# 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:** 32
**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:** [October 23, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/622 "2013-10-23T16:43:22Z")
BTW Booker who won the election in New Jersey is a Democrat. The Republican opponent also opposed the ACA. You also need to take into account that Rasmussen skews in favor of the Republicans, so I see that poll as actually showing \*\*less \*\*than the actual damage the republican has. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/623 "2013-10-23T16:51:48Z")
Now this is charming: [http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php](http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php) People whose 2014 income will be a little too high to get subsidized health insurance from Covered California next year should start thinking now about ways to lower it to increase their odds of getting the valuable tax subsidy. “If they can adjust (their income), they should,” says Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s not cheating, it’s allowed.”… ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/624 "2013-10-23T17:56:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Now this is charming: > > [http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php](http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/Lower-2014-income-can-net-huge-health-care-subsidy-4891087.php) > > People whose 2014 income will be a little too high to get subsidized health insurance from Covered California next year should start thinking now about ways to lower it to increase their odds of getting the valuable tax subsidy. “If they can adjust (their income), they should,” says Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation. “It’s not cheating, it’s allowed.”… I’m not sure what the point of your post was. She’s suggesting people seek out tax deductions to gain eligibility for a tax credit. That’s reasonable advice. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/625 "2013-10-23T18:08:44Z")
This is the “charming” part: > [@](#): > > You can also consider reducing your 2014 income by working just a bit less. That, and the fact that her advice is directed at people who are seeing their rates skyrocket, as if it becomes cheaper if someone else is paying the freight. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/626 "2013-10-23T18:14:09Z")
That’s just stupid advice. The examples in the article (and the [calculator on KFF’s website](http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/)) show that the amount of subsidy you get would be less then the amount by which you lower your total income. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/627 "2013-10-23T18:20:32Z")
Most of it is bad. Delaying sale of an investment with an eye on the health care law? Very dumb. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/628 "2013-10-23T18:34:43Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Most of it is bad. Delaying sale of an investment with an eye on the health care law? Very dumb. Timing an investment sale or a rebalancing of your portfolio with an eye on the tax calendar isn’t dumb at all. Particularly if you can make an accurate estimate of how your income will change from one year to the next. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/629 "2013-10-23T18:38:00Z")
For taxes, yes. For health care subsidies, no. And the last thing we needed was more economic distortions caused by federal policy. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/630 "2013-10-23T18:39:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > For taxes, yes. For health care subsidies, no. And the last thing we needed was more economic distortions caused by federal policy. The health care subsidies are couched in the “tax credit” terminology. So, however misguided this is, it is still “tax planning”. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/631 "2013-10-24T00:34:36Z")
I encourage everyone to keep up to date on the rollout at Ezra Klein’s blog. From what he’s reporting, it’s as if the administration is doing a ton of talking, but not too much doing: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/) ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/632 "2013-10-24T02:49:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Nothing has happened in Virginia yet. Given that McCauliffe has staked out unabashedly liberal positions on a variety of issues, it would be pretty remarkable if he wins. Note that the libertarian candidate is drawing 10% in the polls: > > [2013 Virginia Gov: Cuccinelli vs. McAuliffe vs. Sarvis | RealClearPolling](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2013/governor/va/virginia_governor_cuccinelli_vs_mcauliffe_vs_sarvis-4111.html) > > Historically, third parties tend to underperform on election day. I doubt McCauliffe will be winning many libertarian votes. Oh wait. Friend Bricker has taught me about how to deal with this. How about a bet? If McCauliffe wins, you don’t post in the Elections forum here at SDMB until 1/1/2015 (note that I’m being generous enough to leave GD out of it). If Cuccinelli wins, I’ll live up to the same deal. No cash involved, but how confident are you? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/633 "2013-10-24T11:41:56Z")
Not at all. McCauliffe is clearly the favorite. However, Gigo’s confidence that it’s already a done deal is off base, especially with a third party wildcard making the polling less certain. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/634 "2013-10-24T12:55:35Z")
It just gets better every day. One day after Sebelius told Dr. Gupta that the President had no knowledge about the website it was his job to get up and running, we find out that the insurance companies knew: [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/23/insurance-industry-aware-of-obamacare-website-problems-before-launch/?hpt=hp\_c2](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/23/insurance-industry-aware-of-obamacare-website-problems-before-launch/?hpt=hp_c2) This is causing the administration to rapidly backtrack on the claim that the President was not informed, because how ridiculous would it look for every single person in the country to know what’s going on except for him? ---
**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:** [October 24, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/635 "2013-10-24T13:08:02Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It just gets better every day. One day after Sebelius told Dr. Gupta that the President had no knowledge about the website it was his job to get up and running, we find out that the insurance companies knew: > > [http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/23/insurance-industry-aware-of-obamacare-website-problems-before-launch/?hpt=hp\_c2](http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/23/insurance-industry-aware-of-obamacare-website-problems-before-launch/?hpt=hp_c2) > > This is causing the administration to rapidly backtrack on the claim that the President was not informed, because how ridiculous would it look for every single person in the country to know what’s going on except for him? Of course- insurance companies are well known bastions of integrity and honesty, while the White House always lies. Please proceed, governor. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/636 "2013-10-24T13:30:16Z")
The administration has not denied that the insurance companies knew, in fact they brought the insurance company CEOs to the White House since apparently the President can’t get the truth from HHS. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/637 "2013-10-24T13:37:15Z")
If you’re argument is that the rollout did not go well and the online system needs to be fixed, then fine- we agree. I’m confident and hopeful it will be fixed and implemented properly in the next couple of months. But it seems like all you’re interested in is silly political sniping. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/638 "2013-10-24T13:45:43Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The administration has not denied that the insurance companies knew, in fact they brought the insurance company CEOs to the White House since apparently the President can’t get the truth from HHS. Why is that apparent? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/639 "2013-10-24T13:48:44Z")
Because he believes it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/640 "2013-10-24T14:04:32Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If you’re argument is that the rollout did not go well and the online system needs to be fixed, then fine- we agree. I’m confident and hopeful it will be fixed and implemented properly in the next couple of months. But it seems like all you’re interested in is silly political sniping. Then the entire mainstream press must be engaged in silly political sniping now. Actually, what they want is the truth. The administration just now has promised to be transparent about what’s going on. Why they acted as if it was a national security secret prior to this is anyone’s guess. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561/641 "2013-10-24T14:05:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The administration just now has promised to be transparent about what’s going on. Why they acted as if it was a national security secret prior to this is anyone’s guess. Did they? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=31) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-ongoing-opinion-of-the-affordable-care-act-title-edited/647561.md?page=33)