Ted Cruz's Worst Nightmare Is Coming True: Obamacare is working.

[ProSense]

Ted Cruz's Worst Nightmare Is Coming True

Obamacare is working.

By RICHARD KIRSCH

Last August, as conservatives barnstormed the country seeking to build support for a cockamamie plan to shut down the U.S. federal government unless Congress voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican senator, said something surprisingly prescient about the president’s signature health-care law.

“President Obama wants to get as many Americans addicted to the subsidies because he knows that in modern times, no major entitlement has ever been implemented and then unwound,” he said. The worry, according to Cruz, was that once the ACA went into effect, we’d all be “addicted to the sugar.” Then, it would be too late to roll it back.

Cruz’s nightmare, and the left’s long-held dream, has come true. Finally, after years of failed reform efforts, the U.S. government is actually trying to provide affordable health coverage for all. And it’s working, despite Republicans’ relentless attempts to deep-six the law...The right’s biggest fear was never really, as Cruz’s comments revealed, that Obamacare wouldn’t succeed. It was that it would.

Americans, it turns out, have a compelling desire for a basic necessity of life: affordable health coverage. That’s why, despite the HealthCare.gov debacle, and campaigns in red states to discourage enrollment and defund outreach efforts, eight million Americans signed up. Young people ignored tasteless ads and anti-Obamacare campus beer parties, funded by the Koch brothers, to enroll at strong enough rates. Millions more enrolled in Medicaid, even in states that did not expand the program, as awareness of coverage options increased. There is even a big upswing in take-up of employer coverage, despite GOP claims that Obamacare would destroy the employer-based system. The Congressional Budget Office just lowered its estimate of the law’s costs, and overall health-care inflation is at historic lows. It’s been a tough few weeks for the Obamacare-bashers.

- more -

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/obamacares-success-changes-everything-105914.html

Senator Sanders: Their Nightmare’
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024793244

[el_bryanto]

1. That's a pretty common nightmare on the right these days

It's going to put them in an awkward spot - they have to claim that Obamacare isn't working at all for their base, and they have to tell the undecided/middle that it's not working well enough and they can get it working even better.

Hard to say both those things at the same time.

Bryant

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. Not for the gop ...

consistency is not one of their long suits.

[tanyev]

2. You do not like it, so you say. Try it! Try it! And you may.

[spanone]

3. k&r...

[rurallib]

4. Cruz and the right will lie; those in the bubble

won't know the difference, at least for a while.
Their bet will be that they can keep their followers stupid until November.
Considering how well they have them trained, I expect they can pull it off.

[AgingAmerican]

10. This is exactly what will happen

They have constructed their own reality. I call it the 'Alternative Information Reality®'. Within this realm they have constructed, nothing is ever challenged, so rumor, gossip, propaganda, lies and chain emails take on a reality of their own. They simply will never hear anything other than their own nonsense. I feel sorry for them in a way.

[rurallib]

11. A I R - I like it

[AgingAmerican]

15. Yes

A.I.R®. Heads

[stonecutter357]

5. K&R

[ProSense]

6. Polling Confirms That Obamacare’s Birth Control Coverage Is Very Popular

Polling Confirms That Obamacare’s Birth Control Coverage Is Very Popular

By Tara Culp-Ressler

About seven in ten Americans support the Obamacare provision that requires employer-sponsored insurance to cover the full cost of contraception, according to a new survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That particular aspect of the health reform law is the subject of a pending Supreme Court challenge, as two for-profit companies claim that covering birth control violates their religious beliefs.

Sixty nine percent of respondents reported they support “mandated coverage of birth control medications in health plans.” The study found that women, African Americans, Latinos and parents living with children under the age of 18 were more likely to support this policy than the people in other demographic groups.

“While the Supreme Court considers if corporations can be required to cover birth control in insurance plans like other preventive care, the American public is abundantly clear: we’re all for it,” Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, noted in a statement.

The survey results also indicate that Americans are broadly supportive of the concept that all insurance plans should cover certain types of preventative health services. Between 85 percent and 75 percent of respondents indicated that they favor mandatory coverage of mammograms, colonoscopies, recommended vaccinations, mental health care, screenings for diabetes and high cholesterol, and dental care.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/04/23/3429710/obamacare-birth-control-coverage-popular/

[rtracey]

8. we can hope

We can hope this turns into votes for the midterms........

[SunSeeker]

7. K & R

[Tippy]

9. Cruz has another Nightmare.....

Bob Dole does not like Cruz not one bit

[Zambero]

12. Ted Cruz' REAL Obamacare disaster

Facts and successes are now contradicting his Tea Party talking points.

[Peacetrain]

13. Alrighty now.. this is turning out to be a great day

The Presidents poll numbers are climbing.. (yes I know he is not running again, but it gives nervous Democrats in challenging states more of a back bone to run on ACA)

[hobbit709]

14. Ted Cruz's worst nightmare is having the rubes that voted for him finding out what a fraud he is.

[ProSense]

16. How Obamacare Will Help Americans Retire Sooner

How Obamacare Will Help Americans Retire Sooner

By Tara Culp-Ressler

The health reform law will likely help lead to earlier retirements, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Health Economics. The reason for that is pretty simple: Once Americans don’t have to worry about losing their employer-sponsored health insurance, they’ll be freed up to make different decisions about how long to continue working.

In order to reach those conclusions, researchers studied government employees, who have access to retiree health coverage even if they stop working before they’re eligible for Medicare. That flexibility means that public sector workers between the ages of 55 and 59 are about 38 percent more likely to stop working full time, and workers between the ages of 60 and 64 are about 26 percent more likely to stop working full time. In the younger group, access to an alternative source of health care is more likely to facilitate a transition to working part-time. The older group is more likely to retire altogether.

Since Obamacare establishes state-based insurance marketplaces, which gives people a way to access health care other than getting it through their job, the study concludes that it could have a similar effect on retirement decisions among private sector employees. “The research on retiree health programs, including this paper, suggests that the ACA may lead to earlier retirements, particularly for those in the private sector who currently do not have access to subsidized health insurance in retirement before age 65,” the researchers write.

This isn’t a hypothetical demographic. There really are some Americans who are being forced to put off retirement because they’re worried about losing their insurance. According to a 2013 study, more than half of Americans are planning to work longer than they would have otherwise specifically because they want to keep their access to their employer-sponsored health plan. Even wealthier people are increasingly worried about being able to afford health care after they retire.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/04/23/3429864/obamacare-americans-retirement/

[JDPriestly]

17. K&R.

[cindyperry2010]

18. what a wonderful

kick in the ass I love it

[napkinz]

19. they keep getting it wrong ...

[ProSense]

20. Crist: 'Obamacare is great'

Crist: 'Obamacare is great'

by Joan McCarter

Pundits everywhere are going to have to hang up the supposed narrative of the cycle—that Democrats are running scared on Obamacare. It's just not happening. From Sens. Mary Landrieu and Mark Begich to Rep. Allyson Schwartz, Democrats are on offense on the Affordable Care Act. But Florida's Charlie Crist, running to get the governor's seat back, beats them all in his enthusiasm for the law.

Crist appeared at the Capital Tiger Bay Club and almost immediately brought up the attack ads being run by the political committee backing Scott's re-election, which show video of Crist talking about the health care overhaul and saying, "I think it's been great."

"I'm going to tell you what's great. 'Obamacare's' great," Crist said one minute into his 29-minute speech. "My opponent has spent about $6 million showing me say what's great ... Affordable health care—I think it's incredibly important and I don't back away from it, I do support it because it is great."

That's pretty smart in a state where about 1 million people are denied health care, where they are dying prematurely because of Republican politics. Out of spite.

Yes, for the people who now, finally, have health insurance they can afford and that can't be taken away from them, Obamacare is great. That's a message no Democrat should be afraid to deliver.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/23/1294104/-Crist-Obamacare-is-great

[Helen Borg]

22. Right, addicted to health.

What is the point of caring so much about fetuses, if then they don't care at all about the health of those fetuses when they grow up?

[YOHABLO]

23. Thank you for saying that. I couldn't agree more .. why bring a child into a world of deprivation?

[rumdude]

24. Ted's worst nightmare is that the mirror breaks

He's a facking narcissist!

[Cha]

25. K!

[muntrv]

26. This is what repealing Obamacare would look like.

http://www.barackobama.com/tweet-what-repeal-means/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=obama&utm_content=1+-+Check+it+out+and+choose+your+favorite+wa&utm_campaign=em14_x_ACA_20140423_x_x_mr_teamaca&source=em14_x_ACA_20140423_x_x_mr_teamaca

[Blue Owl]

27. Ted Cruz to Your Nightmare

n/t