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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Obamacare is rotten at its core

Uploaded: Nov 5, 2013
Forget about the incompetent feds trying to fix a web site, it's the reality of the law that now is hitting home that is the over-riding concern.

Incidentally, all they needed to do is contract with Amazon or another skilled online fulfillment firm and the web site would have been running well.

It's a different story for the regulations that specified the elements of a conforming insurance plan and virtually guaranteed that many plans would not qualify?particularly those high-deductible plans purchased by individuals looking for little more than catastrophic coverage. Health insurance companies that wanted to be included in the so-called marketplace were required to cancel any non-conforming plans by the end of the year in California.

The Obama health planners concluded that they knew better about what was required for health insurance. It's a federal one-size-fits-all approach. Did you catch the spokesman Jay Carney arguing about the need for more regulation so companies would not sell sub-standard policies and that the new the government prescribed plans would improve health care.

Really? By mandating maternity care for a man or woman in their 60s. The woman certainly is an ideal candidate to have a new baby.

That's what is rotten at the core of Obamacare?the assumption that we cannot make decisions for ourselves and instead Uncle Sam must do it because they will do it better. So you have bureaucrats and academics "designing" their vision of ideal health care without any basis in reality, let alone business.

It's the classic liberal approach that trusts bureaucrats and politicians more than individuals and takes rights away from individuals. A wiser approach would be empowering individuals with a marketplace that allowed insurance companies to sell across state lines and had the policies go with the individual?not the employer.

That's been the biggest disconnect?for people with employer-based their decisions on utilizing health care often have been made without considering costs. That's changed some as costs have soared in the last 20 years and employers have shifted more of the expense to employees.

One of the biggest challenges of the Obama Administration is the people he has surrounded himself with in key positions are, for the most part, academics or political pros?precious few have any experience in business or outside of government. They have been excellent at politics and campaigning, but very poor at the business of governing.

The health care fiasco is the latest example.
Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Bill, a resident of San Ramon,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 10:05 am

Correct.

In my opinion, what really irks me is that as a young, healthy (not overweight), non-smoker, I am being forced to subsidize healthcare for people who smoked/ate/etc themselves to poor health.

Another example of how this administration and the boomers are selfishly screwing my generation.


Posted by Boomer, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 12:18 pm

Bill, why include "boomers" in your comment ? Also, you can thank your generation for voting for this administration.


Posted by Angry (But Competent) Timmy , a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 12:47 pm

I'm so dad-burned angry I don't know what to do. Why, the feds are so incompetent I'm unable to write anything that even resembles a grammatical, coherent sentence. Because I'm mad as HECK!

How can we expect the feds to deliver health care when my girlfriend back in 1972 STILL claims not to have gotten the letter through the US mail I sent her? And Interstate highways. Why is it always ME-ME-ME who's backed up in traffic because of nonexistent repairs? And don't get me started on the feds trying to seal off the border from those people who steal my errant golf shots on the links. And what about Vietnam? We entrust our government to run a competent war and what does it do? It loses it!

People shouldn't be forced to have health insurance. Let them choose to die if they want to, and if it's on my dime in an emergency room well at least we still live in freedom ... except the guy who dies from a preventable malady in the emergency room. But who cares about him? He's probably just a plant anyway.

But here we now are. Living under tyranny. Absolute tyranny, I tell you. I've had it up to HERE with Social Security, Medicare, one-size EQUAL RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE WHO SURE DON'T LOOK LIKE ANY OF THE PEOPLE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. We should have voted in the other guy -- you know, the guy who passed that silly, unworkable Obamacare plan in Massachusetts.

And what about the guy who honked his horn while I was trying to make a putt on the ninth green? And those kids who just won't stay off my lawn? I've had it, I tell you. I swear I will never write another grammatical sentence as long as I live!!! Hey! Stay off my lawn!!!


Posted by Bill, a resident of San Ramon,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 1:16 pm

@Boomer

Obama would have gotten elected with or without my generation. Minorities overwhelmingly support him.

Also, who else does this benefit?

Old, unhealthy people (Baby Boomers) haven't taken care of themselves, are aging and getting sick. They didn't save nearly enough (or any) money and want their children to pay for their expenses by legally forcing them to purchase insurance and subsidize their care.

Unfortunately, most of you will plod along from illness to illness into old age-- not really living much longer than your parents with much lower quality of life. The upside is, most of you will all be gone in ~30 years.


Posted by Boomer, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 2:24 pm

@Bill

That's too funny. I agree that your generation is getting the short end of the stick ! And I do not support ObamaCare. And nobody should be forced to have health care. But you implied that it was the baby boomers fault (period). Enjoy your day and take care.


Posted by spcwt, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 4:53 pm

It?s kind of like cable and satellite TV. Think about how many channels you must buy and never watch just so you can get ESPN. We ESPN subscribers are subsidizing all you lousy Home Shopping Network people!!

Seriously though, isn?t the Obamacare mandate like the government housing code for health and safety? Is it tyranny for the government to require homes to have a toilet? What if you just like to use the sink?

Isn?t it also like minimum safety requirements for automobiles? I hate the nanny state as much as the next guy, but aren?t automobile safety mandates for your own good?

Aren?t people who underinsure burdening the rest of society? Why shouldn?t we require people to live responsibly? Being responsible means being adequately insured, doesn?t it? Maybe the insurance mandate requires tweaking so it doesn?t mandate dumb stuff like Viagra, etc., but isn?t it a good idea in principle?

My problem with Obamacare isn?t the insurance mandate. I like that. My problem with Obamacare is the $250 billion per year that it will cost to provide insurance subsidies for people making up to $94,000 per year. People making that much can probably survive without a government handout.

Consider also that every tax dollar spent on Obamacare subsidies is a tax dollar that can?t be spent making Medicare and Social Security solvent. Recall, also, that Obama already offered to cut Medicare and Social Security spending. Web Link Do you really think it?s wise to cut Medicare and Social Security spending so that able bodied people making up to $94,000 per year can get an Obamacare insurance hand out? When elderly voters realize Obamacare will put them on the chopping block, perhaps they might wake up to what?s going on.

I also don?t like Obamacare?s new taxes, of course, that apply to people making over $250,000 per year (a.k.a. ?millionaires and billionaires? in Obamaspeak), because I?m rich and hate paying for other people?s goodies. If middle class folks want to expand the welfare state to include healthcare benefits, FINE, pay for it yourself, like they do in Europe with their VAT. Don?t expect rich people to pick the tab you freeloaders!!


Posted by Roz Rogoff, the San Ramon Observer,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 6:13 pm

Roz Rogoff is a registered user.

If Obama was really a Socialist, he would have implemented Medicare for All. This would have been easy. No signing up, no Supreme Court case (Medicare is already a Payroll tax), No Tea Party objections since half of them are already on Medicare. And it would have saved Medicare for seniors by spreading the costs among healthier young people.

Insurance companies would still get their piece of the pie, through Medigap insurance and Medicare Part D (Prescription drug coverage). All of this works very smoothly for seniors. I have been on Medicare for 5 years. It's great.

But Noooo. Obama didn't want to be labeled a "Socialist." He wanted a bipartisan plan with Republican participation. The Republicans didn't want any plan, even their own, that had anything to do with Obama; so they called him a Socialist anyway. Obamacare is the most un-Socialist Government plan ever devised, and that's why it is so awful.

If the Republicans would just chuck the #$%$ about being Socialist and just be Pragmatists (do what works), then Medicare for All would work for everyone. Hey how come those Tea Party Republicans don't protest their own Government health care. Isn't that Socialist too?


Posted by Dave Francis, a resident of Canyon Creek,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 8:55 pm

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OF LIES?


Nobody has escaped the horror stories which Obamcare is producing. Except for the
Silence from the Alphabet TV cable channels, left-minded stations and the mainstream media, the public would have a better understanding of the truth. Obama's administration has lied to us, with politicians being bombarded with the stream of problems arising since the inception of the Affordable Care Act that is NOT "affordable" and there is no end in sight. Each state has massive amounts of insurance policy cancellations, costs are skyrocketing and that's not only for businesses, but individuals. Millions of Americans are losing their individual health care plans.


Despite being told by Obama, "If you have a health care plan you like, you can keep it." These hardworking Americans are being cancelled, forced into new plans with outrageous premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. Americans were blatantly lied to. Now the Democratic Party has the nerve to say,? They?re not cancellation notices?they're transition notices to Obamacare." MORE LIES! Older people find themselves with the mandate policies, which determine that they have to pay for abortions, childbearing and treatments they don't need, with co-payments doubled and Federal exchange policies exploding with extra costs.


But what I want to understand that when you sign up your Social Security number is collected and then added to some massive data base. But then what about the ITIN numbers given freely by this incompetent government to millions of illegal aliens? Has this government found an excusable way, to add unknown numbers of foreign nationals, who shouldn't be here in the first place? The Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is a tax processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service. IRS issues ITINs to individuals who are required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have, and are not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN) from the Social Security Administration (SSA).


ITINs are issued regardless of immigration status because both resident and nonresident aliens may have a U.S. filing or reporting requirement under the Internal Revenue Code. So are ITIN numbers exempt from bamacare, or do the citizens and legal resident taxpayers have to pay for these people who are still criminals under the law. ARE PROCURED SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS GOING TO BE ACCEPTED BY THIS DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT FOR HEALTH CARE? Can ITIN recipients bleed us even more and is their some slight of hand in this mandatory health care law, so these uneducated, itinerants further steal from us, because it fits into Obama's plot, to turn our great nation into a third world toilet, just to get millions of more votes. Is this possibly a sly method allowing the population of illegal aliens to gain acceptance in Obamacare.

THE ONLY VICTORS IN THE FREE OF CHARGE OBAMACARE AND A IMMIGRATION AMNESTY ARE THE ?FREE-LOADERS? AND SPONGERS WHO PLEAD LOW INCOME, (ILLEGAL ALIENS). AND OTHER PARASITES.


Just as with the carefully orchestrated re-reimbursement of child tax credits of illegal alien parents, of which the IRS is processing over $4.7 Billion dollars of illegal alien theft, that the people in Washington; specifically the Democrats who refuse to halt this legal robbery not allowing any vote on this outrageous example of Stealing taxpayer money. Either side of the coin is to blame for this repulsive genuflecting to illegal aliens, special interest, big industry since they are beholding to all these entities. Want to be educated about the incessant corruption in Washington and the states? Just click on THE PEOPLE?S legal site Judicialwatch.org and they will illustrate to you the criminal enterprises in Congress.

There is a basic, easy way to cut the job market from the thousands of illegal aliens arriving here daily:


We demand for?ALL THE PEOPLE?ALL THE CITIZENS?(Lawful Residence have a green card) a bio-metric Social Security ID card, that will slash the illegal foreign workers arriving here to a dribble; stopping voting fraud by non-citizens and halt criminals stealing credit, welfare and other citizen benefits. This programmed card that you would slide through a machine, just the same way you slide a charge card through would deny illegal alien parents from appropriating billions of dollars annually in child credits.



These extra dollars would go a long way in caring for our debilitated, mentally ill, homeless, mothers with two or three children, who cannot cope on a small amount of welfare and veterans that are being denied services. This is a digital document that cannot be counterfeited, even if stolen for reprehensible reasons? Your picture, your thumb-print and even an iris eye scan would distinguish you from anybody else. The manic fools in Congress of both political parties (not the TEA PARTY) are willing to keep spending trillions of dollars, but shy away from this federal issued ID card for a meager $2 Billion that the legislators say would cover every U.S. citizen. A card more powerful than E-Verify or means of enforcement internally or at the borders; a national ID card that Americans need urgently. I only hope some Patriotic American begins a petition, to
Command the legislators in Washington to get a biometric ID law in the Federal Register.


WE MUST IMPLEMENT A FOOLPROOF MEASURE AS A MANDATORY ID CARD, TO STOP ILLEGAL ALIENS VOTING IN OUR ELECTIONS, OR EVEN CITIZENS GOING FROM ONE STATE TO ANOTHER WHERE THEY PREVIOUSLY LIVED?VOTING TWICE OR MORE? THIS IS WHY LIBERALS AND DEMOCRATS DO NOT WANT PHOTO ID USED, WHEN VOTING. COULD IT BE THAT THEY DO NOT WANT STEEL-CLAD ID, BECAUSE IT WOULD PUT OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF THE DISCOUNT LABOR POURING INTO AMERICA????


Posted by dublinmike, a resident of Dublin,
on Nov 5, 2013 at 10:38 pm

"nobody should be forced to have health care" okay, using your logic, then we should not have to pay for "forced" police presence, "forced" military, "forced" regulatory oversight of Wall Street greed.


Dave Francis,... your lengthy diatribe is not worth reading.

Cheers. And, God bless America.


Posted by Conservator, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 9:01 am

The prior post was no diatribe?It was a manifesto that even the most strident 'right of the right' would find pretty strong.

One thought regarding "WE MUST IMPLEMENT A FOOLPROOF MEASURE" as a measure to "TO STOP ILLEGAL ALIENS VOTING IN OUR ELECTIONS, ?", why use an ID card? From security systems to credit cards, those have routinely been shown to be easily defeated and/or counter fitted by those of lesser morals. Plus, they're so 20th century.

If one was really committed to this cause, they would propose some form of implantable RFID biosensor that would serialize our very being for the express purpose of proper identification. This is not a novel thought. A reasonable consideration of what life could be like in the 23rd century if we would all just implement some form of "STEEL-CLAD ID" can be found in the following public service vignette (Web Link

More charming then 'renewing', I think.


Posted by Eric, a resident of Downtown,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:30 am

Since when is Tim Hunt an expert on the complexities of health insurance? It is obvious that he has been watching Fox News and listening to Sean Hannity and simply regurgitating what he has heard. As someone who has worked in healthcare for over 25 years, neither I nor my peers can completely understand the constantly changing rules. Nobody can. What is true, is that the traditional system of insurance has eroded and become impossible for many people and something needed to be done. Yes, the computer system was a mess at first, but overall we are beginning to make sense of it all see and understand vast improvements for those uninsured who really need the help. Having all of these random Tim Hunt type of people spew out things they have heard on conservative news channels, news channels which will never under any circumstances admit that maybe this is a good thing, is not at all helpful for those of us who actually work and deal with people and their health.


Posted by daveg, a resident of Birdland,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:43 am

The part that bothers me the most is that Obama deliberately mislead the American public regarding his continued verbiage that one could keep their current insurance. To quote a comment in Kathleen Parker's column in today's newspaper, "It is still jarring to my adult psyche to impugn another, especially the president of the United States, as a liar, so I won't. But it is not possible to pretend that the American people have been told the truth. Nor is it possible to pretend that Barack Obama has been completely honest".


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 10:57 am

You guys better stop WHINING and start focusing on winning elections! Ted Cruz will be an awesome candidate!

There are a lot of positive things, but go ahead and be as NEGATIVE as you want to be in your bubble..... You are sounding shrill and whiny at this point, not effective...

Single Payer is right around the corner....

Go get 'em!


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:06 am

You guys remind me of my dear sweet late Granny. You are still pissed off about the New Deal in the 30's and want to roll back Social Security and all the other programs that went into our social fabric way back when.

And a lot of your buddies that call themselves "Conservative" won't allow a women's right to choose her way of living with big government laws in many many idiotic States. You are SOOOOO hypocritical and that is why you will keep losing elections. Hopefully, this time around you won't have a corrupt Florida Sec. of State to bail your asses out in '16.

You are losing women and hispanic votes by the droves and all your voter "fraud" disenfranchisement will not work in the long run...

Good luck in '14 & '16....


Posted by Angry (but competent) Timmy, a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:06 am

First I want to compliment Dave Francis whose comment is excellent the way it is ranted semi-coherently -- almost indistinguishable from Tim Hunt's original, carefully well thought out, and excruciatingly well-researched piece above. Nicely done "Dave." It's difficult to write when one is so riled up about all those people getting Obamacare whom we couldn't have cared any less about until Obamacare passed both Houses and was found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court.

Now, as to the sudden emergence of "Eric," I'm of mixed minds. Either he's "Citizen Paine" once again dishonestly attempting to pull the wool over our eyes, or he's been paid by the Obama administration -- with OUR TAX MONEY -- to be a plant on this site.

A pro-po: I have relatives in Massachusetts where they implemented this Obamacare Ponzi scheme some years back. They began writing me letters about how their insurance rates went from $100 a month to $1968 a month. Their son broke his leg, and he had to wait 23 days before any doctor was available to see him. By then gangrene had set in. He lost his leg and his potential to become one of his generation's best curlers was snuffed out, just like that. Then they began writing about how Massachusetts officials were using medical records to go after freedom lovers in the state (gun owners, because how can one be a freedom lovers without owning an assault rifle or two?). And then, suddenly, their letters stopped arriving.

Our Dear Leader has gotten what he has so desired. Tyranny is now upon us. People who get cheaper health care are getting it because of subsidies. Unlike people who receive Medicare, these people have never paid a nickel of taxes in their lives. I know, because they are all illegal aliens, no doubt an advance legion of weed-whacking soldiers to be used by Obama at a near-future date during his takeover of real America.


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 12:00 pm

You guys throw the word Tyranny out there so lightly...

Let's see.... Millions dying in WW2... Kinda tyannical..

100's of years of institutiuonalized slavery and racism and Jim Crow.. Plain Tyranny

A new law to change the way we care for our people....Tryanny!

C'mon! Get Real!


Posted by Zelda Zimmer, a resident of Laguna Oaks,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 1:35 pm

Obama was elected, because the Republican alternatives are walking-talking disasters as are the idiot sons of the rich who are now engaging in hostage-taking and threatening a coup d'etat. My point LOTS OF WHITE PEOPLE voted for President Obama. Who do the Republican's have/had? Mitt Romney who grew up and served as a missionary in Paris (Nice!) living off the tithes paid to the Mormon church. A freeloader living off corporate welfare and deatroying American jobs. Or maybe Rafael (It's Ted To You) Cruz: a spoiled brat high IQ/low EQ whack job who is the son of a former Castro revolutionary turned extremist religious dominionist whack job that mama Cruz divorced. Or maybe the plagiarist Rand Paul, who whines because he got caught?

You state that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed for unhealthy baby boomers? Your thinking abilities mirror yout political opinions. About 45% of white males between the ages of 18-34 are treated and/or hospitalized for unintentional accidents, including drunk driving; texting while driving; reckless driving; alcohol poisoning; self-inflicted gun shot wounds; STD's; and OBESITY (you are the fattest generation in history). Pay for your own insurance. Why should your lack of care be subsidized by my dime?

As for why some boomers didn't save enough money? They were stupid enough to spend it on narcissistic GEN Y and millenials who can't fight their ways out of paper bags and stare at their smart phones all day and are the least literate and numerate in history. (Don't think it's your teachers' fault. It's your indolence and priorities and your American boomer parents' keeping up with the Joneses and anti-intellectualism: sex, drugs, alcohol, and bad music. BTW, if you don't want insurance,you can pay $2K in penalties annually. It's better than my paying for life sustaining machines to save a moronic person who made a choice to endanger his own life.

As for the faulty IT systems used to enroll people for insurance, that can be remedied. Yokel, provincial, deliberately uneducated know-nothing, prejudiced people can't be remedied. You blame immigrants and their children for getting the best jobs? Well, maybe THERE IS A REASON.



Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 4:22 pm

Let it all out Zelda! Good work!

I can't believe my country's Conservative wing has devolved into anarchists and Know Nothings... I miss Ike! Hell, I miss Nixon!

They are insane....


Posted by TL Nelson, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 6, 2013 at 11:43 pm

Tim: You are exactly correct. The problem is with the law itself, not with the website glitches, which can be fixed. The problems with the law can only be fixed if it is repealed and replaced.

The fact that millions will lose their current insurance is only the tip of the iceberg. Just wait until Americans realize that this law has never been properly funded. Does anyone honestly think that the "Rob Peter to pay Paul" scheme where the funding for Obamacare comes out of the Medicare program will actually work?

Can anyone explain to me why our Federal government is selling insurance over the internet? Is this really a proper role for our nation's government? (it is not according to our Constitution).

The law creates 159 new Federal agencies and boards to manage our nation's health care industry. The 2400 page law has spawned over 40,000 pages of rules and regulations to govern health care providers. Does anyone really think this is a legitimate role for our government? The government does not need to formally nationalize health care assets in order to control them, it only needs to write enough regulations, which Obamacare accomplishes quite nicely.

The ACA hurts 95% of Americans in order to help 5%. There are simpler, easier and fiscally responsible ways to accomplish the same objectives without the downsides of the ACA. It must be repealed and replaced.


Posted by Beth, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 8:52 am

So tired of hearing from old, fat, males on what our country needs. Let's hear from some women who are the people most affected by the Affordable Health Care Act. Women and children, not you old, fat males sending your daughter to a private, expensive university because you obviously have money for healthcare. I suppose we will have to hear from you soon on the rest of your right-wing opinions: Anti-Abortion, Anti-Food Stamps for Women and Children, Pro-Assault Rifles in the Home, Religion in the Schools, Anti Gay Marriage, Anti-Jewish Rants, etc. etc. Who suffers the most in this country from not having healthcare? Women and children. Being agains the Affordable Health Care Act is an anti-women, anti-children mentality. Women and children always get the short end of the stick in this country.


Posted by John, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 9:18 am

Health care reform should have been Medicare for all. It's that simple. It's a program that is already functioning. Who profits from the overly complex "reform" that was put in place? Insurance companies, drug companies, lobbyists and who knows who else. In addition we need better ways to compare costs and shop for services. For simple lab procedures there are two labs here in Danville: one charges 90% less than the other for the same procedures.
I would also like to address the folks who use these forums to rant. In general, I skip over whatever you are saying. I can turn on shock talk radio if I want to experience that. I do appreciate the folks who take the time to express their thoughts in a reasonable way.


Posted by Danica, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 10:38 am

Hilarious read from Zelda and other koolaid drinkers. Watch for the IPAB.
These are Obama's Independent Payment Advisory Boards. Think of Soylent Green. This is the part of Obamakill that determines whether or not you get the TREATMENT you need.
Stupid Congressman MCNERNEY voted for this!! Senile FEINSTEIN admitted she didn't read/know/comprehend people would lose their insurance and the grandfather clause was a bait and switch.

Stretch PELOSI--who should be publically excommunicated--was interviewed on Charlie Rose and looked/sounded idiotic!!! They want single payer that they are exempt from---wake up! B


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 11:59 am

I think a BIG fact has been over-looked.. The reason people are losing their Insurance is because the INSURANCE COMPANIES are cutting them off! Obama does not and cannot control these mega-businesses...

They are making their heartless money decisions like they always do. I'm glad we are starting to turn this "Titanic" of a Health Insurance industry around... Change is never easy....

Single Payer is right around the corner!


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 12:04 pm

And a BIG KUDO out to the Country Music Award show last night who made fun of the web-site issue of the Affordable Care Act! People having trouble getting health care is hilariuos! Well done!

Kerry Underwood and Brad Paisley should take that act on the road...

Nice Christian activity!


Posted by mom of three, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 1:54 pm

@sptwc Hate to break it to you but you can get a subsidy if you make up to $158,500. That's if you have a family of 8. They just use the $94000 as an example.


Posted by Ann Reynolds, a resident of Walnut Creek,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 2:11 pm

Barry Barry Barry----put that purple Jim Jones koolaid down! The insurance companies are banned under ACA or rather UCA if ANY changes were made to the policy. That could be changing your deductible to changing your terms. It was the poison pill put in by "Some ppl live and some ppl DIE" (when referring to a child needing a lung transplant) Sebelius to force ppl off their insurances of CHOiCE. She needs to be fired. Put her back in a NAZI death camp where she can play god.


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 3:12 pm

There you go again with equating changes in our corrupt Insurance schemes and Nazi Death Camps... Get a better perspective please Ann! I think this is more of a Cambodian Killing Fields situation...

Insurance companies began dropping people and chamnging the way they do business a while back... They are big boys and girls with very deep pockets and are responsible for their business decisions....

At least it will open up this horrid Insurance situation that has actually denied, harmed, killed and under treated people for decades....They have played GOD and Doctor long enough!!! It's high time for a change..

Change is hard Ann... It is the only thing that will stay the same!


Posted by C. R. Mudgeon, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 3:42 pm

I don't know if we will ever see this sort of analysis, but it would be very interesting to see how total health-care spending in the US changes, with Obamacare (or, as I've been thinking of it, "Obamadon'tcare"). I'm talking about total spend, including insurance premiums, out-of-pocket, deductibles (as incurred), taxpayer-funded subsidies, etc.

Given all of the horror stories from those with existing individual policies, and how their rates (and usually deductibles) are rising dramatically, and given that the total cost of employer-provided plans are also increasing by larger than normal percentages, I think it is likely that total spending on health care will be going up by record percentage increases. And will this be buying more care? Better health? I also think that the answer to that question will be no. If anything, many hospitals and health providers are reducing staff, downsizing, etc. So at a macro level, that means LESS care being provided. Less, for more.... Brilliant!

Then there is the incremental bureaucratic costs of tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of new Obamacare "navigators" (not care providers), that add cost, without adding care:

Web Link

This is ignoring the hundreds of millions of dollars being doled out as we speak, on "outreach" programs (are these "navigators" to help you find the actual navigators?). Guess where these funds are going? To various "friends of the President" - labor unions, liberal activist groups, Planned Parenthood, etc. The largest slush fund in US history, being doled out by the most corrupt administration in US history. The money being spent on outreach is also a "cost" of Obamacare, which may or may not result in more care...


Posted by spcwt, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 4:25 pm

C Mudge,

?ObamaDon?tCare? Ha! That?s funny. Wait a minute. You have a sense of humor? I thought you were supposed to be a curmudgeon??

You?re probably right that Obamacare may ultimately increase the overall cost of healthcare.

Government subsidies tend to increase the overall cost of things. Think of what government subsidized student loans did to the price of college tuition. And how the mortgage interest deduction and below-market interest rates have increased the cost of housing. More money chasing fewer goods generally translates into increased prices. Why should ?free? healthcare be any different?

With or without Obamacare, health insurance is a fundamentally flawed way to pay for healthcare, though, as people have no incentive to reduce costs, because ?someone else? (i.e. insurance) is paying for the healthcare.

I hate to say it, but a single payer system may be our destiny. It seems to be the only feasible way to effectively ration healthcare. People will still be able to get the best care outside the system, of course, for a price.


Posted by CW, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 10:27 pm

People, people! Obamacare is just Obama and the Democrat Party's way to control the American people! They don't give a damn about us or our healthcare. If Obamacare is so wonderful then why aren't they and their staff in the program?....because they know it's bad! The Democrats voted for Obamacare and didn't bother to read it! They voted for it because Obama asked them to, twisted their arms, and in some cases offered them bribes!! Nancy Pelosi said: "Well we had to pass it to find out what's in it"? she is an idiot! The problem is we have "idiots" running our country who don't know what the hell their doing! They won't suffer from their stupid decisions, regulations and laws....but WE WILL!!! I'm also sick and tired of everyone blaming the elderly for everything! We paid our share and paid our way and just remember one day, God willing, all of you will be old too! It's the dead beats and illegals who are getting the free bees, not us!
I say it's time to IMPEACH OBAMA and send him packing! He is a liar, a socialist and he is destroying our country! Quit defending him!


Posted by Conservator, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 7, 2013 at 11:20 pm

@CW,

Was Medicare just part of his 'Great Society' shell game to control all seniors? Perhaps the Medicare-Part D drug program was just a secret program to ensure that all of our country's seniors had their allocated dose of 'soma'?

At the end of the day, it would have likely been better to roll all of the uninsured in a Medicaid program. However, that would had been even more politically unteniable then what we ended up. Your bemoaning sounds no different then one I heard across a dinner table as a youth regarding the social programs of that day.

Get over it and enjoy the benefits of socialized medicine for those 65 and older in a manner our grandparent's could never have imagined in their day.


Posted by Barry, a resident of Southeast Pleasanton,
on Nov 12, 2013 at 11:38 am

Thanks all for the lively debate!

It's amazing how ignorant some of our citizens are.. They took a poll asking what they liked better, Obamacare or the Affordable care Act. I can't remember the numbers but an estimnated 50% liked the idea of the ACA but only 30% liked the idea of Obamacare! Wow!

This new LAW has already helped millions of people and millions more will benefit! Insurance companies cannnot discriminate against women and anyone with pre-existing conditions... As of 2014 Insurance companies will be required to cover mental health and addiction diseases... That is a WIN WIN even for you FOXaphiles out there.. More people getting help and just MAYBE there will be one less Mass shooting because somebody got dialed into some help. This will saves lives for sure!

That is a HUGE WIN already! The rest will be gravy....

Can't wait for Single Payer! The Best is Yet to Come!


Posted by the smart one, a resident of Danville,
on Nov 13, 2014 at 9:09 am

Gruber says we are stupid? He is a MIT professor?
Only a stupid crook pulls off a big heist, and then goes on a lecture tour bragging about it! REPEAL, AND DONT REPLACE! If you want healthcare, pay for it yourself!


Posted by Ralph, a resident of Castlewood,
on Nov 13, 2014 at 9:24 am

Conservator & Barry,
If you like Obmacare, Medicare & Social security, then you must have been VERY disappointed when Bernie Maddoff was convicted. His whole plan was based on these same tactics. And just like these plans will someday go bankrupt, Bernie ended up running out of "new" money to put in.
You see the math just doesn't work, yes you can rape the hard working american tax payer for a while, but sooner or later they to will run out of money and the whole thing caves in. Whats wrong with everybody just paying for it on their own? if you want healthcare, but can't afford it, get a second job, if you want a retirement someday, save your own money and plan for it. Don't make porr choices your whole life and then expect the tax payer next to you to bail you out. Keep in mind that for every tax dollar the the goverment collects, only .20 cents makes it to it's intended target.
If nothing else, we should agree to make all taxes bypass the IRS/goverment, and go directly to the target. More goverment is not the answer.


Posted by Sean, a resident of Ruby Hill,
on Nov 13, 2014 at 9:31 am

I have a great Idea... that will make EVERYBODY HAPPY, lets have a true "two party" system, so if you want all these programs, you simply check a box on your tax return, and the cost gets spread over the people who checked the box, and they get access to the program. Or you can NOT check the box, and you pay for none of it, and you dont get acess. Thats fair right, Oh I forgot, you all want someone else to pay for it, you want to TRANSFER the wealth. lol vote with your own wallet not mine.
Thank you,


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