# What is your ongoing opinion of the Affordable Care Act? (Title Edited) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 17, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561 "2013-01-17T23:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 172
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3422 "2015-03-27T13:19:59Z")
[Republican asks for ACA horror stories](https://www.facebook.com/mcmorrisrodgers/photos/a.405156824771.195673.321618789771/10153225909544772/?type=1), but doesn’t get them! This is rich. If you think hatred of the ACA is universal, turn off Fox. ---
**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:** [March 27, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3423 "2015-03-27T14:11:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > [Republican asks for ACA horror stories](https://www.facebook.com/mcmorrisrodgers/photos/a.405156824771.195673.321618789771/10153225909544772/?type=1), but doesn’t get them! This is rich. If you think hatred of the ACA is universal, turn off Fox. There’s an insane number of positive stories in that thread. I anticipate imminent deletion. Interestingly a lot of the positive stories are about being able to obtain insurance coverage previously denied due to pre-existing conditions or about having policies previously cancelled when a big claim was made and not having to worry about it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3424 "2015-03-30T13:50:29Z")
US Supreme Court rejects [Obamacare ‘death panel’ challenge](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102459025): > [@](#): > > The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a new challenge to the Obamacare law that took aim at a bureaucratic board labeled by some Republicans as a "death panel’’ because it was designed to cut Medicare costs. > > The high court left intact a ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that threw out the lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3425 "2015-03-31T19:24:31Z")
Without wading through the thread, my response, in sum, to the thread title is: The ACA is a flawed law, perhaps even badly flawed, that is a massive improvement over the previous condition. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3426 "2015-03-31T19:52:45Z")
And much, _much_ better than _nothing_, which is what the “repeal-and-replace” opposition has, and all that it will _ever_ have in the foreseeable future. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2015, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3427 "2015-04-01T09:39:20Z")
Obama says ACA is “[a major reason why we’ve seen 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/mar/31/barack-obama/barack-obama-says-health-care-law-has-led-50000-/).” Experts concur. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2015, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3428 "2015-04-01T09:40:33Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3429 "2015-04-01T11:26:56Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > US Supreme Court rejects [Obamacare ‘death panel’ challenge](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102459025): Makes sense. IPAB is a political question, not a rights question. No one has a right to Medicare. If IPAB decides to cut payments, that might suck, but it doesn’t affect any issue that a court has to decide. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3430 "2015-04-01T11:36:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Makes sense. IPAB is a political question, not a rights question. No one has a right to Medicare. If IPAB decides to cut payments, that might suck, but it doesn’t affect any issue that a court has to decide. Seriously, THAT’S what you take out of this? Seems to me to be a necessary part of any bureaucracy, to have a board review payments and recommend action when they exceed certain limits. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3431 "2015-04-01T11:42:19Z")
And what did I get out of it that you disagree with? IPAB exists because Congress doesn’t have the political will to decide how to cut Medicare. It’s like the base closures, the cuts are decided outside of Congress and Congress just vetoes them or lets them pass merely by taking no action. IPAB is one of the parts of ACA I actually LIKE. I actually think it should be strengthened. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3432 "2015-04-01T13:51:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And what did I get out of it that you disagree with? IPAB exists because Congress doesn’t have the political will to decide how to cut Medicare. It’s like the base closures, the cuts are decided outside of Congress and Congress just vetoes them or lets them pass merely by taking no action. > > IPAB is one of the parts of ACA I actually LIKE. I actually think it should be strengthened. Let’s see- “IPAB is a political question, not a rights question” I disagree with it being a political question. It was something put into the oversight of the law to make sure that costs are contained. Some right wingers decide to sue on the grounds that it is a death panel and they got their asses handed to them by the right wing Supreme Court. That’s noteworthy, that not even this cast of clowns would hear the case. “No one has a right to Medicare”. I disagree. If you qualify for it, you have a right to it. We pay for Medicare all our working lives and we pay for premiums when we retire. Why don’t we have a right to it? We have a right to it in the same way your hero got to bellow “I am PAYING for this microphone!” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3433 "2015-04-01T14:12:38Z")
But Medicare is not a right under our Constitution. Congress can take it away simply with a majority of votes and the President’s signature. Anything having to do with Medicare is a political question, not a judicial question, unless it’s over interpreting how the law applies to unforseen situations. As for the lawsuit, it was a political lawsuit. Republicans expected to lose, but it never hurts to remind the public that IPAB exists. Plus it’s a wedge issue, because many Democrats want it gone. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3434 "2015-04-01T14:25:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Republicans expected to lose, but it never hurts to remind the public that IPAB exists. Plus it’s a wedge issue, because many Democrats want it gone. So they want to keep on shouting “death panels!” just to gin up their base? I’m feeling generous so I’ll give you a free clue- ACA is no longer a wedge issue that works to your benefit. Should the right wing Supreme Court rule against the ACA this June, there is going to be such an outcry to fix it to allow the federal exchange the Republicans will trip over themselves to do 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:** [April 1, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3435 "2015-04-01T14:27:09Z")
They already have a fix. It’s up to the President to decide if he’ll sign it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3436 "2015-04-01T15:06:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > They already have a fix. It’s up to the President to decide if he’ll sign it. The House and Senate passed a fix? Whatever was it? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3437 "2015-04-01T20:16:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > But Medicare is not a right under our Constitution. Congress can take it away simply with a majority of votes and the President’s signature. Anything having to do with Medicare is a political question, not a judicial question, unless it’s over interpreting how the law applies to unforseen situations. Let’s hope that the Supreme Court agrees with Mike Pence about intent being more important than the text. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3438 "2015-04-02T00:08:36Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The House and Senate passed a fix? Whatever was it? It’s been over 50 times for the House by now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3439 "2015-04-02T00:51:36Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It’s been over 50 times for the House by now. 😉 I realize that, but it never passed the Senate so it never hit Obama’s desk. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3440 "2015-04-02T02:27:31Z")
Hell, i don’t know what he means either. Not sure even he does. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3441 "2015-04-02T02:32:22Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The House and Senate passed a fix? Whatever was it? Now, be fair! Never said they passed it, just said that they had one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=171) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=173)