General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA real ACA horror story that will never crumble.
Someone I know, who did not have health insurance, did not sign up for Obamacare, despite my having offered to help them sign up. They did not sign up because they have a libertarian conservative political agenda.
They were recently diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer, in an area of the body where the prognosis for victims is a less than 20% five year survival rate.
This is a real life Obamacare horror story.
To find out if you are eligible for subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, call Healthcare.gov at
800 - 318 -2596.
global1
(25,266 posts)he and his wife have 4 kids - all college age - all athletes and prone to all sorts of injuries and driving out of state - to and from college.
They have no health insurance. Struggling as he lost his business during the BushCo recession. He's had open heart surgery and is probably still paying off bills from that - which happened about 6 years ago.
He will not even look into ACA - because he's been brainwashed by the likes of Rush, Hannity & Fox News.
I feel real sorry for the family. They are essentially shooting themselves in the foot. They vote against their best interests.
Heaven forbid that they have some major health setback - they could lose their house.
I just don't understand some people.
Cha
(297,567 posts)must be very proud of themselves looking at the numbers of those who..
And simultaneously screw themselves in the process.
napkinz
(17,199 posts)Cha
(297,567 posts)a winner with Obama as President. They can capitalize their a$$es off on burning the poor souls who are brainwashed into hating on PBO.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)It's really middle class whites who vote en masse against their own economic interests, not so much poor ones.
http://themonkeycage.org/blog/2012/03/23/voting-patterns-of-americas-whites-from-the-masses-to-the-elites/
What does this say about Americas elites? If you define elites as high-income non-Hispanic whites, the elites vote strongly Republican. If you define elites as college-educated high-income whites, they vote moderately Republican.
There is no plausible way based on these data in which elites can be considered a Democratic voting bloc. To create a group of strongly Democratic-leaning elite whites using these graphs, you would need to consider only postgraduates (no simple college grads included, even if they have achieved social and financial success), and you have to go down to the below-$75,000 level of family income, which hardly seems like the American elites to me.
The patterns are consistent for all three of the past presidential elections. (The differences in the higher-income low-education category should not be taken seriously, as the estimates are based on small samples, as can be seen from the large standard errors for those subgroups.)
bigdarryl
(13,190 posts)I bet if Bush signed into law the ACA he would have no problem with it.BUT because it's from a black man he fells that he can't touch it.
global1
(25,266 posts)with him. I said he was a staunch Repug. Doesn't like anything remotely Dem. Even back when Clinton was President. He's just brainwashed by all the Conservative/Repug talking heads he listens to. He's an avid Rush fan.
Back when Sicko was out - by Michael Moore - I offered to pay his way to see it at the theater and he refused. I then went out and bought the DVD - and he refused to accept it and watch it.
kydo
(2,679 posts)babylonsister
(171,079 posts)pre-existing conditions not factored in. Maybe there's something that can be done?
IADEMO2004
(5,557 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)his already substantial credit card debts are mounting, and time is of the essence - he's already been told he needs to have surgery.
Ms. Toad
(34,086 posts)since the deadline for coverage in January has passed.
Although - as early as it is in the month, it sounds as if he may have chosen not to sign up even after knowing the bill would be big out of principle. I have a libertarian friend I got into horrendous arguments with, since he knows my daughter (and her $25,000 to $60,000 bills in good years), knows there is absolutely nothing she could have done to minimize her major health care needs (there are some minor - unrelated - ones she brought on herself), and could not be budged into stopping his non-stop tirade against how just because you need health care you don't have the right to steal from me to pay for it. People with that mindset can be really stubborn . . .
aggiesal
(8,923 posts)Do they not know how insurance works?
Ms. Toad
(34,086 posts)It is the mandatory nature of the ACA (so he is required to pay into the pool (or pay a tax penalty) to pay for my daughter's illness). He feels the same way about single payer health care, and taxes in general.
aggiesal
(8,923 posts)And our mandatory taxes pay for VA services, yet nobody screams about that.
Pooling our money together makes everything cheaper. Besides your payment
will eventually pay for his operation as well. It's not like he won't get his money back.
He'll literally come out waaaaay ahead.
Your friend is extremely selfish!
djean111
(14,255 posts)A little at a time, or in one very fell swoop.
We are always just a grand bargain away from cutting, when we should be strengthening.
Plus - fewer people working, fewer people or businesses and corporations paying taxes and into social security and medicare. Not an unforeseen happenstance at all.
Republicans see the subsidized premiums the government pays to insurance companies, for poor people, as money out of their pockets. They don't mind the mandate so much as the subsidies.
aggiesal
(8,923 posts)I was referring to no screams about getting rid of the VA, which is truly the most socialistic program in the US.
Only the teapublicans in congress try to get rid of VA benefits (quietly), the other teapublicans in society don't want the VA benefits cut because many are veterans.
Ms. Toad
(34,086 posts)As for my money paying for his operation eventually and him coming out aheaed - not a chance in the world (for my daughter). Literally her bills are between $25,000 and $60,000 a year - and they will continue to be that high (or higher) every year of her life with the possible exception that they create a grow-your-own liver before she needs a new one, and can avoid the lifetime after transplant with anti-rejection drugs. Unfortunately, she will always be a net drain on the health care system.
aggiesal
(8,923 posts)Your friend will never have any empathy.
But when something happens to him or a loved one, they all seem to sing a different tune.
Unfortunately that may take too much time and our window of opportunity will have closed.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)by new enrollees, coverage begins for them on Feb 1.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)about his/her right not to have health care?
This is foolish in the extreme. Are there any others who depend on this person? Talk about a selfish attitude.
The best case now is that he/she enrolls TODAY and gets covered effective February 1. Let's hope that this month without coverage does not either bankrupt or kill your friend.
But let's look at the broader picture. If the ACA had kicked in a year ago, and "forced" this bozo to have coverage, then he/she might have gotten the check-ups that would have identified this at a much earlier stage.
Sometimes I guess we just have to let Darwin win.
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)Don't be an ideological moran... Or something like that
Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Demo_Chris
(6,234 posts)Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)Tell that person. He/she has until March 31st.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Anybody who waits past Jan 15 won't get coverage until March 1, which literally could be a matter of life and death in this case.
Yo_Mama
(8,303 posts)We'll see, but there is no reason to delay signing up now.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)who was just diagnosed with cancer, and has just learned that he can actually get coverage in 22 days if he acts this week, would be all over that.
If this person has not made the application TODAY, he gets no sympathy from me.
We have had to fight for 4 years to allow people in his circumstance to have a chance to live. At some point, I say, "Screw these people. If they really feel that way, then let them die -- just as the teabaggers screamed during the GOP primary debate. But don't take the rest of America down just because you have a death wish."
Zorra
(27,670 posts)if that help is not accepted, I give up.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)You seem like such a genuine nice person who really care about these folks. I know it is extremely irritating trying to deal with folks that have been so brainwashed. However, keep trying because I have seen people change. It is not easy but I have seen it. The other thing is, is it possible to discuss this with his wife or 4 college age children? Perhaps they could be convinced easier especially if you put the fact that he has cancer and could in reality die. That might wake up at least one of the kids and he or she could be an ally with you. I mean not easy by any means, but just reading your various posts, you seem way too nice and caring to give up.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Meaning, in this case, I can't force this. His children are grown and not in college and I don't even know them. He's more of an acquaintance than a friend. The whole personal situation is not one where I have any real influence. I will offer again to help. If he refuses, there is nothing I can do. If he changes his mind, he knows where to find me. I'm quite sure he'll come around.
to top this off, just before I wrote this I offered to help another brainwashed conservative who has terrible debilitating arthritis and who obviously has serious COPD issues from smoking. His exact words were, "I don't need anything from the State, I'll be getting my Social Security in a few years, when I'm 63."
When I pointed out to him that SS is administered by the State, and that he will be eligible for SS when he turns 62, he said, "Well, it's my money. No, you can't collect SS until your 63, unless they lowered the age, and I never heard about it."
I've found it's nigh onto impossible to talk sense to conservatives, because so many of them are totally brainwashed and whose thought process are only rational to a limited degree, and I'm not going to waste my time trying to help people who don't want to be helped because their entire worldview has been shaped by Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
GeorgeGist
(25,322 posts)social enlightenment.