moving forward, just out of sight of media. They seek to put blinders on the people watching and listening to them, and not for good. Those who are buying the media kool-aid will miss out.
And other link from another great website:
http://theobamacrat.com/2013/10/24/find-your-states-health-insurance-marketplace-then-get-covered-and-enroll-in-obamacares-2/
A website with information on AIDS and the ACA:
http://greaterthan.org/
None of this will be reported in the media, it will be just as invisible to the shills as the voters in 2012:
http://www.examiner.com/article/if-fox-is-your-sole-news-source-you-were-shocked-by-president-obama-s-victory
Fox News Resorts to Race-Baiting, and White Boards, on Election Night
Election night, before the results come in, is awfully dull on cable news. Anchors desperate to fill the air resort to factoids about where, for instance, the most pickup trucks in the country are sold and What It Means. (Virginia, for the record, per MSNBC. What it means remains to be seen.) On Fox, the factoids were less automotively focused. “Independents are breaking for Romney in most states,” Michael Barone told Megyn Kelly at 7:24 p.m., before anyone had broken for much of anything, really. There, as everywhere, it was mostly a waiting game. “We have to wait and see how many white men turn out," Kristen Powers said.
Results began to come in that were unfavorable to Romney. Powers revised her urgency. “They need more white people voting, basically.” Suffragettes, even...
“It’s not a traditional America anymore. There are fifty percent of the voting public who want stuff. They want things. Who is going to give them things? President Obama. He knows it and he ran on it. ... Twenty years ago, President Obama would have been roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney. The white establishment is now the minority. And the voters, many of them, feel that economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You are going to see Hispanics vote for President Obama, overwhelming for President Obama, and women will probably break President Obama’s way.”
“Stuff.” Those welfare mothers in their Cadillacs sure have been driving around for a long time looking for stuff...
http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/plank/109776/racebaiting-and-white-boards-fox-news-election-night
The country is moving forward, just out of sight of media. They seek to put blinders on the people watching and listening to them, and not for good. Those who are buying the media kool-aid will miss out.
Graphic from the Obamacrat.
The one from Walgreens is essential to educating people. It's right there for so many to see, people trust their pharmacies. This will be seen by thousands of people everyday across the country. It really is an excellent way to spread the word.
The one link for aids, breaks my heart. ACA will help them. They have been left in the dark far to long.
I for one thank this president for helping us all out of the dark and into the light. So many that have been shunned by the insurance companies for a preexisting condition. Yet now as a nation we are getting affordable healthcare. He has and will save so many lives.
Thanks for the informative post, freshwest.
freshwestYou'll get to those appointments soon enough.
Dinner was great. Yet exhausting with retail hours, I have had to chip away at dishes before and after work. I think I will finally be done this morning then off to work.
Hope your holiday was great too. to you fresh~
You are a classy person. PBO is way beyond my league, too. I get exasperated faster than before. So many times, I just want to say:
But see, I didn't say it to anyone. The cat did it!!!
But see, I didn't say it to anyone. The cat did it!!!
equating ObamaCare with a bad "website" rollout. I guess my delusions of the M$M being able to help refute the nonsense, were sadly misplaced. There's absolutely no expectation that our media actually reports on anything other than "politics" now. I've heard more discussion of the president's "plummeting" poll numbers around ACA, than any substantive refutation of the misinformation about it.
Even NPR, which used to be concerned about truth and getting information to the people, has become more Fox-i-fied since this president's election. I guess that's what sells these days? 
