Suppose you're a doctor running for Senate as a Republican. You know darn well that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act saves money and saves lives, but to get money from Republican donors, you have to ape the expected talking points about repealing ObamaCare. What do you do?
You can sell your soul and pretend to fiercely oppose the PPACA. Or you could adopt truth and integrity as a campaign motto and educate your misunderstanding and over-dramatizing Republican constituents on the merits of ObamaCare.
And you can do it on Republican grounds. Here's how:
- Remind voters that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act originated with Republicans.
- Go Jan Brewer (and Kasich, Christie...) and argue that ObamaCare is good for South Dakota's economy.
- Explain that the PPACA increases economic liberty and entrepreneurship. Eggheads back what I've argued before about job lock: the PPACA will increase entrepreneurship by decoupling insurance from people's jobs. People who are clinging to crappy jobs just because they don't want to lose their health insurance will be more inclined to jump into self-employment knowing that they won't go broke buying their own insurance or get flat-out rejected on the individual insurance market. PPACA's insurance guarantees will create 8,000 more self-employed people in South Dakota and 1.5 million nationwide. More independent entrepreneurs doing the work they love: that's a Republican ideal, isn't it?
The Affordable Care Act is a good idea. It's also largely a Republican idea. Educating Republicans to those facts may be an uphill battle. But it beats lying.
Thanks Obamacare!! Of course Obamacare is a good idea. Good ideas prevent some from stealing blindly from you, hence, a lock on the door. The sad fact is that pharma and the insurance industry, tweedle dee and tweedle dum, are making themselves full of our blood. Much like a tick, they need to be downsized. Their lobby sends hundreds of highly paid former congressional staff people to corrupt the system in their behalf.
When the American people start to enroll in Obamacare on October 1, 2013, they will see the value of what has finally come there way. At that point, the American people will fully understand how backward the new republican party is and how little they want to do for the betterment of all. They will also see that government works to put a lock on the corruption that is our current healthcare system thereby freeing us to receive the basic healthcare we need so desperately. Americans should not have to forego needed operations until they reach Medicare age, as this is more expensive and takes more time to recover. Just a couple more months down the line to freedom, I can't wait!
I'm skeptical about your #2 & #3, Cory.
We *may* save some with Medicaid expansion, but remember the Society of Actuaries predict our premiums will increase 29%.
NPR has been exploring the Exchange, and that doesn't look as promising either where there are markets with little competition (i.e. few insurance providers). "The price of health insurance on or off the exchange is a direct reflection of the underlying cost of care." The Affordable Care Act does alarmingly little to address the underlying cost of care; it only shifts 1% of funding to critical access hospitals from fee for service to quality of health outcomes. Until that model changes drastically, our health care costs aren't going to drop.
I'm hoping the Actuaries aren't correct. I'm hoping health care costs drop. I don't see much in the ACA which will actually do much to ease the burden, though.