Bill Clinton slams ObamaCare: 'It’s the craziest thing in the world'

[LovingA2andMI]

Source: The Hill

Former President Bill Clinton steamrolled President Obama’s signature healthcare law at a rally, calling it “the craziest thing in the world.”

Speaking Monday in Flint, Mich., Clinton blasted the core principles of ObamaCare as unworkable as he pitched a new system that would allow people to buy into Medicare or Medicaid.

“You’ve got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” Clinton said.

“It’s the craziest thing in the world,” he said.

Clinton’s remarks while campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, run in direct contrast to her previous promises to build on ObamaCare.

Read more: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/299130-bill-clinton-slams-obamacare

---

Well, that did not take long or either letting Bill on the Campaign trail end with the result of Bill's "Real Feelings" coming out. Who knows....

[OKNancy]

1. discussion already here

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/12512466259

Edit: although I agree with him and what he said is true, perhaps he shouldn't have said it.
However, haters won't get any satisfaction from this one day story.

[Chakab]

25. "Perhaps he shouldn't have said it."

Why would you say that? It's not like there's a Presidential election going in which his wife is running on preserving Obama's legacy as one of the central planks of her campaign platform.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. I'm pretty sure he didn't say "all of the sudden"

As for the rest, well... public option is a great idea and I'm glad that her trusted advisers are pushing it.

[Schema Thing]

13. "all of the sudden...." sounds very much like BC.

[George II]

3. Bill Clinton's campaign addresses generally are about 45 minutes to an hour....

....I'd like to see what he said before and after that 31 second segment.

Leave it to the anti-Clinton "the Hill" to pull a stunt like this.

[Divine Discontent]

4. Medicare for All!

Bill is getting a little fuzzy on what he should be saying (or knows exactly, lol, what he's saying and to who) but nonetheless, the policy that we need is Universal Healthcare, funded by taxing rich people like Trump who have tax policies written to benefit them. Time to take away their BS deduction methods and raise the top effective rate a few points.

[rainy]

5. He's right, It was a republican idea and all we could get past. A give away to insurance companies

who could do whatever they wanted.

[Auggie]

19. +1,000,000. Give us Single Payer!

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

6. He could have chose better words, but it does need to be fixed...

My own daughter, a single mother working full time could not afford the cost of Obamacare and the plans really are not that good. Paying for medicaid or medicare on a sliding scale would be more affordable and provide much better coverage.

[ananda]

9. True.

He's right, but he sure coulda said it better!

[saidsimplesimon]

7. k&r

"It's the craziest thing in the world."? Do we need any unforced errors of judgment or controversies from party leaders? Bill, please get on message.

For the record, I do and have always supported medicare for all. Perhaps this is where Former President Clinton was headed?

[LovingA2andMI]

20. Bingo!

And this "slip of the tongue" was covered on CNN during the Noon hour.

[saidsimplesimon]

24. Maybe my lucky day

HGTV has a fantastic craftsman in A2 up for a drawing. I will take this as a sign to drive up the traffic which will give me less chance of winning a dream home. big grin here, sorry if off topic

[Kathy M]

55. I have supported medicare for all also .....

Have not read all the articles on this speech , read an earlier one before cutting the grass . while cutting the grass I thought that his wording was done on purpose ..... sure does put healthcare front and center , which I am glad about

[whatthehey]

8. His proposals ARE building on it, and what it should have been from the start

[jalan48]

10. He's right. A single payer type of system is a better one.

What will happen to big insurance industry profits though?

[karynnj]

14. Bernie said in 2009, that there were about 10 votes in the Senate for single payer

They needed and still need 60. Not to mention, many of the people that Bernie likely counted are gone - including Kennedy, Kerry, Harkin, Dodd ... and while the replacement MA senators are likely also on board, we know for sure Harkin's replacement isn't.

[jalan48]

15. My mistake. I thought that was what Bill was advocating for.

[Laser102]

12. He's right! The insurance companies need to be stopped. Doubling premiums, threatening to

pull out of the exchange, etc, etc. We should have gone with the public health option from the beginning. That would cut out the middle man and reduce the cash outlay of every person. It's bizarre we allow these entities to set the prices of medical care.

[The Wizard]

52. There's no public option because

insurance lobbyists bribed enough legislators to take it out of the equation. By foregoing the public option Democrats alienated their base and as such lost the House in 2010. Democrats have to demand a public option as the most effective way to drive down costs and provide real competition with the crooked insurance industry lobby.
Bribery doesn't cost it pays.

[Old Vet]

16. Come on Bill, You know you could of waited until after november for this speech.......

Your giving the republicans another commercial.

[Kathy M]

56. I think it was actually good timing .... plus with his wording it got a lot of press

Healthcare needs to be front and center something that we can vote for and work towards .

[truthisfreedom]

17. Whatever fixes it is fine with me!

It's not what Obama wanted to begin with. It's a frankenstein monster.

[question everything]

18. I find myself fortunate that the ACA came on board just as I moved to Medicare

For about 15 years I had a single policy. Yes, it was more expensive that the contribution - then - to an employer sponsored program, but was cheaper than COBRA payments when both of us changed employers and programs often.

Thus, during one of those changes I thought that as long as I was relatively young and healthy I should have one. I had a "Blue" and was very satisfied.

I don't think that I would be able to afford any of these now.

I always thought, still thinks, that employers do not belong in the healthcare business (well, except when they are in the healthcare business, duh..)

I thought if all of us were forced to choose our own policies, before pre-existing conditions developed, this would, in turn, force the insurance companies to cater to us. And, perhaps, eventually, most would vote for a single payer - supported by a special tax - as an alternative.

And, yes, I agreed with the earlier critics that most of us do not need maternity and pediatrics coverage every year of our lives.

What I still don't understand is that many health insurance companies embraced ACA - would bring more customers - but now they abandon it in droves.

Hillary should show courage and admit that the ACA needs some changes, now that it was tested in real life.

Certainly even the Republicans in Congress would like to keep the three major benefits: keep kids on parents policies until they are 26, eliminating pre-existing conditions to deny coverage, and eliminate the cap on policies.

[riversedge]

21. read the rest of the story. Also Hillary has

advocated for fixes to the aca.



.....Bill Clinton’s spokesman Angel Urena defended the comments in a statement, arguing that parts were “taken out of context.”

“President Clinton spoke about the importance of the Affordable Care Act and the good it has done to expand coverage for millions of Americans,” Urena said. “And while he was slightly short-handed, it's clear to everyone, including President Obama, that improvements are needed.”

Clinton’s campaign has also sought to downplay the remarks, pointing to some ObamaCare criticism by Obama himself this week, when he described “real problems” with the law, such as the still-shaky insurance marketplace and the need for bigger subsidies.

Bill Clinton, whose own attempts at broad healthcare reform failed during his presidency in the 1990s, suggested on Monday that he supported an entirely new approach.

[Kathy M]

57. +1

[elmac]

22. Any for profit health care is doomed to fail

Medicaid expansion has helped many thousands of Americans and is the only part of ACA that may survive but involving insurance companies is and always has been a bad idea. I don't think ACA as it stands will survive but a single payer option will be the only fix.

[yallerdawg]

23. Seeing Obama rudely yelling at Clinton from the airplane...

should remind us there is no love lost between these two.

[DawgHouse]

27. Rudely? I'm confused. I didn't think it was rude at all.

Did I miss something?

[yallerdawg]

28. If you saw the video footage, you didn't miss anything.

If you don't think that was rude, then we have different definitions of decorum and diplomacy.

[cstanleytech]

29. It looked far more amusing than it looked rude but that is just my opinion *shrug*

[progree]

32. I thought it was good-natured too. eom

[moonscape]

35. That's how I saw it too. Clinton is famous for being late, and if anyone

was being rude it was Clinton by not respecting other people's time and schedule. He was a guest ...

I'd imagine they have running jokes about this - looked like affectionate prodding to me.

[yallerdawg]

37. I won't be riding with Obama to any funerals.

If Clinton didn't look a little pissed with that WTF gesture - and during all the yelling more and more people boarded - including after Clinton boarded the plane - I repeat - no love lost between these two.

This is in public - after a state funeral!

I expect better from Obama.

[cstanleytech]

39. Because he wanted to get going but he doesnt appear to me to be behaving in a rude manner

to Bill rather it was of a joking and prodding manner.

[yallerdawg]

40. Shaking his head and clapping his hands like calling a child or a dog?

Are you sure Bill Clinton didn't take offense?

“You’ve got this crazy system where all the sudden 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half,” Clinton said.

“It’s the craziest thing in the world,” he said.

[cstanleytech]

41. There is no way to be 100% certain but nonetheless I am willing to wager that he

didnt do it to be rude and Bills criticism of Obamacare is fine as well because we all know that the current health care program isnt as good as it could be because the Republicans refused to work with the Democrats in finding a better solution.

[True Dough]

59. Even if they're not the best of buddies

That was a warm greeting after Obama was ribbing Bill as Bill was slowly making his way up the stairs. They shook hands enthusiastically and patted each other on the back. I sure don't get any sense of ill will.

[yallerdawg]

60. I guess we see what we want to see.

I guess a 70 year old with a history of heart disease who just buried his friend Shimon Peres is due a little ribbing about how slow he is.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

45. that was not at all rude.

[yallerdawg]

54. For me...

it is the definition of rude - "offensively impolite or ill-mannered."

I would never in a million years have expected Obama to act like that. That's why I say again, there remains some bad blood between these two.

[Kathy M]

58. No , I do not believe there is any bad blood between the two ......

I will go as far as to say Obama knew what Clinton was going to say today . Maybe not exact words but general idea .....

[LovingA2andMI]

61. What The Hell?

Rudely Yelling?

[loudsue]

26. I love it! Bill sounding like Bernie!!

I feel the same way! I love Obama. However, he DID meet with the insurance companies TO THE EXCLUSION of the liberals, when he was gearing up for the ACA. I think he knew he needed them onboard to at least get his toe in the door with the other side.

[TonyPDX]

30. If the solution is Single Payer, count me in!

If it's some convoluted triangulation that enables business to write laws and run everything, I'm not with you, Bill.

Fool me once . . .

[SunSeeker]

31. It may be the craziest thing in the world, but it is saving thousands of lives every year.

45,000 Americans were dying each year for lack of healthcare coverage before Obamacare. We could not continue to wait for perfection.

[TCJ70]

33. That's OK...Hillary is going to get the same people that voted uncountable time to repeal it...

...to IMPROVE it!

[kacekwl]

34. I hope this is a urgent

priority in the Hillary white house because it is crazy.

[MadDAsHell]

36. He's absolutely right. The President doubled down on a system he himself said was broken.

The law did some good things, but we ought to be embarrassed as a party that our President not only broke his promise, but actually further entrenched the employer-based system he said was the problem.

But that's the world we live in today: up is down, left is right, and wrong is right.

[AlbertCat]

38. Well....

The ACA is health care insurance reform

Not health care reform.

[Hugin]

42. Good article, terrible headline.

But, maybe the intent of which was to get the conservatives to click-on it to the article.

I'm sure this has already been worked out with President Obama and is part of the plan. It dovetails with what Senator Sanders and others have advocated recently and also with HRC's original health care work in the early '90s.

It's all good.

[freebrew]

43. No...

the craziest thing done to healthcare was what * and friends did to Medicare.

As for Obamacare, it was screwed by the courts and Rs from day one even though they loved rMoneycare.

Go figure.

[happynewyear]

46. Thank you for saying what needs to be said Pres. Clinton!

Glad to see him address the reality of the ACA! I am so glad to see this that I this has convinced me to vote for Hillary Clinton for president of the USA!



and recommend!!

[rumdude]

47. Craziest thing in the world?

Come on man, the craziest thing in the world right now is ISIS.

[Mamajami]

48. Chill! Some of you just don't understand three dimensional political chess.

Bill is giving Hillary some daylight with this and getting people who have been brainwashed to against it to understand that Hillary will fix it. His statements give her the chance she needed to talk about it in a way that will help her with the votes.

[geretogo]

49. As long as corporate lobbyists own 95% of the corporate whores called " representatives " in the

House and Senate , Medicare for all is just a dream .

[OKNancy]

50. update... and of course there is more to the story

https://thinkprogress.org/bill-clinton-obamacare-craziest-thing-in-the-world-5aaa5f101787#.ydpa5hpv7

[Motley13]

51. Bill, go to your room & do not come out until I say you can, signed Hill

He cost her the 2008 election, is he going to do it again?

[Joey Liberal]

53. He is correct

Although ObamaCare was well intended, it did result in my own insurance going from good to bad. Universal Healthcare is the answer.

[Blue_Tires]

63. I'll reserve judgement until I see the full context of his comment