How you voted determines how you feel

Published October 3, 2013

By Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, October 2Gary Pearce, 2013.

How you feel about Obamacare probably correlates about 100 percent with how you voted in the 2012 election. Unless you already found out you pay more or less for insurance. I’m double-sold. I’m saving a bunch of money.

 

The fundamental fact about American health care was well put by Bill Atkinson, former CEO at WakeMed: “Americans want the very best health care that somebody else pays for.”

 

It’s all a cost-shifting game, and what we pay has little to do with the care we get as individuals.

 

To fix that, Obamacare does two things you’d think Republicans and conservatives would like: End the free ride for freeloaders and encourage competition.

 

The freeloaders are like the fellow in the paper who said he doesn’t need health insurance because he’s healthy. But if he’s in a wreck, or falls off a ladder, or has emergency surgery, the rest of us have to pay his bills.

 

As for insurance-price competition, North Carolina doesn’t have it because of the legislature and the McCrory administration. States that have real competition – that is, more than two companies offering policies – are seeing real savings.

 

But those are facts. And facts, as we see in the shutdown-debt limit fight, have nothing to do with Republican politics today.

 

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October 3, 2013 at 10:43 am
Norm Kelly says:

Can you show where other states have accepted the feds temporary bribe money and have more competition than just 2 companies like NC? Can you also show where some states have no competition, such as (as I recall) Washington state where some counties have zero companies wanting to provide insurance, and other counties have just 1 provider that signed up for socialized medicine.

And what part of a government take-over of an industry generates competition? What other federal program can you point to that has fostered competition? What federal agency actually welcomes competition?

Ends the free ride for freeloaders? Exactly how does the federal government paying for people's insurance coverage end freeloading? Whether the hospital increases my bill when I use their service so they can cover the bills of someone who doesn't pay their bill or the feds increase taxes and fees all over the place, aren't I still getting stuck with the bill? If young, healthy people's premiums will be higher under socialized medicine to help cover the higher premiums of older or sicker people, then how does this eliminate cost shifting or causing someone else to pay for the freeloader?

You do have 1 good point in your editorial. Sometimes facts don't matter. You showed it in your editorial. I'd rather be honest, criticizing Republicans when they deserve it, like proposing & passing the prescription drug plan several years ago, than to simply support them no matter what. I'm also honest enough to praise a Democrat when they step up & do the right thing, either for the state or for the country. It just happens so rarely that it doesn't seem like I do it.

If socialized medicine is so good for the country, please do 2 things in your next editorial supporting Obamacare. First, print the date that Obama & Biden signed up to participate in the Exchange. Cuz if it's good enough for me, then it must be good enough for the elites. Second, document for the rest of us where in the world socialized medicine works well. Show where a government take-over of the health care industry has fostered competition. Show where care is better because of socialized medicine. Show where costs have been contained/reduced; where wait times are shorter because of government. Prove your point. Show where Obama believes this plan is so good that he's given out hundreds of waivers, where his rabid union supporters haven't complained about the plan, and where Obama didn't violate the law by delaying the corporate mandate by a year. I await your insightful response.

October 3, 2013 at 11:34 am
Richard Bunce says:

Voters want everything possible from government that someone else pays for... ya'll rant and rave about Citizens United... the serious vote buying is candidates promising government services to a large group of voters to be paid by a small group of voters.

October 3, 2013 at 11:38 am
Richard Bunce says:

BCBSNC is NOT the only Statewide HCI provider in the Exchange because the Federal government is operating the NC exchange instead of the State. A decade or more of NC legislature (Democratic Majority) taxes, fees, and regulations have made it difficult for other HCI companies to operate in the State. BCBSNC has the majority of HCI policies issued in NC before ACA and will have the majority after ACA. But a political hack such as yourself likely knew that already and were just taking a cheap shot.