Thinking about a post I made in GD, asserting that Democrats would generally like what happened tonight, it reminded me of something: there seem to be liberals who don’t like this whole result - namely, who didn’t want anything less than UHC right off the bat, who feel that this bill is a giveaway for the insurance companies by forcing everyone to do business with them, and that it makes it LESS likely that their desired system will go through.
How significant is this opinion, from what you’ve seen personally and in various media, both online and off?
Any liberal who really wanted universal health care should be celebrating this bill’s passage into law. Those who wanted “[nothing] less than UHC right off the bat” are unclear on how politics works.
From that point of view, this should be viewed as a stepping stone. If stepping stones going in their preferred direction aren’t good enough for them, they should spend the rest of their lives arguing with purist libertarians and leave actual governance to the intelligent people.
I’m a liberal. I’m relieved it passed, and it was far short of what I would have liked. I would have liked to be able to bypass crooked insurance companies and gone straight to the government that employs all sorts of crooks too. I’d like a government death panel rather than a private one.
I don’t care for being forced to buy health insurance, but at this point, I have to do it anyway, and can probably afford to do it. I feel for the working folks who get minimum wage (or less) who have to buy health insurance.
What I do like:
Insurance company’s cannot turn down for pre-existing conditions or cancel people and there will be a way to get approval for procedures outside the insurance company’s own quack accountants/doctors.
It will mean that the entire population becomes invested in insurance company’s providing reasonable rates, not canceling policies or refusing them and not turning down procedures. And that there will be an appeal process. Current ERISA laws mean that only federal courts had jurisdiction over work provided policies, and federal courts generally refused to second guess insurance companies due to ERISA. (Employee Retirement Insurance and Security Act [iirc]).
We’ve fought the battle for 70 years now, and will still have to fight it, but this passage means that by 2015, we will have a stronger foothold if it is not repealed.
I haven’t been paying too much attention to all of this- what does this bill entail? I’m currently unemployed and I literally have no money. I don’t have to buy health insurance, do I?
I understand that argument, but my support for single payer isn’t just ideological - I really do not believe that anything less will actually work. I’m afraid that the system that has been adopted will fail, and when the Republicans take over again they will be easily able to dismantle it (with a popular mandate) and that’ll be the end of any hope of real health care reform.
I’m also pissed off that women’s rights have again been sacrificed in the “compromise”.
OTOH *most * of those who opposed the bill did so for the wrong reasons and I really couldn’t stomach the thought of them being the ones celebrating today. So I guess I’m grudgingly relieved that it passed although I do have a strong feeling I’ll be wondering “what was I thinking” later.
Now that I think about it, it’s pretty much exactly the way I felt about Obama’s election in the first place.
I’m not celebrating. I’m glad we got something passed but am remaining cautiously optimistic. Because it fell so heavily on partisan lines, the Republicans desperately want to see it fail, so while I’m hopeful, I’m also concerned.
I think it is a time for celebration. It isn’t what I would prefer, which would be single payer and the health insurance companies out of business, but it’s a solid step in the right direction. I have a 27 year old stepdaughter without health insurance and I hope this will soon let me sleep more peacefully for her sake.
This is close to how I feel about it. There’s been so much rhetoric that I cannot honestly claim to have a great understanding of the long-term consequences. In general, I’m happy about the changes I’m aware of, and I think it’s a step in the right direction, but I’m also still trying to parse the downside.
Overall, I’m completely disgusted and saddened by the way our political system has turned into a competition. It’s no longer about different ideologies on how to govern; it’s only about defeating the other party at any cost.
From here: "Under the legislation, most Americans would have to have insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. The penalty would start at $95, or up to 1 percent of income, whichever is greater, and rise to $695, or 2.5 percent of income, by 2016. This is an individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085. Some people would be exempted from the insurance requirement, called an individual mandate, because of financial hardship or religious beliefs or if they are American Indians, for example. "
So, people making minimum wage or less would have to pay very little to no penalty if they choose not to have health insurance. In addition, they’d be eligible for Medicaid or subsidized health insurance, so they won’t be forced to forgo insurance because they can’t afford it.
I’ve been trying to find information on a couple of things, and I will be unhappy if the answer to either of my questions is no.
Will this bill do anything to prevent health care companies from rewarding employees (with bonuses or a quota system) who cancel people’s health insurance coverage?
Will this bill do anything to limit the amount companies can charge for health insurance?
In my ideal world, the government would not only have instituted single-payer, but would have buried the insurance lobby and pissed on its grave.
I was hoping for at least a public option and was disappointed to see the bill watered down the way it was. There are legitimate concerns on both the left and the right.
But overall this is probably as good a first step as anyone could have hoped for in the current political climate.
Last night, when the number of Dem votes got to the magic 216, I was thinking, “Damn, I wish I had some fireworks that I could go outside and set off.” So I listened to the concluding movement of Beethoven’s 5th instead.
People on the far left and far right often forget that it’s very rare for the government to go very far in either direction because most people are not far left or right.
All the better, fireworks are pretty dangerous. You probably wouldn’t be covered by your health insurance provider if you accidentally blew your hand off.
I’m not. I’m glad it passed, but it isn’t a “hey, lets pop the champagne!” occasion. Its politics. Not the birth of a child. Had it not passed, I’d feel probably very similar.
I’m fairly confident that the bill is, positive, a net good.
I’m TOTALLY confident that the passage of the bill, and the defeat of the obstructionist and divisive right wing noise machine, is a triumph of progress over corporate evil. And I’m not usually a lefty wingnut who says things like that.
One of the political websites I read mentioned a comment attributed to Lyndon Johnson to the effect that: “If it passes by more than one vote, I gave too much away.”
Whatever the actual merits of the bill on an objective scale, I don’t think anyone can doubt it is quite close to the edge of what was possible to get done.
