“I believe that President Obama saved my life.”

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/28/154251/consumers-who-benefit-from-health.html

Consumers who benefit from health care law relish Supreme Court ruling

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/06/28/154251/consumers-who-benefit-from-health.html#storylink=cpy

Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2012

<snip>The pre-existing program has helped people like Marlys Cox of St. Petersburg, Fla., who contracted hepatitis C when she was 13 years old. In February, Cox, 57, paid for a mammogram and found out she had breast cancer. At the time she was uninsured.

“When I tried to go to the hospital, they all turned me away because I had no insurance and I am not below the poverty level,” she said. “They told me to go home and die. One suggested I go get hit by a car so I could be admitted to the emergency room.”

Now, Cox pays $376 a month for insurance, down from $1,100 a month.

“I never thought I would get to live a full life because of not having health insurance or not being able to afford it,” she said. “I believe that President Obama saved my life.”

[SidDithers]

1. DU rec...nt

Sid

[ProfessorGAC]

2. This Insurance Thing Is Such A "Well, Duh". . .

. . .that i cannot begin to understand why ANYONE, for ANY REASON would oppose it.

I get that most are selfish, in many cases stupid or blithely ignorant, and in all cases intractably partisan. But, this seems like one of those things that so obviously benefit all, that i can't put myself in the mindset of the opposition no matter how hard i try.
GAC

[dionysus]

5. well, some think that we could have had single payer implemented by now if not for obama.

somethink if the ACA is struck down, this will quickly usher in single payer.


the people who thinkthis may be well intentioned, or they may be just stirring the outrage pot, but either way, they ignor the fact that as it stands, we never had the votes for a public option, let alone single payer.

and as if the supreme court striking down the ACA would make the republicans vote for anything better...

[dkf]

6. All we did was pile more people into an inefficient and unsustainable system.

We are frogs in the boiling water and it's only going to get worse, sucking more and more of our resources into health care.

On an individual level maybe it helps some. On a society wide level, it just prolongs the wait for a better system that makes sense.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Some Data Would Help Your Argument

Right now, it's merely conjecture. You may hate the current system, but saying it can only get worse without evidence and data to support the conclusions just looks like being so entrenched in a current position that nothing matters.
GAC

[dkf]

11. Here you go.

For 2011–13, US health spending is projected to grow at 4.0 percent, on average—slightly above the historically low growth rate of 3.8 percent in 2009. Preliminary data suggest that growth in consumers’ use of health services remained slow in 2011, and this pattern is expected to continue this year and next. In 2014, health spending growth is expected to accelerate to 7.4 percent as the major coverage expansions from the Affordable Care Act begin. For 2011 through 2021, national health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.7 percent annually, which would be 0.9 percentage point faster than the expected annual increase in the gross domestic product during this period. By 2021, federal, state, and local government health care spending is projected to be nearly 50 percent of national health expenditures, up from 46 percent in 2011, with federal spending accounting for about two-thirds of the total government share. Rising government spending on health care is expected to be driven by faster growth in Medicare enrollment, expanded Medicaid coverage, and the introduction of premium and cost-sharing subsidies for health insurance exchange plans.

http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2012/06/11/hlthaff.2012.0404.abstract

The growth rate of health care exceeding normal inflation is often cited in studies on the impact of inflation on the elderly as more of their expenses are health related. You often see this in discussions of CPI-W which is used for social security.

Cited here: Health care costs have consistently risen more rapidly than the average price level. Between December 1982 and December 2009, the CPI-W increased at an annual rate of 2.9% compared with a 5.2% rate of increase for the medical care component of the CPI-W. Because the elderly consume a greater than average share of a good whose price has tended to rise faster than overall prices, the CPI-W may tend to understate the inflation experience of the average elderly household.

http://aging.senate.gov/crs/aging9.pdf

[GarroHorus]

7. Some people have to feel like they are above others.

Some people have insurance and feel like if somebody else cannot afford it, too bad. Let them die. I've got mine they should get theirs on their own.

Some people are sociopaths, in other words.

[tanyev]

3. It doesn't matter what you might come up with to get admitted to an ER,

they're STILL not going to treat breast cancer there. Geez.

[catbyte]

4. Problem is, mean teabaggers don't give a damn about her

and can't see past their own selfishness and mean-spiritedness. I hope there are enough people of goodwill in the country to counteract this cancer of the spirit. You can't believe the attacks I got on another site when I said I hoped the ACA was upheld. Otherwise, my husband of 28 years & I would have had to divorce because he'd reached our lifetime benefits cap. They told me I should have married better and it was my own fault for marrying a diabetic. They wrote they hoped he died soon because it would probably end up costing them money if he lived. It was despicable. I was actually stunned. I usually don't waste my time hating, but I hate them. I also hope they get a catastrophic illness and I NEVER wish that on people, but I wish it on them.

For me, though, I am very happy for Ms. Cox and her family.

Diane
Anishinaabe in MI & mom to Taz, Nigel, and new baby brother Petey, members of Dogs Against Romney, Cat Division
"Dogs Aren’t Luggage--HISS!”

[LynneSin]

8. Well they did at one time

Back when she was a fetus she was extremely important!

[SunSeeker]

10. And I believe President Obama saved my brother's life.

By compromising to get this ACA through past the blue dogs, we finally got something that covers people like my brother. He's too young for medicare, makes too much in his low-wage job to be eligible for assistance, and has a pre-existing condition regardless. Come 2014, he will have health insurance for the first time in his adult life--and can finally get treatment for his medical problems that he has been ignoring and would have eventually killed him.

Now, we need to support Obama to make sure he gets re-elected so that this actually happens in 2014.

[Romulox]

12. Just remember: Insurers will get their cut before ANY lives are saved. That's how it works. nt