Allow me to unload on that piece of "Journalism" you reference, like I did in the other thread.
(10-01-2014 09:52 AM)Machiavelli Wrote: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/11962...aw-working
The claims:
1. More people have health insurance.
True. But are more people happy with that health insurance given the millions who have received cancellation letters and been forced into exchanges? And that is before we touch upon the cost issues.
2. People who are getting health insurance are almost certainly better off.
False. The plans are markedly worse for anybody who was already insured. The costs are much greater in both co-pay, premium, and out of pocket maximums. Which is of course what HAS to happen to pick up highly subsidized insurance for people who are poor or for the catastrophic cases who didn't have have exorbitant caps in their insurance plans and were dumped when they hit the limit. And of course there is the less "feel good" things like paying for birth control as a guy. And ObamaCare is basically ... at its core for most people .... Medicare. And studies of Medicare recipients versus those with no insurance what-so-ever showed no marked long term health differences.
3. “Winners” probably outnumbered “losers” in the new marketplaces.
False. Only if you totally ignore robbing Peter to pay Paul. "Look the rates are slightly lower overall when you take into account the subsidies!" WHO THE **** DO YOU THINK IS PAYING FOR THE SUBSIDIES?????????? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! That kind of willfully wantonly ignorant thinking drives me nuts. IT IS SIMPLE ECONOMICS. You're getting more benefits like it or not. Including benefits you don't need and/or don't want. You're getting people with no means to pay for it or reduced means the same level of coverage. OF COURSE THAT WILL COST MORE!!!!!!!!!
4. Premiums in the marketplaces aren't rising quickly, and more insurers are jumping in to compete.
True. And deceptive. Rates aren't rising quickly in the exchanges because they EXPLODED already! My private rate has jumped from under $100 to nearly $400. And my exchange costs are nearly $400 for anything worth a flying ****. This point is akin to saying "gas prices haven't gone up this week" after the previous week they went up to $100/gallon.
5. Employer premiums also aren't rising quickly.
True. And deceptive. The employer mandate hasn't hit yet. It has been delayed -- ILLEGALLY -- until after the election by executive fiat. But don't you worry liberals ... as you can see reports are already starting to trickle in like they did around this time last year. Buckle up ... the next few months will be a Biblical flood of employer based "healthcare" sodomy stories.
6. Overall health care costs are rising at historically low rates.
FALSEEEEEEEEEEE. SOOOOOOOOOOO FALSE. Health care is rising at twice the rate of inflation. The only thing soaring faster is college tuition. This is like citing the Federal Reserve's official inflation statistic: It is an intentionally flawed metric as it deliberately ignores relevant sectors to produce a rosey number.
7. The net effect on the budget has been to reduce the deficit.
True and false and EXTREMELY deceptive. ObamaCare had a run of several years where the taxes already kicked in but the benefit increases were not yet in effect. You got like 6 years of taxes for 2.5 years of benefits. Cookin' the books much? So early on ... yes, it was helping the budget. As they actually started to hand out the goodies they promised, it went from true to HUGELY false. See what I said on #3.
This is the most shoddy piece of willfully, wantonly, pretentious, arrogant, deceptive, partisan, utterly bullsh*t piece of reporting I have read in a considerable amount of time. I would consider Bill O'Reilly a more credible news source than this. I'd consider Sean Hannity more reliable than this. I might even consider Jay Carney more reliable than this. Jesus tapdancing Christ.