S04.E03: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

[Athena]

Quote

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Republican replacement proposals

 

[Jediknight]

John should have mentioned that Obamacare is the Republican plan.  It's Romney's plan, Obama had to compromise because he wanted the same thing that the Democrats have wanted for decades, he wanted Universal Healthcare.  Heck, he should have mentioned it after the Trump clip.  The Republicans have 3 options, repeal Obamacare and replace it with either nothing or something terrible, and face the wrath of the public, keep Obamacare which would be admitting Obama had a good plan and they can't come up with anything, or do what the Democrats have been calling for since FDR but the Republicans have blocked them.

[dusang]

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the long segments from the LWT YouTube channel?  When I go to the channel itself I can't find the videos for this season at all and when there are links to the content it comes up as "Video not available"  It's usually available from other, non-official channels but I'm a bit ... weirded out by the seeming LWT blackout.

[meowmommy]

OMG that goat guy is my fucking Congresscritter.  No, I didn't vote for him.

[It's painful for me to consider the ACA issue in the context of my current situation.  I have been out of work since June, and I was dinged on my taxes to the tune of almost $900 for not having insurance.  (The alternative was paying about $1000 a month in premiums for a plan that covers nothing.)  I really liked having to give up three weeks of unemployment checks to pay for other people to have coverage.  And I'm still out of work, and UE is only 14 weeks here in GA, so I was going to cash out just enough of my IRA to meet the minimum income requirements, after I pass 59 1/2 in April.  So I signed up, but then they required me to submit proof of income to get the subsidy, which of course I can't do.  So I called the ACA number and was told that I was committing fraud by reporting income I wasn't currently receiving.] 

All of a sudden people care about ACA and are angry with the people they just fucking elected.  What exactly is different from what they knew prior to November 8?

Plans for someone my age cost about $12K/year.  I always contributed to HSAs when I was working, but it was a tax deduction, not a tax credit.  What good is an HSA for someone who has no income?  

I wouldn't have picked a lobster.  A leech, a paramecium, a Venus fly-trap, maybe.

Edited February 27, 2017 by meowmommy

[ganesh]

I don't "detest" that the ACA is called Obamacare, but I do agree that it calling it Obamacare turns people off for no other reason than "whatever Obama does is bad." *eyeroll*

2 minutes ago, meowmommy said:

All of a sudden people care about ACA and are angry with the people they just fucking elected.  

This is really fundamental to the issue, and I would have liked Jon to have hammered this more. Oh, you didn't think electing Trump was going to affect *you*? You just wanted to stick it to Obama? 

I think the clip about the guy screaming about death panels was important. There's people who don't even know the ACA = Obamacare, which I think is worse. 

[scarynikki12]

I think this was a good introductory episode for in depth ACA examination.  I don't know if Ollie will revisit it, but I hope he does because there's A LOT more to talk about.  In particular, I'd like to see him examine the areas it can improve and the difficulties in attaining those improvements. 

That newscaster and his name drops was great.  I'm sure we'll see more from him.

[Hanahope]

I liked that Ollie actually went through each of the Republican proposals for health insurance, noting that each and every one of them does absolutely bupkis for poor people.  Frankly, I'm not so sure they'll do much for middle-class people either.  If poor is defined as one paycheck (or less) away from poverty, most middle class people I know are probably 3 paychecks away.  That's still not enough extra cash to afford to put all that much into HSAs, afford a half-way decent plan, or pay for healthcare outright.  

The vast majority of people can probably barely get by as long as they are healthy, but one heart attack, diabetes diagnosis, or herniated disc, let alone cancer and so much for affording the treatments/medication.  Even getting pregnant is expensive, as giving birth in a hospital can run upto $10,000 or more for two days (which is why health insurance for young women is usually several times more expensive than for young men - another reason the "subsidy/voucher' is useless for women).

And its annoying that Reps totally got away with that 'death panel' bullshit without any repercussions.  

I truly hope that those people going to townhalls and expressing their support of the ACA and disapproval of the Reps threats to repeal it, are more than just Dems, or those that didn't vote Trump.

And what will Trump do if the Reps do pass some health care bill that doesn't do what Trump said he wanted to do with healthcare?  Will he rubber stamp it anyway?

Wanted to add, I had never heard of health care weighing a baby to decide whether or not to offer health insurance.  That's seriously fucked up.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Hanahope

[iMonrey]

Excellent piece on the ACA. Wonderful analogy of health savings accounts as fancy piggy banks in case you ever have any money. Look - obviously the Republican go-to is always tax breaks or tax credits, because by and large, Republican politicians are rich. And when you have a lot of money, you spend a lot of time obsessing over your tax returns, and finding ways to shelter all your money from taxes. And when you're that insulated from the rest of the world, you apparently begin to believe everyone else sees tax breaks as the same kind of windfall that you do. And if there are people who don't even make enough money to file a federal return you don't even consider it worthwhile to consider them. You're more likely thinking about some All-American white nuclear family with four kids and a nice house in the suburbs because that's your voting base and that's what you think "real America" is. 

This is really what I want people like John Oliver to hammer home, over and over. That the answer from Republicans is always tax breaks and tax credits.

[Danny Franks]

Yeah, so following on from the Putin conversation, this is how John can do political topics without really talking about the orange idiot. His only contribution was a fatuous, empty bit of rhetoric that he has no intention of honouring. There's plenty of Republican criminality and reprehensible behaviour to go around.

This is great, informative television. He broke down everything in the ACA, including the shortcomings, and laid it out simply enough for anyone to understand. And he highlighted Republican obstruction and militance against the ACA, and their constant attempts to gut it of value. They've had eight years to come up with a replacement, and have nothing. And the truth there is, they don't want to replace it. They want to get rid of it and let insurance companies fleece those who can afford it, while everyone else just quietly dies.

The Republican 'ideas' are just empty sops, thrown out to keep people quiet. As John pointed out, the refundable tax credits floated are not going to pay for anyone's insurance, and health savings accounts aren't even disguising the 'if you can't afford it, go die' mantra.

How can anyone vote for these people? It is utterly baffling. They are actively working to hurt people, to kill people. People in their own constituencies. And they're doing it because it fits their ideology to let people die rather than help them. They're monsters. The big question is, how many of these outraged people who still hate the name 'Obamacare' will actually change their votes in the future, to get rid of the selfish bastards they've helped elect? Ryan and his objectivist bullshit needs to be thrown out of office, along with all his cronies.

If there's any episode of this show that should be required viewing for Americans right now, it's this. If it convinces even a few thousand to stop voting against their own interests, it will be the best thing John has done.

[Traveller519]

One thing he didn't highlight, witht he Obamacare name, was that it was the opponents who insisted on calling it that in order to tie the man to what they perceived was going to be highly unpopular legislation. Either, "Obama is forcing this on you!" or "How can it be good, it's come from Obama?" Now you get that lady who loves her coverage but hates that it's named after Obama. 

Of course if the Republicans do come out with a widely popular plan and it gets nicknamed Trumpcare or Ryancare, I suspect you'd see some equal disgust from the other side.

[Danny Franks]

22 minutes ago, Traveller519 said:

One thing he didn't highlight, witht he Obamacare name, was that it was the opponents who insisted on calling it that in order to tie the man to what they perceived was going to be highly unpopular legislation. Either, "Obama is forcing this on you!" or "How can it be good, it's come from Obama?" Now you get that lady who loves her coverage but hates that it's named after Obama. 

Of course if the Republicans do come out with a widely popular plan and it gets nicknamed Trumpcare or Ryancare, I suspect you'd see some equal disgust from the other side.

Yes. The Republicans (and right wingers in general) are experts at playing on the fears of people, and appropriating words for their own ends. Obamacare was a way of smearing both the ACA and Obama himself, and the GOP supporting news outlets hammered it home, again and again, that both the act and the man were dangerous enemies.

If I had an act of law passed that helped me in a significant way, I honestly wouldn't even care if it was called Maggie Thatcher's Patented Individual Assistance Act.

[attica]

I appreciate that JO still refers to Spicer as Melissa McCarthy. Because we know that's a burn what's gonna leave a mark.

[jbrecken]

I got to go with Mike.  

 

Also, I'd think the obvious solution to healthcare would be for some GOP guy to propose a plan that's "like Obamacare, but with no death panels."

[Victor the Crab]

I'm surprised that that Bill Akins douche didn't get severely gang beaten for being a lying ass condescending disdainful bag of shit to that audience. He was certainly deserving of one.

Think that weatherman noticed Ollie was mocking him for his off script comments that mean jack shit? This is the second time he's appeared on the show.

I was actually thinking of a different crustacean when Ollie brought up something to represent the incoming judge that that turd-el Mitch McConnell cock blocked into the Supreme Court for his doggie court. A crab. They can be ornery, have a stronger claw pinch per square pound than a lobster, and there are many different species to choose from, whereas there's less variety to choose a lobster. Although I suppose it would be difficult - and dangerous - to try and dress a crab up in a Supreme Court justice robe without losing any fingers.

[Jersey Guy 87]

10 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

Think that weatherman noticed Ollie was mocking him for his off script comments that mean jack shit? This is the second time he's appeared on the show.

 

He's the local weatherman here in New York and he continues to create new material for JO every day.