by Pamela Powers Hannley The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and healthcare reform, in general, will be the focus of PDA Tucson’s general membership meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14. Andrea Witte (the Connect the Dots Lady) will present the updated version of “The American Healthcare CrazyQuilt”, which looks at how the US healthcare system evolved into the … Read more
As the Republican Congressional circus continues, October 1– the federal budget deadline and the Affordable Care Act health exchange roll-out date– is fast approaching.
Teapublican Senatorial crusaders Ted Cruz and Mike Lee and others are spreading tons of misinformation about the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare).
To counter the misinformation, PolitiFact has provided this great list of facts– to counter the "pants-on-fire" lies.
1. The health care law rations care, like systems in Canada and Great Britain. False.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, July 2, 2012, in an interview on Fox News
The health care law is not socialized medicine. Instead, it leaves in place the private health care system that follows free market principles. The law does put more regulations on health insurance companies. It also fines most large employers who fail to provide insurance for their employees, and it requires all individuals to have health insurance. This is unlike the systems in either Britain or Canada. In Britain, doctors are employees of the government, while in Canada, the government pays most medical bills as part of a single-payer system. The U.S. health care law has neither of those features. PolitiFact has rated this claim and others like it False.
MoveOn.org members have launched petitions against 14 Democrats– including Arizona’s Congresswomen Kyrsten Sinema and Ann Kirkpatrick– for siding with Republicans in their vote to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act from 2014 to 2015.
According to The Hill, these members were targeted with MoveOn.org petitions: Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.), Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), Bill Enyart (D-Ill.), Bill Owens (D-N.Y.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).
Video and more background after the jump.
by Pamela Powers Hannley This map exemplifies what is wrong with letting states' rights. State-by-state decisions lead to inequities, discrimination, legal inconsistencies, and redundant bureaucracies. The map– created by The Advisory Board Company– shows how the states stack up (so far) regarding implementation of the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges and Medicaid expansion. How does … Read more
More people in the US go bankrupt because of medical bills than for any other reason.
Even in Massachusetts— where they have Romneycare (the model for Obamacare)– people with health insurance are going bankrupt at alarming rates, due to unpaid medical bills.
Now, primarily because of uncompensated care, many US hospitals are going bankrupt.
Despite the evidence that our greed-based, healthcare non-system is inadequate, Teapublicans want to scale it back— instead of expanding it. The Paul Ryan Budget would eliminate the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), change Medicare to a voucher program, and cut Medicaid by more than 40%. The Koch Brothers are holding closed-door "educational" meetings with the Tea Party faithful, in an attempt to squash the Medicaid expansion, through the Affordable Care Act, in red states like Arizona. All of this is unfathomable. These efforts will save money for the corporatists but will encourage the sick and uninsured to forgo care or go to emergency rooms– thus leading to more personal and hospital bankruptcies and premature death due to delayed care or no care. WTF?
After the jump, watch Dr. Danny, a New York emergency room physician, explain the cost of care and what should be done about it. Thanks to Strike Debt for posting this video on Facebook.