# Oops. Looks like we were lied to about Obamacare after all. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 29, 2013, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534 "2013-10-29T07:22:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 40
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/781 "2013-11-06T04:41:15Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Which were 100% right this time. > > And again, McCauliffe won. Obamacare lost, 53-47. It does not mean much when the one that could make a big difference (The Governor) now is in a position to do more for the ACA, Virginia was allowing for a state management of the plan **but no consumer support nor Medicaid expansion** courtesy of the on the way out current Republican Governor. So no, Obamacare won. One should \*\*never \*\*forget that we would not be talking about the problems of a federal exchange website if all the states had done the right thing. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/782 "2013-11-06T04:52:51Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Have some integrity, man. You specifically said that the McAuliffe race was relevant to the issue. He won. And I said before today that Cooch would probably still lose. And challenged you to explain how the race suddenly got so close with the President’s flailing in the headlines. But I guess 5-point swings just happen. Random noise. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/783 "2013-11-06T04:54:02Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > One should \*\*never \*\*forget that we would not be talking about the problems of a federal exchange website if all the states had done the right thing. The states don’t have to jump just because the federal government THEY created says so. The law was designed to make the exchanges optional. Take issue with the Democrats for designing the law that way. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/784 "2013-11-06T05:03:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The states don’t have to jump just because the federal government THEY created says so. The law was designed to make the exchanges optional. Take issue with the Democrats for designing the law that way. A red herring, the point stands, states that made their exchanges are having less of an issue. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/785 "2013-11-06T05:04:56Z")
I’m sure you would have been very happy had the President not had to demonstrate his managerial skills, or lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/786 "2013-11-06T05:14:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m sure you would have been very happy had the President not had to demonstrate his managerial skills, or lack thereof. It seems that sour grapes goes well with the herring. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/787 "2013-11-06T05:23:36Z")
This guy called in 2009. [His policy is now canceled](http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2013/10/the-arrogance-of-obama-and-obamacare.html) He’s not the “low information guy drawn into the evil jaws of big insurance” > [@](#): > > My plan was not substandard. I graduated magna cum laude in engineering from Princeton and was first in my class at Harvard Business School. I spent hours shopping for my coverage and was fully satisfied with my resulting policy. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/788 "2013-11-06T05:36:20Z")
This moderate conservative from FOX does not think the anecdotes from the right deserve much attention: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/05/insurance-cancelled-dont-blame-obama-or-aca-blame-america-insurance-companies/](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/05/insurance-cancelled-dont-blame-obama-or-aca-blame-america-insurance-companies/) > [@](#): > > But some people losing their current policies [and being offered better coverage] are going to have to pay a higher price. Taking crocodile tears to a new level, ObamaCare opponents are now rushing to their defense and calling the president a liar. > > These critics include Republican politicians who did not vote for ObamaCare; these are Republican governors who refuse to set up exchanges to reach their own citizens; these are people oppose expanding Medicaid to help poor people getting better health care; these are people who have never put any proposal on the table as an alternative fix for the nation’s costly health care system that leaves tens of millions with inadequate medical coverage and tens of millions more totally uninsured. > > The fact is if you are one of the estimated 2 million Americans whose health insurance plans may have been cancelled this month, you should not be blaming President Obama or the Affordable Care Act. > > You should be blaming your insurance company because they have not been providing you with coverage that meets the minimum basic standards for health care. > > Let me put it more bluntly: your insurance companies have been taking advantage of you and the Affordable Care Act puts in place consumer protection and tells them to stop abusing people. > > The government did not “force” insurance companies to cancel their own substandard policies.The insurance companies chose to do that rather than do what is right and bring the policies up to code. > > This would be like saying the government “forces” chemical companies to dispose of toxic waste safely rather than dumping it in the river. > > Or the government “forces” people to drive with intact windshields and working brake lights. > > How dare they “force” drivers to pay money to get those things fixed if they are broken? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/789 "2013-11-06T07:41:35Z")
So, let me get this straight. McAuliffe, as a candidate, bites it. No two ways about it. They couldn’t do better? Da fuk? For really progressive Dems, he is one of the central figures in the Clintonista transformation into Republican Lite. _Feh._ Anyway he wins because his one redeeming characteristic is not being the Cooch. John Wayne Gacy could have beaten the Cooch. The Village People, as a collective entity, could have beaten the Cooch. And the lesson the be gathered from this is that Obama is in desperate trouble. What’s the total opposite of “QED”? ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/790 "2013-11-06T07:53:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > What’s the total opposite of “QED”? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/791 "2013-11-06T12:28:12Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > This moderate conservative from FOX does not think the anecdotes from the right deserve much attention: > > [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/05/insurance-cancelled-dont-blame-obama-or-aca-blame-america-insurance-companies/](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/05/insurance-cancelled-dont-blame-obama-or-aca-blame-america-insurance-companies/) JUan Williams is a moderate conservative? No. Not even close. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/792 "2013-11-06T12:30:55Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > JUan Williams is a moderate conservative? No. Not even close. Don’t harsh his buzz. He’s been taught everyone “from FOX” is a “conservative”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/793 "2013-11-06T12:35:00Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > JUan Williams is a moderate conservative? No. Not even close. It is possible to be a conservative without being batshit insane. Maybe he only looks like a lefty because you’re falling off the right end of the scale. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/794 "2013-11-06T12:46:50Z")
[The Daily Show weighs in](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-november-5-2013/affordable-horror-story), and the truth is in short supply all around. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/795 "2013-11-06T13:41:14Z")
[A bit more here](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/11/05/insurance-companies-obamacare-scam/) on the insurance-company scam that snagged **Terr** : > [@](#): > > How this scam works is that private insurance companies send out letters notifying existing customers that their current policy has been canceled, because of the ACA’s new requirements. They then offer customers a new, ACA compliant policy at far higher rates than what the customer would pay if he went through the ACA marketplace. In most cases the insurance companies do not tell their customers what other options are available or even let them know they have a choice under the new law. Some insurance companies have pressed their customers to sign up for the new policies by a certain date, saying if they don’t, their health coverage will be lost. > … > Humana was fined more than $65,000 in Kentucky for this scam. > … > In Washington, state regulators issued a consumer alert about the scams. If you look like a money-loser to them, then you can expect it too. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/796 "2013-11-06T13:45:31Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [A bit more here](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/11/05/insurance-companies-obamacare-scam/) on the insurance-company scam that snagged **Terr** : I repeat: they did not offer me any other policy, more expensive or not. They said your policy is canceled effective Jan 1st, get on the Exchange. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/797 "2013-11-06T13:56:44Z")
Did they at least add a little Shakespearian flair? _Get thee to an exchangery!_ ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/798 "2013-11-06T14:01:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Did they at least add a little Shakespearian flair? > > _Get thee to an exchangery!_ Yeah yeah yeah, it’s hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/799 "2013-11-06T16:04:59Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > JUan Williams is a moderate conservative? No. Not even close. He’s certainly no Tea Partier. I’d say characterizing him as a moderate conservative is prettyapt. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534/800 "2013-11-06T16:17:16Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This is a distinction without a difference. > > [In practical terms, this means that it applies to virtually all hospitals in the U.S., with the exception of the Shriners’ Hospital for Crippled Children and many military hospitals.](http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm) > > [Medicare funds the vast majority of residency training in the US.\* This tax-based financing covers resident salaries and benefits through payments called Direct Medical Education payments.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)) As a result, any halfway good hospital can’t just stop taking medicare because they lose money. They would instantly lose their only source of moderately paid MD’s, and then lose even more money. > > As for hospitals which have no residency programs, they utterly lack prestige and thus are the last places which could exist without government funds. The system is set so that unless a hospital is completely run by the government, it has to treat seriously ill patients for free. Hospitals like the Shriners are not real examples of exempt institutions because they gain their exemption by being free to everyone. You realize everything you just posted directly supports everything I’ve been explaining in this thread, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-looks-like-we-were-lied-to-about-obamacare-after-all/672534.md?page=41)