Smile! You’ve Got Socialized Healthcare!

gopher

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Zip code with most Obamacare enrollments votes Republican




Zip code with most Obamacare enrollments votes Republican - CNN.com






 

EagleSmack

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Not surprising really. After all, it is the law that you must have it

That is correct but it won't be mentioned in that context.

From Healthcare DOT gov.

The fee for not having coverage in 2015

If you don’t have coverage in 2015, you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts:

  • 2% of your yearly household income. (Only the amount of income above the tax filing threshold, about $10,000 for an individual, is used to calculate the penalty.) The maximum penalty is the national average premium for a bronze plan.
  • $325 per person for the year ($162.50 per child under 10. The maximum penalty per family using this method is $975.




The HIGHER of these two amounts of course.


2016 Fees go even higher.






If you don’t have coverage in 2016, you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts:

  • 2.5% of your yearly household income
  • $695 per person ($347.50 per child under 10
In future years, the fee is adjusted for inflation.


Frogs in the pot.
 

gopher

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Obamacare’s projected cost falls due to lower premiums under health care law, CBO says

Source: Washington Post

By Max Ehrenfreund

The estimated cost of President Obama's signature health care law is continuing to FALL.

The Congressional Budget Office announced on Monday that the Affordable Care Act will cost $142 billion, or 11 percent, less over the next 10 years, compared to what the agency had projected in January.

The nonpartisan agency said the Affordable Care Act will cost less for two essential reasons. The first, and most significant, is that health insurance premiums are rising more slowly, and thus requires less of a government subsidy.



Obamacare’s projected cost falls due to lower premiums under health care law, CBO says - The Washington Post





ACA = continuing to save money and lives every day.
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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the so called "train wreck" is suddenly becoming more popular:



Obamacare: Americans Are Warming Up to the Health Law - Bloomberg Business


The fight over Obamacare in Washington is as fierce as ever, with a Republican budget plan that would repeal the health-care law Democrats passed five years ago. In the rest of the country, opposition to the law appears to be easing.
The gap between favorable and unfavorable views of the Affordable Care Act is the narrowest in more than two years, according to a poll released today, March 19, by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The poll of 1,503 U.S. adults found 43 percent opposed to Obamacare and 41 percent in favor. With a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, the result was essentially an even split. Those in favor most often cited expanded access to insurance, while opponents cited cost.
Negative views of the law increased in the months after October 2013, when the sign-up website healthcare.gov and some state insurance marketplaces were crippled by technology failures. Now the government reports that some 16.4 million Americans have gained insurance coverage under the law.
The future of the law is in the hands of the Supreme Court. The justices are considering whether to strike down the federal subsidies that make private health-care plans affordable to millions of new enrollees, with a decision expected by summer. A majority of those polled by Kaiser thought a ruling against the subsidies would be harmful, a view shared by majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
About two-thirds of the poll's respondents said they wanted Congress to come up with a way to preserve subsidies if the court rules against the the Obama administration. But their expectations for that are dim. Less than 20 percent said they were even "somewhat confident" that lawmakers in Washington could work together to find such a solution, and a majority said they were "not at all confident" Congress would fix the problem.







Even the pro business Bloomberg is impressed as ACA continues to save money and lives every day.
 

tay

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May 20, 2012
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Katlin Prager was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was two weeks old. Her family says insurance won't pay for a lung transplant so they're looking to the public for help.


Cystic Fibrosis is a life-threatening disorder that produces mucus build-up in the body; especially in the lungs. Prager also has an infection called Cepacia which makes it even more difficult to breath.


Her doctors say a lung transplant is the only way to rid her body of the infection.



Katlin's husband, Dalton, was also diagnosed with cystic fibrosis but this past winter received a lung transplant.



Due to the infection still in her lungs, Katlin and Dalton can't even be in the same room together at the risk of getting Dalton sick.


"She's only 24-years-old and she would like to go back to school and get her bachelor's degree, and she would like to learn how to hip-hop dance," Katlin's mother Debra Donovan said. "She just has a lot of hopes and dreams and she just wants to be like her friends, like other 24-year-olds, and go out and maybe party a little and just do what all the kids do."


Katlin's family is aiming to raise $50,000 for the lung transplant procedure.




more




Fleming county woman raising money for lung transplant
 

tay

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May 20, 2012
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Obamacare will save her. Any minute now. . .





Apparently not or the story would not be.


The unfortunate omission in the story and video is the reporter doesn't tell us why the Ins Company refused her and why Obamacare doesn't t cover her........




Benita Adams of Kentucky has had no health insurance since her divorce 30 years ago. A recent heart operation left her with a $67,000 bill. Although the hospital waived around half of that, she still pays $50 a month to clear the rest.


"I used to say, if I get hurt just let me be killed because I can't afford to pay any more hospital bills," she says.


But Adams no longer has to worry. Under Obamacare, she qualifies for a private insurance plan with a hefty government subsidy that covers the monthly payments in full.


"Everyone was mad over Obamacare but it's just wonderful, it's really helping people," Adams says as she lists the medical appointments she has been to since getting insured.


more




http://www.bbc.com/news/magazi...
 

tay

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May 20, 2012
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Found a better article .......










Prager has battled cystic fibrosis her entire life. During her teenage years, she was hospitalized several times a year, but otherwise led a fairly normal life.


However, in 2009, she was also diagnosed with an infection called burkholderia cepacia.


The infection caused her lung function to rapidly decline, leading to a port-a-cath being placed on her in order to allow for the deliver of antibiotics into her system. It also led to her being placed on a transplant list to receive a new lung.


In 2013, Prager went to the University of Kentucky Center for CF care in Lexington, but was told she could not receive a transplant at the facility because of the infection.


"We returned to UK Clinic for CF care and were told that they couldn't help us there even though they are a transplant center. They don't do transplants on CF patients with cepacia," Prager said.


Prager said she, along with her husband Dalton Prager, who also suffers from CF, was transferred to the University of Cincinnati hospital, where both were placed on full-time oxygen.


While patients at UC, the doctor referred them to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, because it is only one of two hospitals which would transplant a lung into a patient with Katie Prager's infection.


In January 2013, the hospital began evaluations on both Katie and Dalton Prager to see if they were eligible for lung transplants.


Dalton was almost immediately approved for the list, while Katie Prager had to undergo more tests and wait until June 2013.
In November 2013, Dalton Prager received a double lung transplant, that proved successful.


"While Dalton was recovering we could not see each other due to the treat of infecting his new lungs with cepacia. We could only communicate through face time, phones or computers. While he grew stronger my complications with my insurance were just beginning," Katie Prager said.


In December, Katie Prager was discharged from the hospital and sent home where she was planning to spend Christmas with her family. However, within three days of returning home, she began to feel sick again, but was told she could not return to UPMC due to reaching her lifetime maximum on Medicare.


"At first, I thought I might be able to use Medicaid, but was told that it wouldn't cover my transplant due to UPMC being out of network," Katie Prager said.


"After explaining to Medicaid that there are only two places in the country, who would operate, due to cepacia, they still refused to work together to help me. In January 2015 I filed an appeal with Medicaid to have them reconsider. The appeal was denied."


On Thursday, Katie Prager said she had a phone call from UPMC saying she will never be eligible to return to the hospital for a transplant and there is nothing more they can do for her.


"They told me to basically stop wasting my time," she said. "These are people who we're trusting with our lives and they say that. Most people have no problems when they have to have medical treatments or transplants, and I'm being given the run around. I'm not trying to be a burden on the system -- that isn't what I want. If I could work and get my own insurance, I would.






Ewing girl battling insurance for transplant








Out Of Network Definition






An out-of-network provider is one which has not contracted with your insurance company for reimbursement at a negotiated rate




Out-of-Network Providers - Insurance Definition
 

EagleSmack

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In December, Katie Prager was discharged from the hospital and sent home where she was planning to spend Christmas with her family. However, within three days of returning home, she began to feel sick again, but was told she could not return to UPMC due to reaching her lifetime maximum on Medicare.


but.... but... they said


On Thursday, Katie Prager said she had a phone call from UPMC saying she will never be eligible to return to the hospital for a transplant and there is nothing more they can do for her.


"They told me to basically stop wasting my time," she said.




but... Obama said... he promised...




"These are people who we're trusting with our lives and they say that. Most people have no problems when they have to have medical treatments or transplants, and I'm being given the run around. I'm not trying to be a burden on the system -- that isn't what I want. If I could work and get my own insurance, I would.


Millions saved every day!
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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Study: Medicaid expansion leads to increased diabetes*diagnoses



One of the nation's costliest and most serious chronic diseases is getting diagnosed and treated better among poor Americans because of Obamacare and the Medicaid expansion included in it, a new study concludes. At least in the states that took the expansion.
The number of new diabetes cases identified among poor Americans has surged in states that have embraced the Affordable Care Act, but not in those that have not, a new study has found, suggesting that the health care law may be helping thousands of people get earlier treatment for one of this country’s costliest medical conditions. […]
In the new study by Quest Diagnostics, a medical testing company, researchers analyzed laboratory test results from all 50 states in the company's large database over two six-month periods. In the states that expanded Medicaid, the number of Medicaid enrollees with newly identified diabetes rose by 23 percent, to 18,020 in the first six months of 2014, from 14,625 in the same period in 2013. The diagnoses rose by only 0.4 percent—to 11,653 from 11,612—in the states that did not expand Medicaid.

In all, the Quest study identified 434,288 people as having diabetes—equal to about a quarter of all new American cases in a year, according to the most recent federal data. […]

The authors of the study, published Monday in the journal Diabetes Care, said it was a natural experiment: About half the states had chosen to expand Medicaid by early 2014 and half had not. The research team used what medical experts agreed was a reasonable proxy for a diabetes diagnosis—the results of a test, called hemoglobin A1c, that reflects long-term glucose in the blood.

The stark difference in the numbers—a 23 percent hike in expansion states, versus 0.4 percent in the others—is convincing enough for most physicians and public health experts to be convinced the expansion has made the difference. That includes Dr. David M. Nathan, director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, who says this "suggests that states that are accepting this kind of coverage are doing their populations a huge favor." That's because early detection—and effective treatment—of the disease can help prevent some of the worst outcomes of it, including heart attacks, blindness, kidney failure and leg and foot amputations.


That's saving lives, and for the states, money.



Expand Medicaid and more lives/money will be saved.
 

gopher

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Jun 26, 2005
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Republican politician asked for and expected to hear of Obamacare disasters.

Instead, she got the TRUTH that, contrary to the lies from the far right, it is working:




GOP Congresswoman, Deluged in ACA Success Stories, Responds: Repeal Obamacare (Now w/ Video!)



GOP Congresswoman, Deluged in ACA Success Stories, Responds: Repeal Obamacare (Now w/ Video!)



A most excellent front-page diary is viral-crawling its way across social media today:

GOP congresswoman gets surprise on Facebook after asking constituents for Obamacare horror stories

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA-5) put up a Facebook plea for tales of Obamacare woe on the occasion of the law's 5th anniversary, and instead got pages full of comments like these:

My story is that I once knew 7 people who couldn't get health insurance. Now they all have it, thanks to the ACA and President Obama, and their plans are as good as the one my employer provides--and they pay less for them. Now, that's not the kind of story you want to hear. You want to hear made-up horror stories. I don't know anyone with one of those stories.
I work for cancer care northwest. We actually have more patients with insurance and fewer having to choose treatment over bankruptcy. Cathy, I'm a die hard conservative and I'm asking you to stop just slamming Obamacare. Fix it, change it or come up with a better idea! Thanks
With Obamacare, I saved 300 bucks a month premium.. I have more coverage.. I like ObamaCare and can't wait til we go to the next step... Medicare for ALL.
It's worth a trip over to the original plea to read more. The pro-ACA sentiment is truly overwhelming.
And the diary concludes by asking:

Will she take their comments to heart and abandon attempts to take insurance coverage away from her constituents?
Unfortunately, she already made her answer via video, and it wasn't the responsive one.
Follow me past the stylized orange hashmark for video-quotes (video itself is now embedded!)

After five years of #Obamacare, too many Americans are suffering. They deserve to be heard, and today I shared their stories.

Posted by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers on Tuesday, March 24, 2015

(You'll have to click through to see the video -- if it's possible to embed a Facebook vid on DK, I haven't found out how.) Update - Thanks, Jen Hayden, for the video code!
...Despite the promises, five years later, this legislation has not delivered what was promised. I wanted just to read some words from different corners of the country, voices that I believe deserve to be heard.
A woman from Georgia writes, "I'm a 62-year-old widow and only make $8.79 an hour. I lost my insurance and cannot afford to pay for it."

A man from Pennsylvania says, "My family's health coverage was cancelled, and my new health care premiums increased 85% thanks to Obamacare."
...

The stories are repeated all across the country. Obamacare has made lives worse. And that's why our Balanced Budget for a Stronger America is so important. We're bringing it to the floor this week. It repeals Obamacare and makes government accountable to you....

(Update: Oh good grief -- those weren't even stories that SHE collected/cherrypicked. They came from a national GOP website, from a page that was put up the same day as her ill-fated Facebook solicitation for horror stories.)
NOT ONE WORD about the story after story after ACA success story. Not a one.

And the commenters on the video post... umm, yeah, they noticed.

Wow, talk about presenting only one side, congresswoman. I live in your district and have read the posts on your own facebook page over the past years. You are cherry-picking the stories you want to present. How shameful!
Where are the stories from your last post to gather stories. I read those and most were positive about the ACA. You're not distorting things are you? Why not tell the truth?
After 5 years somewhere between 9-11 MILLION Americans now have healthcar, most for the first time, thanks to the ACA! Please, Cathy, help the Rs understand the tremendous need for this and how it is driving healthcare costs down. In the end, I can't imagine the Rs will take this much needed service away from 11 million Americans.
I am appalled at your lack of concern for your constituents stories. Who is your master? Are you serving the people who live in your district, your own ambition or someone else?
Stop this nonsense Congresswoman. You look like a fool.
As of this writing, all of these telling exchanges are still online, testimony to...
Well, maybe I'll just let Upton Sinclair say it for me, with the caveat that this obviously applies to women as well:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”








What a deluge of proofs that ACA is a resounding success!
 

captain morgan

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Republican politician asked for and expected to hear of Obamacare disasters.

Instead, she got the TRUTH that, contrary to the lies from the far right, it is working:


What a deluge of proofs that ACA is a resounding success!

This is much like saying that your herpes medication is working well.

... You still have herpes though
 

EagleSmack

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