# 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:** 173
**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, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3442 "2015-04-02T02:49:37Z")
They have a fix, but they refuse to pass it? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3443 "2015-04-02T15:27:33Z")
C’mon now, I DO want to give **adaher** a bit of credit here: He has said - in no uncertain terms - that the GOP in Congress should suck it up & pass the two-sentence fix that would be required in the wake of a bad _King_ decision. His party will never do that, of course, but he deserves credit for saying that it should. ---
**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, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3444 "2015-04-02T18:56:57Z")
He’s also said he wants the whole thing repealed. So? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3445 "2015-04-03T03:11:44Z")
Uh… I’d take the two-sentence fix. ---
**Author:** ![Youngbrick76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/0ea827/32.png) [@Youngbrick76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Youngbrick76)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3446 "2015-04-03T04:25:31Z")
How isthe government forcing everyone to get health insurance not considered a tax? I work my ass off to support my family but apparently I make so much money ($50k/yr) that the government thinks I can afford insurance that cost $500 a month with a $5000 deductible! So I pay $6k a yr in premiums for insurance that doesnt cover shit until I rack up $5k in medical expenses. Thanks Obamacare! Do I pay my mortgage on the house we live in or buy your fd up insurance while others only have to pay a fraction of what I do bc they dont make as much as I do! SOCIALISM AT ITS BEST! Putins pissed off bc Obamas a bigger communist then he is! ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3447 "2015-04-03T13:27:52Z")
> [@Youngbrick76](#): > > How is the government forcing everyone to get health insurance not considered a tax? Ignoring the rest of the very loaded wording in your post, [actually the Supreme Court has indeed agreed the mandate penalty is a tax](http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/05/politics/scotus-health-care-tax/): > [@](#): > > In its ruling last week on the national health care law, the Supreme Court found that penalties the law places on people who don’t buy health insurance count as a tax protected by the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3448 "2015-04-03T14:59:20Z")
If you instead mean the premiums themselves are a tax, well, they’re paid directly to an insurance company, and you get directly covered by a policy in return. That’s an odd definition of _tax_. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3449 "2015-04-06T20:56:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No one has a right to Medicare. Well, then; I can stop paying having those Medicare taxes taken out of my paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3450 "2015-04-06T21:03:34Z")
> [@Youngbrick76](#): > > How isthe government forcing everyone to get health insurance not considered a tax? I work my ass off to support my family but apparently I make so much money ($50k/yr) that the government thinks I can afford insurance that cost $500 a month with a $5000 deductible! So I pay $6k a yr in premiums for insurance that doesnt cover shit until I rack up $5k in medical expenses. Thanks Obamacare! Do I pay my mortgage on the house we live in or buy your fd up insurance while others only have to pay a fraction of what I do bc they dont make as much as I do! SOCIALISM AT ITS BEST! Putins pissed off bc Obamas a bigger communist then he is! “The Government”? Oh, you mean the private insurance policies that are on the ACA exchange? Which is on the federal exchange, because Rick Perry decided he wasn’t going to play? I question your costs. I looked up insurance for a family of three non-smokers (two 35-year-old adults, one 10-year-old kid), and found a silver plan with a $6k deductible for $315 a month. I found a gold plan with a $3250 family deductible for about $375 a month. The max out-of-pocket for the family is $7000. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3451 "2015-04-07T01:19:35Z")
[Forbes.com](http://Forbes.com): [Without Obamacare, Jobs Report Might’ve Been Worse](http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2015/04/04/without-obamacare-jobs-report-mightve-been-worse/). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3452 "2015-04-13T13:12:14Z")
Nearly 9 in 10 adult Americans now have healthcare coverage: [http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/13/survey-nearly-9-in-10-us-adults-now-have-health-insurance/21171426/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl3|sec1\_lnk3%26pLid%3D642741](http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/13/survey-nearly-9-in-10-us-adults-now-have-health-insurance/21171426/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D642741) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3453 "2015-04-13T13:27:46Z")
[The GOP has put itself in a cage on the subject](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/16-million-obamacare-repeal-debate-over-n330791), now that it’s in place and popular as people “find out what’s in it”, per Pelosi’s often-deliberately-misrepresented prediction. Their best hope now is that people just sorta forget the “repeal” part as much as they’ve forgotten the “replace” part of their battle cry. They have to even hope that the Supremes vote against them in the political _King v. Burwell_ case, now that it’s a loser for them. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3454 "2015-04-14T12:36:50Z")
When it says 16 million, that’s new people who didn’t have cover before - does anyone know what the total uninsured was when Obama was re-lected? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3455 "2015-04-14T12:53:52Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > When it says 16 million, that’s new people who didn’t have cover before - does anyone know what the total uninsured was when Obama was re-lected? [This poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/182348/uninsured-rate-dips-first-quarter.aspx) estimates the # of uninsured Americans, in total, from '09 to today. It has dropped rather rapidly since the various features of the ACA became “active”. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3456 "2015-04-14T12:54:09Z")
It’s okay, I found this which is quite helpful. From a high of 18% to under 12%, and that’s without all States participating. Who thought they’d ever see that day … That’s … basically … historic. > **[Uninsured Rate Gets Lower And Lower, Thanks To Obamacare](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/uninsured-rate-obamacare_n_7043534)** > > Uninsured Rate Gets Lower And Lower, Thanks To Obamacare ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3457 "2015-04-14T12:55:31Z")
iiandyiiii - thanks for that. Beat me to it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3458 "2015-04-14T13:16:06Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > That’s … basically … historic. As Biden put it, “This is a big fucking deal.” ---
**Author:** ![Texascowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Texascowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Texascowboy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3459 "2015-04-14T13:57:08Z")
- long overdue and by no means perfect, but then again nothing the government does is ever going to be the way we want it…however knowing people are now insured medically and have access to doctors and treatments. with out being turned away is something worth praising ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3460 "2015-04-14T14:34:59Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > As Biden put it, “This is a big fucking deal.” Yep. 100 years from now this’ll still be in school texts books. It’s like it doesn’t matter what else he did his whole career, he won the Olympic Games. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/3461 "2015-04-16T15:42:06Z")
A good summary over at Vox today. [7 charts that show what Obamacare critics are getting wrong](http://www.vox.com/2015/4/16/8410585/obamacare-charts) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=172) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=174)