So how much is your insurance going up due to Obamacare?

[Alan]

.....please put blame where blame is due....

OK, it's the law itself.

Blaming Republicans or the insurance companies can only go so far. First of all, the administration wrote the rules that set the conditions under which plans lose their grandfather status. But more important, the law has an effective date so far in the past that it virtually guaranteed that the vast majority of people currently in the individual market would end up with a notice saying they needed to buy insurance on the Obamacare exchanges.

Any effort to pin the blame on others is a classic case of misdirection. The vast majority of the problem stems from the effective date, which was imposed by the administration. Given the problems which stem from it, it is easy to see why loyalists must attempt to keep the focus elsewhere.

[iris lilies]

Today President Obama apologized to Americans who are losing their health insurance. I'm glad that he did that, he should have.

[Gregg]

Today President Obama apologized to Americans who are losing their health insurance. I'm glad that he did that, he should have.

That was nice of him.

[gimmethesimplelife]

That was nice of him.

I don't understand why some people are so down on Obama - from a historical perspective, I have read that there were problems when Medicare rolled out in 1965, and also when Bush signed into law the D part of Medicare involving prescription drugs. I agree it is VERY annoying that the exchange website is not working but take a poll of any restaurant worker I know struggling to find a better job in this economy making 12 to 14K a year with no health coverage and you will find someone very grateful for ObamaCare and Obama..... Rob

[iris lilies]

I don't understand why some people are so down on Obama ...

Because the guy is a liar. It makes me mad that he didn't even apologize for his lies or "misspeaking" as I read the interview transcript. I take back what I said in the above post, I was trying to give him some credit. Here's my favorite pundit's take on it. I quote because Goldberg is a talented wordsmith and I don't want to paraphrase:

"Last night, Obama said again that he and his administration could have been "more clear" about what would happen under Obamacare...The White House didn't tell the truth unclearly, it told a lie very clearly. This is a huge distinction. It's the difference between mumbling "Don't drink that; it's poison" and "Drink up!"

[Gregg]

I don't understand why some people are so down on Obama

In this context I'm way south of the line on our President simply because he stated, hundreds of times, that, "if you like your policy you can keep it". We now know that is completely false. The only two real possibilities are that 1) Mr. Obama and the team he assembled are so inept they were incapable of predicting the response of companies that make up more than 1/6 of our GDP, or 2) they lied. Since the roll out was squarely in the best interests of BIG insurance I know were my vote falls, but everyone is free to decide for themselves whether or not the end justifies the means.

[gimmethesimplelife]

In this context I'm way south of the line on our President simply because he stated, hundreds of times, that, "if you like your policy you can keep it". We now know that is completely false. The only two real possibilities are that 1) Mr. Obama and the team he assembled are so inept they were incapable of predicting the response of companies that make up more than 1/6 of our GDP, or 2) they lied. Since the roll out was squarely in the best interests of BIG insurance I know were my vote falls, but everyone is free to decide for themselves whether or not the end justifies the means.

So much of America boils down to social class - it amazes me that so few will admit to this or are even willing to see it when I realized this when I was 12. I will admit it does seem as if Obama lied - or did not understand/realize what was going to happen when ObamaCare rolled out - I'll grant this much if other will grant me this or at least chew it over - If your income is 14K or less and insurance is out of the realm of possibility of you and you therefore realize how little human life means in America - do you honestly believe you are going to criticize any mechanism that delivers you insurance and makes you less of a 2nd class citizen? Seriously?

So yes there are issues with what Obama claimed was going to be the case - in my social class however this is not an issue for the reasons stated above. Once again, social class lines very starkly drawn. And what is even more sad about America - if I prove successful in going back to school and becoming self employed as is my goal - I will still see things this way. I have lived with the 24/7 fear of not being worth health care in America for far too many years to ever see it differently at this point. Money wouldn't make this reality go away - and for this I very much like and respect myself. Rob

[ApatheticNoMore]

In this context I'm way south of the line on our President simply because he stated, hundreds of times, that, "if you like your policy you can keep it".

that's just a politician's lie. No I don't think it's wonderful that some people are losing policies, but I find the lie itself utterly unremarkable, it's a politicians lie, it's what they do. In other breaking news: zebra still has stripes, water still wet, dogs still barking. One could very well say something about the electorate not wanting the truth as well (cause is there really the willingness to hear it when it's not upbeat?), but they aren't the one's in charge so it's not *primarily* their fault (maybe some slight secondary responsibility). The Obama administration has recently said 3 or 4 people will benefit for every 1 harmed or something, it's probably not too far off (except with the caveat that those benefits aren't all they appear either if they are deductibles too high to use and narrow networks etc. and that the ratio of those harmed by having this medical system will likely continue to increase in the long term if nothing is done to restrain medical costs - more employers will drop plans, more and more people will switch to lower quality plans etc..).

[bae]

The Obama administration has recently said 3 or 4 people will benefit for every 1 harmed or something, it's probably not too far off

Heck, I could probably help 10-20 people in my county for every person I harmed, if I put my mind to it...

Let's hear it for ethical thinking!

[kib]

Even as one in favor of a more communal outlook, I can't find much to like about ACA.

I keep likening our public policy to a very stupid person's approach to their life circumstances: if you have an $8000 electric bill each month and half a brain, the first thing you do is not to take a second job to pay the bill, OR ask your neighbor to pay some of it for you. You look at the bill and see why on earth it's so high. You turn out lights and put on a sweater. In fact maybe you even go down to the electric company with a cattle prod.

The question of "how shall the country pay its healthcare bill" should be absolutely secondary to, "where on earth did this bill amount come from, are they nuts?"


ETA: I'm not suggesting that each of us can take on the task of analyzing our health care / health insurance costs on our own, but that if our administration is actually for the people, that should be the first order of business, not paying some insane fee and then casually asking why when the money's already gone.