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Thread: It's time for national healthcare - Page 217







Post#5401 at 12-11-2013 04:16 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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12-11-2013, 04:16 PM #5401
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There are sometimes blessings in malfunctions.

From PDA:

Single Payer Is Getting a Second Life as Obamacare Frustration Peaks


As the rollout of Obamacare clunks forward, activists who opposed the law from the beginning say it is time to seize the moment, to tear down the current health-care edifice and start anew, especially now as frustration with the law’s implementation is reaching a peak.These are not Tea Party activists but advocates for a single-payer health-care system who say some of the problems with the launch of the Affordable Care Act—in addition to built-in problems with the law itself—have made the American public more receptive than ever to a Medicare-for-all kind of coverage system.

On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the American Health Security Act, which would require each state to set up a single-payer health-care system and would undo the exchanges that have plagued Obamacare. Meanwhile, various state-led efforts are under way that advocates hope will sweep the country statehouse by statehouse, as soon as lawmakers see the advantage of a single-payer system. In Vermont, for example, lawmakers have set aside the financing and are already preparing to adopt a single-payer system when the federal government permits it, which according to provisions of the Affordable Care Act will be in 2015. In Massachusetts, Don Berwick, a former top Obama administration health official, is basing his campaign for governor on bringing a single-payer system to the commonwealth. And advocates in New York, Maryland, Oregon, and around the country say they see new energy around their cause.

“As the president fully understands, the rollout has been a disaster, the website has been a disaster,” said Sanders in an interview moments after his bill was introduced in the Senate. “But the truth is, even if all of those problems were corrected tomorrow and if the Affordable Care Act did all that it was supposed to do, it would be only a modest step forward to dealing with the dysfunction of the American health-care system. When you have a lot of complications, it is an opportunity for insurance companies and drug companies and medical equipment suppliers to make billions and billions of profits rather than to see our money go into health care and making people well.”
More: http://www.pdacommunity.org/componen...stration-peaks
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a







Post#5402 at 12-11-2013 04:20 PM by Eric the Green [at San Jose CA joined Jul 2001 #posts 22,504]
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Quote Originally Posted by Deb C View Post
I just love toads.

It ain't easy being green.
"I close my eyes, and I can see a better day" -- Justin Bieber

Keep the spirit alive,

Eric A. Meece







Post#5403 at 12-11-2013 09:38 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Quote Originally Posted by Deb C View Post
This will happen!

Right after that magic pony of you poops that gold nugget you've also been pining for.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5404 at 12-11-2013 09:46 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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The only number that really matters -

Number of people gaining health insurance -

Obamacare = 1,200,000 and climbing!

Toads and Toadies = BIG FAT ZERO!

I'm rooting toads and toadies, but it's hard to keep the faith. Can't you just help one single person??? Or, is this one of those magic ponies pooping gold nuggets kind of thing?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...care-coverage/

Since October, 1.2 million have gained Obamacare coverage
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5405 at 12-12-2013 01:39 AM by Ragnarök_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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Quote Originally Posted by Eric the Green View Post
Dr. Belk points out that medicine is much cheaper if you buy it directly, and not through an insurance plan.

http://truecostofhealthcare.org/

http://youtu.be/r9q1Id41wGo
Wow, Eric passes econ 101 here. Yes, stuff is cheaper when you cut out assorted crufty middle men or in the case of healthcare, parasitical economic tapeworms [health care insurance companies.] Of course, in the real world, a problem to address is how to expunge said tapeworms with the proper political purgative.
MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#5406 at 12-12-2013 01:47 AM by Ragnarök_62 [at Oklahoma joined Nov 2006 #posts 5,511]
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12-12-2013, 01:47 AM #5406
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
Number of people gaining health insurance -

Obamacare = 1,200,000 and climbing!

Toads and Toadies = BIG FAT ZERO!

I'm rooting toads and toadies, but it's hard to keep the faith. Can't you just help one single person??? Or, is this one of those magic ponies pooping gold nuggets kind of thing?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...care-coverage/
Yes, I have no issue with ACA since I, personally benefit from it which means I assume others do likewise. But playwrite, what's wrong with letting not letting the good be the enemy of the best. Perhaps some toad venom is in order to kill those damn tapeworms.

Inject The Venom

MBTI step II type : Expressive INTP

There's an annual contest at Bond University, Australia, calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term:
The winning student wrote:

"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and promoted by mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a piece of shit by the clean end."







Post#5407 at 12-12-2013 03:15 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Quote Originally Posted by Ragnarök_62 View Post
Yes, I have no issue with ACA since I, personally benefit from it which means I assume others do likewise. But playwrite, what's wrong with letting not letting the good be the enemy of the best. Perhaps some toad venom is in order to kill those damn tapeworms.

Inject The Venom

I don' see the good as being an enemy of the best; I see it as the only realistic step toward the eventual goal. I'm a realist on tactics and strategies but that doesn't exclude me as an idealist on the goal.

I don't really have a problem with folks not being realist. Most, by far, have no clue as to the context that makes tactics and strategies necessary. Most folks are too busy dealing with their on personal wants and needs and the distractions of whether one of the Kardasians farted on camera or some multi-millionaire sports star is getting his 'fair' share of money and glory. It is what it is.

What I don't like are toads who delve into an issue just enough to have some of the lexicon and links to cheery picked reference material to give them some faux credibility while they would otherwise be known as having an a-hole personality disorder, e.g. narcissism. And other toads who don't even bother with any reality of the issue but just see it as another arena to share their warmed-over nihilist depression or non-existent candyland of individualism where only freedom fries are sold! These toads would be jizzin each other with their toxic venom except for my being here and calling out their trash- I become their shared target. And that's okay, it's entertaining - reading them is getting insight into hallucinations as potent as any frog toxin. I know.
Last edited by playwrite; 12-12-2013 at 03:18 PM.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5408 at 12-12-2013 03:29 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Poor little Rani

Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Playdude knew that it would fail all along, and was secretly in favor of single payer the whole time.
He is soooo smart!
It must have been really frustrating for your parents. I can just imagine your 9 y.o. birthday -

Mommy: Okay, little Rani, you promised you try walking when your birthday came. Let give it a try. First, you step with your right and then with your left, and....

Little Rani: Mommy, how can I step with my left when you said step with my right???!!! Mommy, you are so mean!!! You are always trying to fool me! WHHAAAAA!!!!!

Mommy: Now Rani, I told you that you step with your left after you step with your right....

Little Rani: Oh, mommy is so stupid! How can someone step with their right and their left??!!! I'm not going to listen to mommy any more; she is stupid!

Mommy: Okay little Rani, maybe we'll just wait for you 10th birthday and maybe mommy will be smarter then.

Little Rani: Now you got it mommy. Rani smart; mommy dumb. Can Rani have a freedom fry, mommy?
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5409 at 12-12-2013 03:50 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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En-slavers of women -

- just hate this!

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journ...013.11.015.pdf

Changes in out-of-pocket payments for contraception by privately insured
women during implementation of the federal contraceptive
coverage requirement
Under Obamacare, three times as many women are getting free contraceptives. Number is going to get bigger as more of the ACA rolls out.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5410 at 12-15-2013 09:02 AM by Alioth68 [at Minnesota joined Apr 2010 #posts 693]
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
I'm a realist on tactics and strategies but that doesn't exclude me as an idealist on the goal.
Just a meta-comment: you know, you talk a lot about how savvy you supposedly are about "tactics", and yet--how well would you say your rhetorical "tactics" have worked on people on this board? How many people would you say really give a shit what your opinion of them is? Do you think you're cowing anyone toward your point of view? Maybe insults and bullying worked to persuade you when you were younger, because you were more easily intimidated by that than most. Doesn't seem to be working with this crowd though, does it. Maybe you need to try different "tactics".

And I'm even someone who may actually agree with some of those points you have buried in there, more than many here. I'm at least open to a good informed argument. I like when you do inform--but it seems more and more that the ratio of actual informing, to getting your rocks off finding more "clever" ways to insult people, is getting pretty thin. I can't blame the people who no longer listen to you or take you seriously anymore. Too bad, really.
"Understanding is a three-edged sword." --Kosh Naranek
"...Your side, my side, and the truth." --John Sheridan

"No more half-measures." --Mike Ehrmantraut

"rationalizing...is never clear thinking." --SM Kovalinsky







Post#5411 at 12-16-2013 04:08 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Quote Originally Posted by Alioth68 View Post
Just a meta-comment: you know, you talk a lot about how savvy you supposedly are about "tactics", and yet--how well would you say your rhetorical "tactics" have worked on people on this board? How many people would you say really give a shit what your opinion of them is? Do you think you're cowing anyone toward your point of view? Maybe insults and bullying worked to persuade you when you were younger, because you were more easily intimidated by that than most. Doesn't seem to be working with this crowd though, does it. Maybe you need to try different "tactics".

And I'm even someone who may actually agree with some of those points you have buried in there, more than many here. I'm at least open to a good informed argument. I like when you do inform--but it seems more and more that the ratio of actual informing, to getting your rocks off finding more "clever" ways to insult people, is getting pretty thin. I can't blame the people who no longer listen to you or take you seriously anymore. Too bad, really.
I think if you bother to scroll back on any of these exchanges, you will hardly find anywhere that I was the first to employ your so-called "rhetorical tactics." In most cases, I've provided a lot of patience before giving up on ideological numbskulls and clueless sheeple that wouldn't know the difference between an "informed argument" and the gibberst voiced by a pack of hyenas. It's the lack of their even attempting to do otherwise that not only ticks me off but gives me the motivation to call them out on the stupidity.

If you don't like, I really don't care.
Last edited by playwrite; 12-16-2013 at 04:28 PM.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5412 at 12-16-2013 04:25 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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someone is going deeper

We hear lots of moans from the "let them get sick and die" wing of the naysayers and handwringers that the increased number of people getting insurance under the ACA is going to put a strain on the system due to the lack of primary physicians - typically, they don't go into much of what is causing the shortage.

Here's someone who has taken a fact-based look and coming up with what the bottleneck in new doctors might just be and why -

Solving the Shortage in Primary Care Doctors

...I had always assumed the culprit was medical school enrollment. But when I looked into those numbers, I found that they are actually increasing noticeably. Thanks to the opening of new medical schools and expanded admissions at existing ones, enrollment is projected to rise by 30 percent between 2002 and 2017, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That’s in addition, mind you, to the swelling number of med students studying abroad, with the goal of eventually practicing in the United States.

It turns out that the real bottleneck is at the post-med-school step: residencies, those supervised, intensive, hazing-like, on-the-job training programs that doctors are required to go through before they can practice on their own.

There has been little growth in residency slots; they totaled 113,000 in 2011-12, from 96,000 a decade earlier. Exactly why residencies have not increased faster is a subject of great debate in the health care industry.

Hospitals, doctors and med students usually give the same explanation: Congress is too stingy....
I guess that's Obama's fault as well.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5413 at 12-16-2013 04:38 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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For real Progressives,

here's where the real action is on health care -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/1...ight-nbsp-back

Those in the Medicaid gap start to fight back

Health care activists and Obamacare supporters are working to organize the millions left out of health insurance reform because their governors and legislatures refused to expand Medicaid. They are recruiting these individuals to lobby their state officials for Medicaid expansion, and turning the issue into a rallying point for the 2014 election. The most advanced effort now is in Texas, the state that also has the most number of people in that Medicaid gap—1 million.

Texas Left Me Out, the combined effort of several community groups, is a website designed to collect those people's stories and organize them into a cohesive political action constituency. It asks those in the Medicaid gap to sign a petition to stay informed about advocacy events and share their story on the site.
Are they going to turn Texas blue on the backs of people who have traditionally been ignored by Republicans? Are they going to convince an anti-Obamacare stalwart like Rick Perry to buy into the law? That's a tough sell. But they're going to try. [...]

Those left out of the expansion are receptive to the effort. Irma Aguilar, a separated mother of four who lives in San Antonio and has been recruited by the Texas groups, said it was a "a real shocker" when an Obamacare canvasser came to her house to explain her options to her under the law, only to find out that her income as an assistant manager at Pizza Hut was too low to qualify for financial assistance to purchase private insurance and she couldn't sign up for Medicaid because Perry and the GOP-led legislature had rejected the expansion.

"They didn't want to take that extra money to help us poor people back here," she told TPM. "What about us back here? It's really hard. I thought with this law, they would try to work to help everybody, but apparently not. They just think of themselves. They've just let us struggle."

Of the 100,000 people organizers have already contacted, they have commitments to participate in the effort from 20,000. That's 20,000 pissed off people who know exactly who broke the promise of Obamacare: their state officials.
Texas is the most advanced effort so far, but is likely to spread to all of the 25 states that aren't expanding Medicaid. The movement could grow beyond just the Medicaid gap population, when more people realize that the refusal to expand Medicaid is resulting in hospital closures and real economic pain for their communities. This could turn into a key election issue for 2014.
It would be a tasty treat if Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion is the straw that breaks the camel's back and turns Texas blue - ending the GOP as a national political force.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5414 at 12-16-2013 04:59 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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And here is the other possible delicious treat

that Obamacare might serve up soon -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...e-in-kentucky/

Obamacare class warfare in Kentucky

Republicans are rolling out an attack on Obamacare that sounds a lot like the Romney 2012 “free stuff” argument. As Beth Reinhard explains in a good piece, the idea is to characterize beneficiaries of the law – particularly the Medicaid expansion — as “shiftless freeloaders” enjoying “free health care,” all ”on the backs of hardworking Americans.”

Mitch McConnell recently derided the notion that Obamacare is a success by characterizing beneficiaries as “people signing up for something that is free.” Reinhard notes that this line “carries an unmistakable undertone of class warfare, a theme easy to exploit in states such as Kentucky, packed with low-income white voters who have a strong distaste for the federal government.”

The handling of Obamacare by McConnell’s Dem opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, is worth considering in this context. It reflects the fact that red state Dems are approaching the health law in a more nuanced way than conventional wisdom suggests. Grimes is criticizing parts of the law, and is not embracing it — far from it. But she isn’t running from its general goals, either. Something more subtle is going on: A faulting of the Republican stance through a defense of the need to expand coverage to people who lack it — the very same beneficiaries of “free stuff” McConnell is singling out.

Here are a couple recent Grimes statements about Obamacare. Last month, Grimes said:

“‘Instead of finger-pointing, instead of blaming, instead of attacking the presidential branch, let’s actually — or the executive branch — let’s actually attack the problem that exists here in the commonwealth and find a way for 640,000″ to get health insurance, Grimes said.

In September, Grimes said Obamacare would create jobs in Kentucky, adding:

“There are 640,000 Kentuckians who previously did not have access to insurance…we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

The 640,000 Grimes refers to are the total number of Kentucky residents who are eligible for the Medicaid expansion or are uninsured and must buy insurance, many of them eligible for subsidies. In other words, Grimes is faulting McConnell’s call for repeal by implicitly suggesting it would foreclose a route to affordable coverage for over half a million people in the state.

The class warfare attacks on Obamacare will continue. Indeed, as Brian Beutler has spelled out, stoking class warfare and resentment are central to other attacks on the law, too, such as the one pitting the young and healthy versus the old and sick. In Reinhard’s piece, you can see variations of this one in Kentucky, too.

Here’s what I expect to see. Grimes will avoid talking about Obamacare where possible, and instead will focus on the minimum wage, pocketbook issues affecting women (equal pay), and McConnell’s decades in Washington. Where necessary, she will call for “fixes” to Obamacare problems that arise (she backed the mandate delay, which would undermine the law if it could pass). But she will defend the expansion of coverage to those who lack it.

Kentucky may prove to be an interesting testing ground for a Democratic balancing act like this. That’s because enrollment has been a success, and many beneficiaries are poor and rural, the very targets for the “class warfare” attacks. Dem governor Steve Beshear is one of the most aggressive advocates for the law in the south, arguing that Dems should run on ”affordable health care” and on the idea that Republicans want to take it away from people.

Grimes — who also has the crucial advantage of having never voted for Obamacare — will obviously be a good deal more subtle than Beshear and won’t associate herself directly with the law. But in defending the idea of expanding coverage to those who lack it, you can see the potential for a more direct argument later about the consequences of repeal. Thus far, nearly 72,000 Kentuckians have enrolled, over 56,000 through the Medicaid expansion, and tens of thousands are eligible for subsidies. Over the months you can picture enrollment piling up to a critical mass that would make it easier for Grimes to argue that repeal would kick all of these people off of insurance, and harder for McConnell to stick to his “free stuff” frame.
IF McConnell wins against his t-bagger challenger inthe primary, it will be interesting to see him turn on a dime toward some softer approach to Obamacare. The Turtle's good but maybe not that good at flip-flopping and avoiding the consequences. We'll see.

KY's governor sure isn't any wallflower when it comes to supporting the ACA. That should be political suicide in a state like KY so he knows something and is not hemmed in like McConnell is by both the Turtle's position in the Senate and by his bagger primary challenger.

Sweet indeed if Obamacare on top of helping to turn TX purple if not blue causes the GOP to loss the Turtle!

Fingers crossed!
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5415 at 12-16-2013 11:45 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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UPDATE! Obamacare, 2.5 million+; Toadcare, 0

Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
Number of people gaining health insurance -

Obamacare = 1,200,000 and climbing!

Toads and Toadies = BIG FAT ZERO!

I'm rooting toads and toadies, but it's hard to keep the faith. Can't you just help one single person??? Or, is this one of those magic ponies pooping gold nuggets kind of thing?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...care-coverage/
Wow, one week later, and we're over 2.5 million with apparently a lot of under counting!

Some good details here -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/1...ction-Achieved

and actual numbers breakout here -

http://acasignups.net/

Still pulling for ya, toads!

Com'on toads,
You can do it!
Just get ur first one!
And then we'll wait for
ur second one!
Gooooooo!!!!
Toads!!!!!
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5416 at 12-17-2013 12:34 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Seen on facebook this morning:


On a positive note, she does say later that she and her husband lied about their income and signed up for an almost-free plan.
Not sure that I would admit that on facebook, though.
I can both agree with her lying and your suggesting that she not advertise it on Facebook.

This lack of coverage is really about the 23 shithead-lead states that are not going to take the Medicaid Expansion - F them.

Here's a good breakout of who is getting impacted by the 23 shithead-lead states -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-leave-behind/

Twenty-three states aren’t expanding Medicaid. Here’s who they leave behind.
The only silver lining here is that many of these folks not being covered are generally healthy younger people. As they get older, their incomes may increase sufficiently to qualify for the subsidies. In the meantime, they should not only consider lying but voting out the shitheads (particularly in Texas!).
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5417 at 12-17-2013 01:30 PM by Marx & Lennon [at '47 cohort still lost in Falwelland joined Sep 2001 #posts 16,709]
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
I can both agree with her lying and your suggesting that she not advertise it on Facebook.

This lack of coverage is really about the 23 shithead-lead states that are not going to take the Medicaid Expansion - F them.

Here's a good breakout of who is getting impacted by the 23 shithead-lead states -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-leave-behind/

The only silver lining here is that many of these folks not being covered are generally healthy younger people. As they get older, their incomes may increase sufficiently to qualify for the subsidies. In the meantime, they should not only consider lying but voting out the shitheads (particularly in Texas!).
On this we agree 100%. There are some places in the US that don't even act like they are a part of the same country the rest of us occupy - Texas being a singularly glaring example. My biggest gripe with this is the obvious one. By lying, this couple bypassed their crummy state, and passed the bill directly to the Feds ... and the rest of us. This may be a wash, considering the fact that Medicaid was the other possible option. Still, it rankles.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.







Post#5418 at 12-17-2013 03:31 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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I guess will always have BENGAHZI! BENGAHZI!

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/201...-to-turn/?_r=0

The Obamacare Worm Continues to Turn

Dana Milbank has an interesting piece today, on two levels.

He begins:

When will the criticism of Obamacare finally end?

I’ve done some research on the question, and by my calculations, judging from current trends, this will happen approximately . . . never.

He then goes on to compare Obamacare to the auto bailout, which at this point looks like a rousing success — but continues to be lambasted by the right, because it shouldn’t have worked, and therefore can’t have worked.

It’s a clever and apt comparison. But it’s something else, too: Milbank may be funny, but he’s not Shrill (TM). So when you see him asking how conservatives will react to Obamacare’s success, it’s a strong signal that the press is catching up to the reality that December is not October, and that the news — while there are still many troubles — is increasingly positive. Actually, so is Darrel Issa’s angry rebuke to a health care official: “You need to watch more Fox News.”

One thing this says is that GOP expectations that Obamacare’s collapse will lead them to triumph are way off. More generally, current polling — which reflects press coverage over the past couple of months, not the months to comes — is probably a very bad guide to future attitudes.
Here's the link to Milbank's piece -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinio...m_opinions_pop

and even more funny the link to Darrell Issa's rant -

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewir...watch-more-fox

- where the real problem is that not enough people are watching Faux News!

Mufasa! Mufasa!
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5419 at 12-18-2013 05:10 AM by '58 Flat [at Hardhat From Central Jersey joined Jul 2001 #posts 3,300]
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Quote Originally Posted by playwrite View Post
that Obamacare might serve up soon -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...e-in-kentucky/



IF McConnell wins against his t-bagger challenger inthe primary, it will be interesting to see him turn on a dime toward some softer approach to Obamacare. The Turtle's good but maybe not that good at flip-flopping and avoiding the consequences. We'll see.

KY's governor sure isn't any wallflower when it comes to supporting the ACA. That should be political suicide in a state like KY so he knows something and is not hemmed in like McConnell is by both the Turtle's position in the Senate and by his bagger primary challenger.

Sweet indeed if Obamacare on top of helping to turn TX purple if not blue causes the GOP to loss the Turtle!

Fingers crossed!


Well, good then: Stop talking about removing "In G-d We Trust" from our currency, taking law-abiding citizens' guns away, and letting pederasts who want to play house call their relationship a "marriage," and sit back and watch this "class warfare" take its course!

If FDR could turn a blind eye to apartheid; i.e., Jim Crow ...
But maybe if the putative Robin Hoods stopped trying to take from law-abiding citizens and give to criminals, take from men and give to women, take from believers and give to anti-believers, take from citizens and give to "undocumented" immigrants, and take from heterosexuals and give to homosexuals, they might have a lot more success in taking from the rich and giving to everyone else.

Don't blame me - I'm a Baby Buster!







Post#5420 at 12-18-2013 01:49 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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Quote Originally Posted by '58 Flat View Post
Well, good then: Stop talking about removing "In G-d We Trust" from our currency, taking law-abiding citizens' guns away, and letting pederasts who want to play house call their relationship a "marriage," and sit back and watch this "class warfare" take its course!

If FDR could turn a blind eye to apartheid; i.e., Jim Crow ...
Personally, I don't give a fig, either way, about IGWT on the currency.

I'm a gun control advocate, but nobody better try to take my hunting rifles and precision shooters away from me. This is just horseshit propaganda by Rambo wannabe extremists with large mag fetishes.

There's absolutely no evidence that homo-s has any more likelihood that hetero-s toward pediophilia; what evidence there is suggests exactly the opposite. The issue is only about whether homo-s should have the same opportunity to be as miserable in marriage as hetero-s. (Note - just in case the better half is reading this, I would be one of the few exceptions, hetero or homo. )

All these silly issues are a result of people having too much time on their hands.
Last edited by playwrite; 12-18-2013 at 04:11 PM.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5421 at 12-18-2013 02:46 PM by The Wonkette [at Arlington, VA 1956 joined Jul 2002 #posts 9,209]
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Quote Originally Posted by The Rani View Post
Hmm ... well, I'm not sure I'll get an answer to this one. It turns out she was already getting free care for her daughter under another state program, prior to Obamacare. I'm not exactly sure what her gripe is at this point, unless she's one of those single-payer-or-die toadies.
She probably gets Medicaid for her daughter under a program called SCHIP, but didn't qualify for Medicaid for herself under the traditional rules. Many States have much more generous eligibility thresholds for children then for adults.
I want people to know that peace is possible even in this stupid day and age. Prem Rawat, June 8, 2008







Post#5422 at 12-18-2013 04:14 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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It's not looking good..

for the toads and toadies -

...State health exchanges are reporting a surge in enrollment -- and consumer interest -- as they near a late December deadline to purchase insurance coverage.

If November had an Obamacare surge, consider this the December deluge. California averaged 15,000 daily enrollments early last week, about double the sign-ups the state had in early December. New York is now seeing about 4,500 residents choosing plans each day and, in Connecticut, the number is hovering around 1,400.

With consumer interest seeming to spike, these states and others are increasing call center staffing by half.

"We continue to see a tremendous increase in enrollment," says Lisa Sbrana, counsel to New York State of Health. "We're averaging between 1,200 and 1,500 calls per hour and have seen a 34 percent increase in enrollment from last week to this week."

The rush comes before a Dec. 23 deadline to purchase coverage that would begin on Jan. 1. While open enrollment does run through the end of March, the Dec. 23 deadline could be especially important to those who currently purchase coverage and don't want to fall into an insurance gap -- and those who have anticipated the health-care law's insurance expansion.

While states did expect a last-minute rush, some report being taken a bit off guard by how quickly it happened.
Sorry, toads and toadies, you know I've been your number one fan and have waited for your getting that first person some health insurance, but even I have to see your defeat and move on. I'll wait until the end of this week - out of respect for the holiday spirit.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5423 at 12-18-2013 04:28 PM by playwrite [at NYC joined Jul 2005 #posts 10,443]
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12-18-2013, 04:28 PM #5423
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More good news

...Responding to a recent nudge from the White House, health insurers are moving back their deadline for accepting premium payments for plans under the Affordable Care Act. America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) announced Wednesday that plans would accept payment through Jan. 10 for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Here's its statement:..
But I'm with the rest of you; can't figure out why Obama doesn't spend more time bashing his head against the t-bagger House instead of doing this crazy stuff like helping real people.

It's just so weird.
"The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start" - R. Service

“It’s not tax money. The banks have accounts with the Fed … so, to lend to a bank, we simply use the computer to mark up the size of the account that they have with the Fed. It’s much more akin to printing money.” - B.Bernanke


"Keep your filthy hands off my guns while I decide what you can & can't do with your uterus" - Sarah Silverman

If you meet a magic pony on the road, kill it. - Playwrite







Post#5424 at 12-19-2013 07:51 AM by annla899 [at joined Sep 2008 #posts 2,860]
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12-19-2013, 07:51 AM #5424
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Quote Originally Posted by '58 Flat View Post
Well, good then: Stop talking about removing "In G-d We Trust" from our currency, taking law-abiding citizens' guns away, and letting pederasts who want to play house call their relationship a "marriage," and sit back and watch this "class warfare" take its course!

If FDR could turn a blind eye to apartheid; i.e., Jim Crow ...
Please do not conflate homosexuality with pederasty. It demonstrates utter ignorance on your part. Do a little research.







Post#5425 at 12-20-2013 03:30 PM by Deb C [at joined Aug 2004 #posts 6,099]
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A serious situation is about to become even more serious.

Consider this:

Proposed GME funding cuts taking shape $11 billion. That’s the portion of federal GME funding that President Obama’s administration proposes cutting over the next decade in its fiscal 2014 budget. Broken down on a yearly basis, these cuts represent approximately 10 percent of Medicare’s contribution to GME. Draconian cuts like these could result in serious access issues for patients in need of care—especially with 30 million Americans requesting more health care services in 2014 as a result of the Affordable Care Act. Other proposals to slash GME funding continue to swirl about the halls of Congress as well and, if acted upon, could seriously threaten the future of medicine in America.

http://savegme.org/gme-funding-remai...cal-condition/


It will make our doctor shortage even worse.

Here's why:

It’s a fearful time for medical students



Imagine you, like most traditional medical students, went to college for four years to earn an undergraduate degree. Like many, you might also have obtained a graduate degree or worked for a period of time. You then spend time and money fulfilling extracurricular activities, taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), applying to schools and traveling for interviews. If you are part of the lucky minority — roughly 40 percent — you will gain entrance to a medical school to spend four more years and tens of thousands of dollars to graduate as a physician.


Imagine you do all this, only to find you have no job.


Jobless doctors? At one point, that would have been preposterous, but just last year more than 500 MD graduates in the United States did not obtain residency positions. This total does not include the thousands of osteopathy students and international medical students who were not matched. According to the National Resident Matching Program, the organization that matches allopathic medical students with their graduate medical training sites, more than 13,000 applicants were unmatched in the initial process and participated in a supplemental program instead. In all, 34,355 U.S. and international medical students were competing for 26,392 positions.


This seems like an interesting predicament for a country that fears an imminent physician shortage. By some estimates, the United States will be short more than 60,000 physicians in the next two years. This is also devastating to students. Without a residency position, you cannot practice medicine and therefore cannot earn a living. That is scary news to the average medical student who graduates with more than $160,000 in debt.


At this point you might be wondering what the problem is. Where is the hang up in the system we trust to train an adequate physician workforce? There are actually several problems, all of which come down to the funding of graduate medical education, or GME. GME funding is directly tied to Medicare and indirectly tied to Medicaid. Anything that affects Medicare and Medicaid will invariably affect residency training positions.


The most prominent example is the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. In essence, this bill mandated that reimbursements to hospitals for training doctors would be frozen at 1996 levels. An increase in the number of doctors a hospital trained would bring in no extra government reimbursements. Basically, we can’t train any more doctors than we did in 1996 — even with an aging population and looming shortage.


Unfortunately — or fortunately, depending on how you see the picture — medical schools have increased class sizes and the number of graduating doctors in an effort to stall and/or prevent a national shortage. By 2017, 30 percent more students will be enrolled in medical school than in 2002. As you can probably see, this creates a bottleneck, one that became evident this year. It will only get worse as students who did not match this year apply again next year only to find themselves competing with an increasing number of graduating applicants.


If things continue, further cuts in residency positions will occur. The 2014 fiscal budget proposes $11 billion in Medicare cuts over the next 10 years. This equates to a decrease in GME funding from Medicare by roughly 10 percent a year. We cannot afford to lose 10 percent of our residency positions.


Residency positions are important to the health of our nation and the health care system. They represent a large portion of care for the elderly, disabled and indigent. Residents also reflect the future of medicine. As our nation ages and faces a dramatic increase in the insured population, we cannot afford to face a shortage. As a student of public health, I fear the repercussions for the U.S. health care system. As a medical student, I fear the repercussions for myself. I want to treat patients. I want to work in a community. I want to provide charity care.

Lately, though, I just want a job.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/12/...-students.html
Last edited by Deb C; 12-20-2013 at 03:33 PM.
"The only Good America is a Just America." .... pbrower2a
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