ACA upheld!
Wow, totally stunned. Not much to say here.... As one Canadian put it, "Congratulations, US. Welcome to the developed world!" I completely agree. It's time the US moved away from the social Darwinism model of "Survival of the Richest" and move to a more civil and just model. The law still needs tweaking and will be debated for years to come, but for all those out there who have been bankrupted by healthcare, this is a step in the right direction.
For the detractors, here are some of the obvious arguments. And at the risk of pulling a "Limbaugh," I'll argue with myself:
"How will we afford it?"
We'll find a way. There are provisions in the bill for allaying the cost, but as we all know, costs are always at least double whatever has been projected where politicians are concerned. This is important, though. This isn't a mandate forcing everyone to have a widget in their shoe; it's truly a matter of life and death to some and a matter of financial stability for many others. If it means that America will lessen its role as the World Police to afford healthcare for its citizens, then I see that as a decent trade-off.
Americans should primarily feel compassion and empathy toward their fellow citizens, rather than turning our backs on the needy neighbors and tell them to fend for themselves. Sure, there will be freeloaders -- there always are. But this is a classic baby/bathwater example. Should we do away with Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment because there are freeloaders taking advantage of the system? Clearly, no. There will always be criminals, but that doesn't mean we simply put everyone in jail "just in case."
"Europe is collapsing and this is one reason why. Socialism fails."
This is partially true. America already has socialism and always will. Absolute free-market Capitalism is much more dangerous and must be tempered with some government oversight. Programs deemed by the right as "socialistic," are expensive and expansive. They're money pits, that's for sure. But national healthcare is not why Europe is having trouble. How is Germany doing? Britain? France? Switzerland? Scandinavia? Canada? Australia? New Zealand? Or many other countries with national healthcare and relatively healthy economies. It's not healthcare that sinking them; it's how they handle it.
I have a shirttail relative from Germany who refuses to raise her new-born daughter in America because of the education and healthcare systems. She, like many other folks from Europe, believe America's system is an embarrassment... even inhumane. Hers is not the only opinion I've heard first-hand. I've spoken with Canadians and British folks who are amazed that this is such a debate in America. It's only a problem because it's gone unregulated for so long.
"America has the best healthcare system in the world and this will ruin it."
This is false. There isn't a single study in the past thirty years that shows America as the best healthcare provider in the world. In fact, we're ranking thirty-seventh in the world and have the highest expenditure per person among 190 countries ranked by the WHO. The system is not only broken, it's shameful.
The AMA officially supports the ACA. The AMA. Doctors, in general, support it. That has to account for something, since they're the ones who will potentially be making less money from this.
"It takes away my individual rights."
It takes away your right to be a fool and live without health insurance, the absence of such coverage makes you a burden on society because you will likely go bankrupt when something horrific happens, like a cancer diagnosis or heart attack. I worked closely with the insurance industry and routinely saw medical bills of hundreds of patients. Healthcare in America is cripplingly expensive. Ten years ago, three days stay in a hospital after a heart attack could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands. Imagine not having coverage and paying the full bill? Even insurance companies don't pay the full amount. They have professional negotiators who talk down the providers' prices. Insurance companies not only know it's insanely expensive, but it's largely a payment suggestion based on how much profit the provider wants to make. The mark-up is absurd in healthcare. ACA is a step closer to getting those costs under control, but further tweaking will have to be made to put a dent in this.
I've also known cancer patients who were dropped by their health insurance after costs reached a certain point. Then they go to COBRA. Then COBRA ends after a set amount of time. Then you're on your own. With a terminal illness, like cancer which may linger for a decade or more, you become a pariah and then you die. That's America's "Death Panels" -- money. Money dictates whether you live and die and with costs far outstripping the average income, most of us are doomed to fall to the whims of the money god, regardless of your individual rights.
"The way to fix this is through tort reform, not tinkering with healthcare."
This one, I agree with. Malpractice insurance is outrageously expensive... but on the flip-side, doctors manage to eke out a helluva good living. I'm not saying they're making too much money, but it's something to keep in mind for those who make the above italicized argument. There are no starving doctors in America, in fact, few of them do without a Mercedes or two... and they manage all of this in spite of that expensive insurance.
This is far from an exhaustive list of arguments made by the righties, but it hits on the major ones. The Tea Partiers are now looking to November to get the right politicians in office to repeal the ACA. We'll see. Politics is full of surprises, but if there's one thing we learned in the past few years, it's that the Tea Party a prime example of a very vocal minority.
For the detractors, here are some of the obvious arguments. And at the risk of pulling a "Limbaugh," I'll argue with myself:
"How will we afford it?"
We'll find a way. There are provisions in the bill for allaying the cost, but as we all know, costs are always at least double whatever has been projected where politicians are concerned. This is important, though. This isn't a mandate forcing everyone to have a widget in their shoe; it's truly a matter of life and death to some and a matter of financial stability for many others. If it means that America will lessen its role as the World Police to afford healthcare for its citizens, then I see that as a decent trade-off.
Americans should primarily feel compassion and empathy toward their fellow citizens, rather than turning our backs on the needy neighbors and tell them to fend for themselves. Sure, there will be freeloaders -- there always are. But this is a classic baby/bathwater example. Should we do away with Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment because there are freeloaders taking advantage of the system? Clearly, no. There will always be criminals, but that doesn't mean we simply put everyone in jail "just in case."
"Europe is collapsing and this is one reason why. Socialism fails."
This is partially true. America already has socialism and always will. Absolute free-market Capitalism is much more dangerous and must be tempered with some government oversight. Programs deemed by the right as "socialistic," are expensive and expansive. They're money pits, that's for sure. But national healthcare is not why Europe is having trouble. How is Germany doing? Britain? France? Switzerland? Scandinavia? Canada? Australia? New Zealand? Or many other countries with national healthcare and relatively healthy economies. It's not healthcare that sinking them; it's how they handle it.
I have a shirttail relative from Germany who refuses to raise her new-born daughter in America because of the education and healthcare systems. She, like many other folks from Europe, believe America's system is an embarrassment... even inhumane. Hers is not the only opinion I've heard first-hand. I've spoken with Canadians and British folks who are amazed that this is such a debate in America. It's only a problem because it's gone unregulated for so long.
"America has the best healthcare system in the world and this will ruin it."
This is false. There isn't a single study in the past thirty years that shows America as the best healthcare provider in the world. In fact, we're ranking thirty-seventh in the world and have the highest expenditure per person among 190 countries ranked by the WHO. The system is not only broken, it's shameful.
The AMA officially supports the ACA. The AMA. Doctors, in general, support it. That has to account for something, since they're the ones who will potentially be making less money from this.
"It takes away my individual rights."
It takes away your right to be a fool and live without health insurance, the absence of such coverage makes you a burden on society because you will likely go bankrupt when something horrific happens, like a cancer diagnosis or heart attack. I worked closely with the insurance industry and routinely saw medical bills of hundreds of patients. Healthcare in America is cripplingly expensive. Ten years ago, three days stay in a hospital after a heart attack could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hundreds of thousands. Imagine not having coverage and paying the full bill? Even insurance companies don't pay the full amount. They have professional negotiators who talk down the providers' prices. Insurance companies not only know it's insanely expensive, but it's largely a payment suggestion based on how much profit the provider wants to make. The mark-up is absurd in healthcare. ACA is a step closer to getting those costs under control, but further tweaking will have to be made to put a dent in this.
I've also known cancer patients who were dropped by their health insurance after costs reached a certain point. Then they go to COBRA. Then COBRA ends after a set amount of time. Then you're on your own. With a terminal illness, like cancer which may linger for a decade or more, you become a pariah and then you die. That's America's "Death Panels" -- money. Money dictates whether you live and die and with costs far outstripping the average income, most of us are doomed to fall to the whims of the money god, regardless of your individual rights.
"The way to fix this is through tort reform, not tinkering with healthcare."
This one, I agree with. Malpractice insurance is outrageously expensive... but on the flip-side, doctors manage to eke out a helluva good living. I'm not saying they're making too much money, but it's something to keep in mind for those who make the above italicized argument. There are no starving doctors in America, in fact, few of them do without a Mercedes or two... and they manage all of this in spite of that expensive insurance.
This is far from an exhaustive list of arguments made by the righties, but it hits on the major ones. The Tea Partiers are now looking to November to get the right politicians in office to repeal the ACA. We'll see. Politics is full of surprises, but if there's one thing we learned in the past few years, it's that the Tea Party a prime example of a very vocal minority.
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