My aunt on FB. Dammit. De-bunk help?

[OmahaBlueDog]

16. There's what your Aunt says, and there's reality

Last edited Wed Jul 25, 2012, 12:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Your Aunt Says this is a lie: You can keep your own doctor.
Your Aunt Says this is the truth: Americans will lose employer based health coverage and be forced into exchanges--and new doctors.
Reality: Your aunt may be correct that this will eventually replace employer based care. That said, your employer can switch plans every year, and cause you to switch doctors. This is especially true if all your employer offers is an HMO. With the exchanges, people should be able to select from a number of plans. You can select a plan that your doctor/medical group accepts. The exchanges solve the problem that prevented most individuals from gaining access to insurance -- they weren't members of a "group."

Your Aunt Says this is a lie: It won't add one penny of new taxes.
Your Aunt Says this is the truth: ObamaCare is the largest tax increase in American history.
Reality: If you are someone who, by choice, spends your money on an RV or a hunting cabin and then tells the world that you can't afford health insurance -- guess what; it's a tax increase. Here's the deal: if you have the money to buy health insurance, you are going to have to do it. Why? Because state and federal governments can't afford to carry you on medicaid -- you need to take responsibility for yourself and your family. The reality is that when you blow up your barbecue grill or fall off your roof or wreck your motorcycle, and you don't have medical insurance, society will not just say "ain't that too damn bad" and let you die. We're going to treat you, and you are going to end up in massive debt. Depending on your state and situation, that debt will get passed on to medicaid, or get passed on to every other health care consumer in the form of higher costs. Here's the good news: first, if you truly can't afford insurance, help will be out there; second, as everyone gets insurance, medicaid use and unpaid bills should drop, reducing costs; third, small business owners will no longer have to worry about employees trying to submit the hernia they got over the weekend as a work comp claim; fourth, nothing in the ACA that I see prevents the passage of measures that Republicans feel are necessary, such as tort reform and allowing health insurers to expand into multi-state territories; fifth, ultimately this has a much better chance of getting people treated than the current plan, which is spaghetti feeds and pancake breakfasts.


Your Aunt Says this is a lie: We won't add to the deficit.
Your Aunt Says this is the truth: Recent costs estimates show that we will take on trillions of dollars of new debt.
Reality: Your Aunt needs to provide more clarity here. Hell, Medicare (which Republicans suddenly love) will cause more debt if nothing else changes. If your Aunt is speaking strictly on ACA, it's an unknowable either way, but the probability is she's wrong. As I said above, it raises up front costs to free riders, and it does take on the added burden of pre-existing conditions. However, it provides preventative care for people who are getting none now; it should eventually reduce the medicaid burden; it should reduce unpaid debt in the system.


Your Aunt Says this is a lie:ObamaCare will help Medicare and won't hurt seniors.
Your Aunt Says this is the truth: ObamaCare steals more than $500 billion in physician reimbursements from Medicare. Doctors are already refusing patients.
Reality: First, doctors have refused medicare patients from time to time for years. That's nothing new. Second, by getting preventative care to pre-seniors now, you should lower medicare costs in the long run. Third, it isn't theft, it's moving money from one government account to another.

Your Aunt Says this is a lie: We won't ration healthcare.
Your Aunt Says this is the truth: Rationing is part of the plan.
Reality: Many Americans have a type of insurance called an HMO. Newsflash for your Aunt - HMOs are rationed healthcare. That's why they all have a primary physician to act as a gatekeeper between the insured and specialized care. Most insurance plans do not allow you to see any doctor you want, at any time you want, as part of the plan. There are doctor networks, and going outside of networks, or seeing a specialist without a referral, will cost you big bucks -- if you can even get in to see them.


Your Aunt Says this is the truth: We will hold these liars responsible.
Reality: Your Aunt should be careful what she wishes for -- it may be granted. Republicans have lied up one side and down the other about how bad the ACA will be. They should all be made to account for the lies and scare tactics they have used. Ironic, isn't it, that the ACA is modeled on the plan the Republican nominee installed when he was Governor of Massachusetts?