Obamacare Drives Uninsured Rate To Lowest On Record

[Cali_Democrat]

Source: Huffington Post

The percentage of Americans without health insurance fell to a new low in recent months, according to the results of a Gallup poll released Thursday.

Specifically, the uninsured rate fell to 13.4 percent in the second quarter of 2014. That's down from its peak of 18 percent in the third quarter of last year, and it's the lowest quarterly average that Gallup has seen since it began tracking this type of data in 2008.

The percentage of uninsured Americans has fallen steadily since the beginning of Obamacare's open enrollment period for buying insurance in October. President Obama's health law mandates that nearly all Americans either have health insurance or pay a fine.



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/uninsured-rate-gallup-new-low_n_5575196.html

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THIS is why the GOP desperately wanted to kill Obamacare in its infancy.

[Andy823]

1. And it will only get worse

For the GOP that is. Obamacare is the foundation for universal health care, and the GOP know this. They don't want to see that happen, but the more people who get covered, the harder it is going to be for republicans to take this away from the people. It's like SS and medicare, they hated both of them, they fought and did everything they could to demonize them, but now there isn't a republican on the two that wouldn't have a fit if the GOP tried to take them away. The same thing will happen with Obamacare.

The GOP is so out of touch with real people they continue to do their best to destroy the country, and then they think people will vote them back into office. Well there are the brain dead basset who will continue to vote for the until the die, but more and more independents and republicans are starting to see the truth about what is happening, and just who is responsible, and the GOP is going to be in big trouble as long as they continue down the path they are on now.

[freshwest]

3. Yes, despite the hysteria and misinformation, they saw it coming. Now GOTV!

[Doctor_J]

10. it is not the foundation for uhc

It set uhc back by twenty years or so

[Cali_Democrat]

27. Bernie Sanders on the Affordable Care Act:

Bernie wrote this the day the Supreme Court upheld the law:


The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Bernie Sanders welcomed the ruling. "Today is a good day for millions of Americans who have pre-existing conditions who can no longer be rejected by insurance companies. It is a good day for families with children under 26 who can keep their children on their health insurance policies. It is a good day for women who can no longer be charged far higher premiums than men.

"It is a good day for 30 million uninsured Americans who will have access to healthcare. It is a good day for seniors who will continue to see their prescription drug costs go down as the so-called doughnut hole goes away. It is a good day for small businesses who simply cannot continue to afford the escalating costs of providing insurance for their employees. It is a good day for 20 million Americans who will soon be able to find access to community health centers.

"It is an especially good day for the state of Vermont, which stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional federal funds to help our state achieve universal health care.

"In my view, while the Affordable Care Act is an important step in the right direction and I am glad that the Supreme Court upheld it, we ultimately need to do better. If we are serious about providing high-quality, affordable healthcare as a right, not a privilege, the real solution to America's health care crisis is a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system. Until then, we will remain the only major nation that does not provide health care for every man, woman and child as a right of citizenship.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/recent-business/a-good-day

Is the ACA perfect?

Hell no. Single-payer should be the goal.

But the ACA is an important step in the right direction. Progress is not about taking your ball and going home when you don't get your way. Progress is about making progress.

That's why Bernie Sanders is a Progressive.

[Doctor_J]

28. it is a step in the wrong direction

A step in the right direction would have been a public option and/or lowering the Medicare age to 60. You know, moving some people out of the clutches of big insurance. Instead everyone now is a paying customer. And as we have seen, 30 million is three times as as many as what are actually being helped.

One of the biggest problems we have is when people are fed chicken shit sandwiches and jump for joy and call it chicken salad. This pretty much guarantees you're going to keep getting chicken shit.

[Cali_Democrat]

29. Ya...why would Bernie vote for and praise the law anyway?

What does he know, right?

[Doctor_J]

30. ah, the last resort when you run out of logic. right on schedule

Bernie complained vigorously during Obama's cave in. I know that the BOG only recalls and quotes facts that are flattening to the president, but the others are facts nonetheless. And since you abandoned the discussion and fell back on a false congering of history, I'll take it that you are unable to rebut the truth.

[Cali_Democrat]

31. That was the only thing that was missing....

your reference to...the BOG!!

If you're gonna disparage the ACA, you might not want to run around with the avatar of someone who voted for it and praised it.

Just a thought...

[BenzoDia]

32. Lol!

[Cali_Democrat]

33. Ya...in the article I posted...

Bernie himself said the ACA helps achieve universal healthcare:

"It is an especially good day for the state of Vermont, which stands to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in additional federal funds to help our state achieve universal health care.

But....BOG!!!!

[BenzoDia]

34. I still don't understand why people don't understand how the law works.

The intent, as your post illustrates, is quite clear.

[Nye Bevan]

36. LOL, and Bernie is completely right on this one.

The ACA is indeed a huge step towards single payer. When insurance companies have to accept anyone who applies, and policies are standardized by law, it is increasingly obvious that the insurance companies serve no real purpose and are only an extra layer of bureaucracy and expense that should be eliminated.

[Tarheel_Dem]

2. This is excellent news for the country, and for "Democrats".

[ErikJ]

4. It would be even lower if GOP states would expand ACA Medicaid

coverage, which would cost them NOTHING. Probably at least 5% lower?

[iandhr]

5. Not just the GOP.

Many people here think this doesn't matter because it wasn't single payer.

[Andy823]

7. True but

Those people "NEVER" think the president does "anything" good, all they can say is how bad a job he is doing, no matter what the facts show.

[Mr.Bill]

6. There going to regret calling it Obamacare.

I hope that term sticks for 100 years or more.

Whenever I talk to Republican Seniors and the topic of Medicare comes up, I call it Johnsoncare. and I call their Social Security checks Roosevelt Security.

[redstatebluegirl]

24. I love that idea!

I will be using that when talking to the right wing nut jobs I encounter here. They spit out Obamacare like they are saying a swear word in church.

[Psephos]

8. Yet it has left me uninsured.

My formerly awesome county health plan was dropped.

I am now my own doctor.

[Doctor_J]

11. look at the bright side

Those healthcare stocks you invested in are at an all-time high.

Sorry psephos. As I feared, Heritage Care has now been anointed by former dems as the most wonderful system ever. LBJ is spinning in his grave.

[Psephos]

12. lol I wish I had some

Not happening, sad to say...

Meanwhile, you're spot-on in your observations.

[WillyT]

9. K & R !!!

[mitty14u2]

13. 20 Million Americans Get Insurance Under Obamacare, Report Says

20 Million New Voters Vote Out GOP Against ObamaCare



About 20 million Americans have gained health insurance or enrolled in new insurance under the health care reform law, according to a new report.

The report from the Commonwealth Fund, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, credits President Barack Obama’s health reform law with an estimated 20 million enrollments as of May 1.

The report looks at both people who gained coverage through insurance marketplaces, and people who gained coverage due to provisions in the Affordable Care Act (such as those qualifying for Medicaid and those now covered through the Children’s Health Insurance Program).

http://time.com/#2950961/obamacare-health-care-obama/

Republican Governors have to go, Vote Them OUT, to get insurance for the Middle Class and Poor people need to Vote in the Mid Term to resolve this issue, Run On OBAMACARE, just ask Kentuckians, Kentucky's success makes a mockery of GOP Obamacare foes

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/03/1243855/-Kentucky-s-success-makes-a-mockery-of-GOP-Obamacare-foes

[CTyankee]

14. Yeah, MIka B. was reading that story today on Morning Joe. Scar got a pained look on his

face...she was stickin' it to him about his dire predictions that Obamacare was gonna be a total failure...heh, heh...

[1StrongBlackMan]

16. It is ...

just look a couple posts up!

[hrmjustin]

15. K&R!

[Peacetrain]

17. Alrighty now.. this is turning out to be a great couple of weeks for Democrats

Deficits down, surpluses up, jobs up, jobless rate declining to 6.1 , jobs all across the spectrum increasing, ... somewhere heads are exploding..

[Maedhros]

18. While greater coverage is good, the real test of the ACA is affordability.

Will all those newly-covered individuals be able to pay for the care they need when a catastrophic medical condition occurs?

We won't know if the ACA is successful until the medical bankruptcy rate drops, which won't show up for a few years.

[Gormy Cuss]

19. Yep, that's also an important test

But lowering the number of uninsured is a good start.

[dflprincess]

20. Many won't be able to afford medical

Not as long as huge annual out of pockets are allowed.

There was a story on the local news last night about a family whose infant has a rare condition. Chances are the little guy won't live a year though there are slim odds he could make it to five.

They are holding fundraisers to cover medical expenses not covered by the insurance.

And fundraisers for medical bills remain an uniquely American thing.

[hibbing]

22. Fundraisers

Yes, it always rather bizarre and disheartening to see all the stories about fundraisers for medical bills. The priorities in this country are so screwed up. I have been reading a lot about this new generation of fighter jet, the cost is astronomical.

Peace

[Maedhros]

41. Our European friends are baffled by the concept of "medical bankruptcy." [n/t]

[Uben]

21. FOXNEWS, I can see it now......

...".ObamaCare hits new low!"

[Sunlei]

23. Excellent. MyACA Humana ins. Did NOT send bill.

I went with paper billing to test the Humana insurance.

Many Americans do not have access to computers and they use the paper billing system.

This month no bill arrived in my mail.

A huge corporation like Humana should not make these kind of errors. To send a simple paper monthly bill statement is not rocket science.

[BenzoDia]

25. Many people besides the GOP should be feeling quite silly right now.

It takes a special kind of person to pray for the failure of something that helps people.

[zeemike]

26. With 13.4 million to go...

A drop of one million in 5 years...some quick math says that is about 6 or 7%...at a cost of how many billion?...
And the 13 million we have left to go cannot afford any HCP no matter how good a deal it is...so it will take a lot longer to bring them in...if ever.
And as has been pointed out, the proof is when they need the care and the bill comes due...

So i doubt this is as great a boost for Democrats as some might think.

Few Americans Say Healthcare Law Has Helped Them

Those with new insurance policies in 2014 more likely to have positive views

May 29, 2014

Most Americans say the Affordable Care Act has had no impact on their healthcare situation, but those who do perceive an effect continue to be more likely to say it has hurt their family's healthcare situation rather than helped.

More ...http://www.gallup.com/tag/healthcare.aspx

[tabasco]

35. I'm sure this is bad news

on DU.

[flamingdem]

37. That rooooccccckkkkss

good news!

[PatrickforO]

38. Obamacare is an important first step.

And it is definitely better than nothing. Still, I have never understood why the Dems, when they had both houses and the White House, didn't just extend Medicare coverage to all Americans. That would have been SO sensible.

I have quite a few friends who benefitted from the provisions in Obamacare, though. They kept their kids on their insurance, or if they got laid off they didn't have to pay out the nose for Cobra, but were able to get Medicaid.

Looking at this chart, 18% of 310 million people is 55.8 million people uninsured in the third quarter of 2013. That was the apex. Now, we are down to 13.4%, which means 41.5 million are still uninsured.

That's a bit lower, true. Unfortunately, what can (and should) be said about Obamacare is that it is a market based model originally conceived by the Heritage Foundation; as such it can be seen as a giant welfare program for insurance companies, whose fiduciary responsibility is STILL to shareholders, NOT to ensure that patients have the best and most complete care that is possible. I don't know about you, but the healthcare I get through my employer is still rationed, and the quality of care you get is STILL based on your ability to pay instead of your need.

What made universal healthcare a moral argument was just that: the inherent conflict of interest for insurance companies as the third payer for healthcare. Still profit (or retained earnings) over people in the final analysis.

One other thing, looking at this line graph. In 2008, we average 14.8% not having coverage. Republican fearmongering drove that percentage up and up and up as we saw the evil, loathsome propaganda campaign unleashed by the equally evil and loathsome Koch brothers about how evil Obamacare is, how it won't work, how people will die, etc.

So the Dems wimped out in not instituting a single payer system, but the evil the Republicans have shown is unconscionable. How is more Americans having access to healthcare a BAD thing? And the Dems have also wimped out in not trumpeting the successes and fighting this propaganda line by line. Witness the people in KY, who do not 'like' Obamacare, but love their state system, which IS Obamacare. WHY DO THE DEMS NOT ENSURE THEY KNOW THIS???

[MADem]

39. Holy SHIT...and this is GALLUP!!! They always skew things three to five percent in favor of the GOP!

This is a big deal!!!

You're right--this is why they wanted to kill it!

[craigmatic]

40. This is great but it's Obama's legacy. It does nothing to help us in the midterms.