Much Ado About Obamacare

Much Ado About Obamacare
By Ann Werner
June 30, 2012

Here's what I want to know. Why are conservatives so pissed off about the Affordable Care Act? I thought they were all about personal responsibility. At least that was the whole point of the originally Republican idea of imposing an insurance mandate. I know that's what they're angry about because all you can hear echoing through the empty corridors of their tiny little minds is, "I don't want to be forced to buy something by the government! It's unconstitutional!"

Well, actually, it IS constitutional and so says your until recently much lauded Chief Justice, John Roberts. And while we're on that subject, if it's so unconstitutional for government to mandate you purchase health insurance, why haven't you filed suit against all those states that mandate auto insurance? And they're not even offering to help you out if the cost of auto insurance is a bit too steep for your wallet.

I want to know what is so terrible about:

Keeping your kids on your policy until they reach the age of 26.
Eliminating the lifetime cap on benefits.
Stopping insurance companies from canceling your policy if you get sick.
Lowering the cost of care and medication for Medicare recipients.
Covering preventative care at no charge.
Strengthening fraud protections by increasing penalties.
Stopping insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.
Stopping insurance companies from arbitrarily jacking up rates.
Getting a rebate if your insurance company spent too much on ads and CEO bonuses.
Tax credits to small businesses so they can afford quality health coverage for their employees.
Building and improving community health centers.
Giving working Americans a tax credit so they can afford insurance (begins in 2014).
Also in 2014, ending discrimination against adults with pre-exiting conditions.
Preventing insurance companies from charging higher prices to women based solely on their gender (2014).
Creating insurance exchanges where people can shop and compare and get the most for their health insurance dollars (2014).

We get all this with Obamacare—and I'll be honest, I don't think it's enough but it's a great place to start—AND the insurance companies have to compete. That's another conservative argument always being put forward: competition in the marketplace and how that's good for the country and the economy.


One of my favorites is when a conservative comes back at us "libtards" and sneers, "And you REALLY expect the government to do all that and do it well?"

Well, yes I do because the government has been doing it for decades with Medicare and Medicaid. I have personally experienced the efficacy of those programs with my mother, who lived to the ripe old age of 92. When she finally left this world, she did so without leaving so much as one penny in hospital costs thanks to Medicare. My older sister suffered for decades with Multiple Sclerosis and spent the last thirteen years of her life bedridden in a nursing home, fully paid for by Medicaid. Our combined families could never have afforded all those years of care in a long-term facility. She got great care by a great staff and at least had a shred of dignity when she left this world at age 68.

Here's my final question along with an observation. To those conservatives who are so angry about being forced to purchase medical insurance by our big, bad government: If you got sick with some horrible disease, say cancer or heart disease or something like Multiple Sclerosis, which can drag on for thirty years, would you just say, "Oh well, I didn't buy insurance so now I'll just have to take the consequences of my actions and go quietly die in the corner?" I don't think so. You will be first in line at the government office, begging for the care that you didn't want to pay for and placing the burden of your bad decision on the American taxpayer.

And let's never forget the main reason conservatives hate the Affordable Care Act. It's one of the signature achievements of the Obama Administration and they'd cut off their own legs if they thought it would get rid of him!