Obama Wastes Little Time In Condemning Republicans For Repeal and Replace On Obamacare

[Rustyeye77]

Repealing Obamacare without a replacement is “reckless” and “irresponsible,” and would leave the country “with more uninsured and uncompensated care than when we started,” writes former President Barack Obama.

In the commentary published Jan. 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine, one week after the inauguration of Donald Trump, Obama makes good on the pledge in his farewell news conference to speak out “where I think our core values may be at stake."

“What the past 8 years have taught us is that health care reform requires an evidence-based, careful approach, driven by what is best for the American people,” Obama writes. “That is why Republicans’ plan to repeal the ACA with no plan to replace and improve it is so reckless.”

He goes on to note that the Affordable Care Act has enabled a greater share of Americans to have health insurance than ever before. And he focuses on some issues that have not been widely discussed in Washington, D.C., but are of interest to the doctors and others who read the New England Journal of Medicine. He notes that the ACA changed payment terms to reward health care providers for delivering high-quality care, “rather than just a high quantity of care.” The law has also slowed the growth in health care costs to a fraction of what they were before, he writes, while improving the quality of care.


http://www.newsweek.com/obama-wastes-little-time-condemning-republicans-repeal-and-replace-obamacare-549289



damn I miss him.

[gademocrat7]

1. Words of wisdom from a real President.

[dalton99a]

2. +1

[manicraven]

3. They should just improve the ACA and not start from scratch or lie and stall.

[cilla4progress]

4. He's not gone!

In fact, he may be able to stake out some territory that being President didn't allow him!

Love to hear from him. Calms my anxiety.

[harun]

8. He could affect change in a big way.

[cilla4progress]

36. I've been thinking the same thing.

[stopbush]

5. My wife and I are on a Covered CA plan with Kaiser.

Yes, it's basically a catastrophic plan with a $4800 deductible for each of us. Yes, we pay full ride for doctor visits until that deductible is met. It's not the greatest.

But, consider our situation were Obamacare to go away: 62 years old, preexisting conditions (wife is a breast cancer survivor, I have afib), both self employed. In short, uninsurable at any cost and any level without the ACA.

[JustAnotherGen]

20. It can't go away

[gratuitous]

34. And you're precisely who could have been helped during the last six years

As the ACA went into effect, Republicans did nothing but snipe away at it. First, filed suit to overturn the mandatory Medicare expansion and Republican-controlled states wasted no time in turning down free money from the federal government to help their citizens. Then they connived with the Supreme Court to discover a heretofore unsuspected right of corporations to practice religion, and deny insurance coverage (having to do with birth control, but not Viagra - go figure) to their employees because of those corporations' deeply held religious beliefs. Republicans even filed suit to overturn the entire ACA because of one nomenclature inconsistency in the Act. Happily, that one failed to persuade the Supremes.

Anytime there's major legislation, it required amending in Congress and tweaking in the regulatory rules to make it work properly as unintended holes reveal themselves through the real world application of the law. Republicans blocked every effort to fix problems, preferring to try to get the courts to overturn the law when they knew they couldn't do it legislatively.

Now, here we are six years down the road. The ACA isn't working anywhere near as well as it could, but it does work for millions of people, and Republicans are finding out that their short-sighted obstructionist tactics have not delivered them from responsibility for the Act's shortcomings. Anyone who is not well served by the ACA probably is and certainly should be resentful about the Act's problems. I just hope they're mad at the right people: Republicans who sat idly by for six years and who don't appear to be in any big hurry to alleviate Americans' suffering even now.

[bravenak]

6. I miss O

[sheshe2]

9. "former" President Barack Obama...

[bravenak]

14. I know!!! This sucks!

[irisblue]

21. damn first time I've seen that in print.

wails and weeps

[sheshe2]

22. Me too iris. ;(

[irisblue]

23. I was sitting down so I didn't throw myself on the floor to roll around on the floor

HATE that phrase. Fuck the yam #Nevermypresident

[tavernier]

27. However

All U.S. presidents retain their title for life, so all former presidents are referred to as Mr. President or President [last name].
-----

So I will never refer to him as the former president.

[Raster]

28. Don't we all...

...He was such a gentleman and strived to make sure He and his Administration ALWAYS met or exceeded the standards for political decorum -at times to his own detriment, BECAUSE HE WAS DEALING WITH CONGRESSIONAL SCUMBAGS. The Big O set a high bar and it won't be easy for any President to measure up. tRump* is working on setting new low standards, and is doing remarkably well.

We know what we had. I sincerely hope some of those that demeaned and derided Obama realize just how good we really did have it. Fuckers.

[bravenak]

33. I hope the ODS folks are finally happy to have a real shitty prez

They wanted O to fail so bad that they sold the rest of us out

[Rustyeye77]

39. You ain't kidding.

He is/was total class.

[bdamomma]

7. ok guys

let's hit them back hard


OH YES WE CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yes, he can come back swinging now.

Where's my favourite VP??? Joe

[sheshe2]

10. Still My President!

[Rustyeye77]

24. Still my President too.

[sheshe2]

25. I miss him Rusty.

[Rustyeye77]

37. *YOU* miss him??

I'm still in mourning.

Would sure like to hear him again.

[VespertineIconoclast]

26. Same! n/t

[Raster]

29. Ditto.

[mopinko]

11. i had a very interesting conversation the other day w a hospice nurse.

to my surprise, she is a trumpkin. but she was forced to admit that the aca had had a large and positive impact on her work. it opened up avenues to better do her job by, among other things, compensating medical professionals for end of life counseling. this was huge in practice, tho little discussed except to make it sound like this was part of the death panels.

it also allowed changes in prescription drug laws that allowed for better pain control for the dying. as absurd as it sounds, they used to be severely limited in the use of opioids. now they are free to give real relief to those dying in searing pain. i have no doubt that this made a huge difference to patients, but also to the professionals who used to have to carry the weight of knowing that it was possible to take better care of the patients than what they were allowed to do.
it is such hard emotional work. he made it better for these people to do their job RIGHT.

also know my primary doc is very happy to offer more vaccines than in the past. many years ago, i travelled to india, and had to get several vaccinations before i went. at the time you had to go to a special "travel doctor" to get most of them.
i needed a second dose of one of those vaccines, and was surprised to find that it was now available in my own doc's office.

it really upsets me that people think of the aca just in terms of the exchanges, and individual policies, and the benefits it brought to the health of the american people through improving evidence based practices are deep dark secrets.

[flamingdem]

38. Excellent information regarding the deeper pros of ACA!

thank you mopinko

[Sunny05]

12. k and r nt

[Rustyeye77]

13. Missing him every day

http://media.crooksandliars.com/2017/01/35461.mp4_high.mp4

[Fast Walker 52]

15. Oh, so nice to have a sane, thoughtful president

instead of the demented demon child currently in office

[Rustyeye77]

16. Like one day HEAVEN...next day Hell.

[ailsagirl]

17. I know......

Back then, sanity prevailed

Today... well

[Rustyeye77]

18. The next time there is a mass shooting ( and there will be)

I hope they will ask O to talk and not ask dipshit.

[Bengus81]

19. The health care thing has kind of gone silent in the last week or so....

When the Trump lackeys in Congress found out you couldn't just shit can it and then worry about it some other year with many of their own breathing down their necks.

[Charles Bukowski]

30. Damn, I teared up reading this. Obama is no longer our president!

Even at the inaguaration it didn't hit me. Holy suppressed emotions, Batman.

[Cha]

31. Wow, someone who was just in Office who actually

cared for our country and her people.

Thank you, President Obama.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

32. New England Journal of Medicine?

What is that shit?

Come on, we all know a real president communicates by tweeting at 6 in the morning.

[malaise]

35. Until the professionals in all spheres wake up

and join the resistance, they will try to fool the people. But guess what - people are waking up - scientists, women, young folks - people are waking up. They will be stopped - this time they'd better be locked up.

[SoCalDem]

40. A costly lesson

If we had gone to single payer in 2009 (when we could have), by now there would be NO WAY anyone would want to dump it..

By trying to negotiate with republicans, we sold ourselves out and now we are where we are

Republicans are impossible "partners".. They always have been and always will be..

They are saboteurs

[Rustyeye77]

41. I totally agree.