Obamacare is already helping millions of Americans save money and live healthier lives, and thanks to yesterday’s ruling, it will help millions more in the years to come. Blogs across the country are reacting by sharing what havinghealth care will mean for them – below are some of the stories.
(And f you’re hearing the accusation that “this means a tax increase – here’s a video of Romney himself saying it isn’t, from the WSJM , while Politico debunks 5 myths about the mandate.
CHECK OUT THESE BLOGS:
· Drums n’ Whistles: “Wonkery and politics aside, it’s time for everyone including the news media to communicate the truth: There is nothing evil about giving everyone access to health care. Nothing. It is apeople issue. Not political. Not taxes. Not fiscal. It’s about people. Period. http://bit.ly/NJZWeH
· The Daily Banter: Why the Healthcare Ruling is Important to You:“So the beneficiaries of ‘Obamacare’ are basically pretty much everyone.” http://bit.ly/LJ7weA
· Nevada Progressive: How Today’s ACA Ruling Matters Going Forward “And then, there’s the practical aspect. We have the 33 million Americans who will finally soon have health care.” http://bit.ly/MvkwDF
· The AmericanProspect: Who Won the Fight over Obamacare? “The most important thing about today’s landmark ruling on the Affordable Care Act has nothing to do with Barack Obama or Mitt Romney and everything to do with the millions of people who willgain health insurance—or keep it—as a result of the Court’s decision.” http://bit.ly/OFFuAB
· Mother Jones: 10 Things You Get Now That Obamacare Survived: http://bit.ly/MYyb16
· Jack & Jill Politics: SCOTUS Ruling Is A Victory Not Just For Obamacare But For People’s Lives http://bit.ly/KHJ9I1
· Blue Mass Group: “Today’s historic Supreme Court decision is the first step in realizing the promise of the Affordable Care Act here in Massachusetts. But to preserve today’s gains, we have to make the right decision at the ballot box in November.” http://bit.ly/OFFksS
· The Progressive Pulse: “While the politics today are important – conservative chief justice upholding the President’s signature policy achievement – the affect on the real people in North Carolina who desperately need affordable health coverage is far more important.” http://bit.ly/LJ7kMs
· Jezebel: What Does the Supreme Court Ruling on Obamacare Mean for Your Vagina?http://bit.ly/N2LRfo
· MOMocrats: Adear writer friend says:”THANK YOU SUPREME COURT. http://on.fb.me/Mct6Ia
· Dadding: Supreme Court AllowsFamilies a Sigh of Relief: http://bit.ly/NbLqv9
· CT News Junkie: Supreme Court UpholdsObamacare; Saves Connecticut Millions: http://bit.ly/LzTvcM
· Blue Hampshire: By The Numbers – the Affordable Care Act in New Hampshire: http://bit.ly/N2LPUN
· PunditMom: Supreme Court and “Obamacare”: A Win/Win for American Families: http://bit.ly/MFPBkl
· Strollerderby: 15 Things Obama Wants You To Know About the Affordable Heath Care Act: Obamacare Simplified: http://bit.ly/OFEFro
· The Jed Report: Forward with President Obama or backward with Mitt Romney?: http://bit.ly/MECq50
Reddit: I am Republican, prepared to vote for Obama: http://bit.ly/Llf8zv
STFU Conservatives: “When you break the ACA down into provisions – no lifetime caps for coverage, no denying people for preexisting conditions, allowing people to stay on theirparents’ insurance until they’re 26 – Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of it. But the ideologues on the Right have decided that anything Obama does is bad, so this is bad, so they drive the message that it’s all about death panels and government intrusion and LIBERTY!!! when actually, it’s about common-sense changes to a broken system.” http://bit.ly/N23EBi
*BOTTOM LINE: THERE IS NO TAX; IT’S A PENALTY FOR FOLKS WHO DON’T HAVE INSURANCE, BUT MIGHT WANT TO FREELOAD, i.e, TRIPS TO E.R
THE SYSTEM BRINGS THESE FOLKS IN TO PAY THEIR SHARE. IT’S THE REPSONSIBLE THING TO DO HERE. AND IT ONLY AFFECTS ABOUT 1-2% OF THE POPULATION.
PASS ON GOOD INFORMATION HERE, AND HELP STAMP OUT THE LIES AND HYPE. THANK YOU!
Reblogged this on Politically Activated.
Hi Daniel. Thank you!
from Charles Pierce:
This is fantastic:
Charles Pierce: One of the overlooked elements in Thursday’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act is that, beyond the individual mandate and the hysterical politics surrounding it, the act itself is chock-full of innovative ideas and pilot programs and all sorts of other experimental goodness directed toward making easier the lives of people dealing with serious health problems. Like, for example, Alzheimer’s Disease…
Tucked away in the act is a pilot program for 10,000 people called the Independence At Home program. This is a technique first developed by the Veterans Administration by which a patient with a chronic disease, like Alzheimer’s, is treated in his or her own home by a team of doctors, nurse practitioners, geriatric pharmacists, and any other health professional whose specialty is required.
This is not only cost-efficient, being infinitely cheaper than hospitals and nursing homes, but it is a comfort for the patients and their families…
…. The program is the brainchild of Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), whose mother died from Alzheimer’s …. “Let’s just start with pre-existing conditions,” Markey told me on Thursday evening. “If the law had been struck down, you didn’t have those protections anymore. And we know that five million people have Alzheimer’s right now, and that 15 million are going to get it. Let’s go to bankruptcy, then. The law says that just because you got sick, you cannot go bankrupt.”
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/obamacare-alzheimers-impact-10152540
Reblogged this on therealwithdarylanddevon@.wordpress.com and commented:
Damn excellent post and information. Thanks!!!!!
Thank you!
White House cursing is not a BFD
By Steve Benen
Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:20 PM EDT.
Two years ago, at the signing ceremony for the Affordable Care Act, Vice President Biden was overheard telling President Obama the historic occasion was a “big f**king deal.” The comment wasn’t intended for the public — Biden didn’t know the microphone would pick it up — but once it was out there, the White House embraced it as an endearing Biden moment.
And with that in mind, the Obama campaign is selling t-shirts like these, touting the same “BFD” message. It led Jake Tapper today to highlight the recent history of “blue” language and Team Obama.
Conservatives suggest that cursing is now a “thing” for the Obama campaign, given that campaign manager Jim Messina yesterday blogged “Let’s win the damn election,” and Democratic National Committee executive director Patrick Gaspard tweeted “it’s constitutional. B******.” (Asterisks included by ABC)
And Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod in March blogged. “Hell yeah, I like Obamacare.”
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney’s senior adviser, said language like this is “not presidential.” (Follow up question for Fehrnstrom: your campaign believes in heckling and sending a bus to drive around in circles while honking. Is that “presidential”?)
But before these questions about political cursing make the rounds too much, let’s also pause to note recent history. When George W. Bush decided to launch an unnecessary war, he proclaimed, “F**k Saddam, we’re taking him out.” When Dick Cheney ran into Pat Leahy on the Senate floor in 2004, he said, “Go f**k yourself.”
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During a discussion on immigration policy a few years ago, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) screamed at Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), saying “F**k you! This is chickens**t stuff.” On the campaign trail a few months ago, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who positions himself as a virtues champion of traditional values, blasted a reporter’s question as “bulls**t.”
The point is people in politics sometimes use profanity. So do people outside of politics. Let’s not make too big a fuss about this.
Postscript: I don’t claim to be an expert on cursing, but are words like “damn” and “hell” still considered “bad” words? Are people who use them seriously at risk of being accused of having a “potty mouth”?
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/29/12484153-white-house-cursing-is-not-a-bfd?lite
SCOTUS: 5 Things the Obamacare Ruling Does for Blacks and Latinos
Blacks, Latinos and other folks of color make up more than half of the nation’s uninsured population. And many have framed the fight for affordable care as being a battle for racial equality precisely because African Americans and Latinos have historically had limited access to quality care due to institutional barriers. Today’s Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act will have a substantial effect on Latinos and Blacks. Let’s take a look at what Obamacare does for these Americans:
1. More Blacks and Latinos will gain health coverage: A recent study shows that the Affordable Care Act could cut the eight-percentage-point Black-White differential in uninsured rates in half. The nineteen-percentage-point Hispanic-White differential in uninsured rates could be reduced by slightly less than a quarter. The extent that Black and Latino communities will have a lower rate of uninsured members will largely depend on how people are being informed about enrollment in Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the soon to be created health insurance exchanges. In the Latino community, addressing language barriers will be key.
2. More Black and Latino Doctors and Nurses: Minority primary care providers are desperately needed in Black and Latino communities. The young people in these communities are often deterred from pursuing medical careers because of the high cost of higher education. The Affordable Care Act provides resources to increase the number of Black and Latino medical professionals working in the field; they will be needed more than ever as more community members gain access to care.
3. Improved Health for the Ladies: All women will have access to prescription birth control without co-pays. Also, women will have access to preventative health screening with the Affordable Care Act. Currently, breast cancer claims the lives of up to five African American women per day, and in the Latina community, breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and tends to be diagnosed later. With expanded access to preventative screenings, these kinds of illnesses will be caught and treated earlier.
4. Coverage for Black and Latino Young Adults is Protected: Because parents can now keep their children up to age 26 on their health insurance plans, more young people in Black and Latino communities will be covered. This is especially important in the current economic climate where young people are having a difficult time in the job market.
The Congressional Black Caucus indicated that 410,000 African American young adults gained coverage that they would not normally have due to the Affordable Care Act. Charles Gonzalez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said that nearly 750,000 young Latinos have been able to get coverage through their parents’ health plans.
5. More Health Centers in Black and Latino Communities: In 2010, almost 26 percent of the patients served by community health centers were Black. And in 2009, about 35 percent of the patients served by community health centers were Latino. The Affordable Care Act boosts funding for community health centers in medically underserved communities, so there will be more renovations and construction of these centers throughout the country.
http://politic365.com/2012/06/28/scotus-5-things-the-obamacare-ruling-does-for-black-and-latino-communities/
4 Reasons Why Republicans Won’t Be Able To Repeal Obamacare
By Igor Volsky on Jun 28, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Responding to Thursday’s Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, Congressional Republicans have scheduled a vote in the House to repeal the law and Mitt Romney pledged to undo the measure if he’s elected president in November. But unless the GOP wins a super majority in the Senate — a scenario no one thinks is plausible — it can do little more than weaken Obamacare’s regulations and defund some of its provisions. Here is why:
1) Romney has no authority to issue waivers. Romney has promised to expand a provision of the Affordable Care Act that allows states to opt out of certain sections of the law to permit states to ignore it entirely. But the executive branch and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) likely don’t have the authority to grant such broad waivers. According to the law, HHS (together with the IRS) have waiver authority, but only if the states meet very specific requirements. Neither have blanket waiver authority, which would have to come from Congress. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) — the author of the waiver provision — has challenged Romney’s claims, saying, “Anybody who tries to move outside the standards of the bill — which is the coverage and costs and the like — well I’ll certainly fight that. But I think lots of other people will too.”
2) Congress can’t repeal the full law through reconciliation. Without the necessary 60 votes in the Senate for full repeal, Republicans are pledging to use a budget reconciliation bill to undo the ACA. But this process would only apply to the budget-related elements of the law and would thus leave many portions — including the mandate — intact. As health care expert Robert Laszewski put it, “Romney could end up creating a chaotic environment driven by enormous uncertainty over just which parts of the new health care law would be implemented–for consumers, health care providers, and insurers.”
3) Republicans have nothing to replace it with. David Frum explains that since the expansion of coverage provisions go into effect in 2014, Romney would have just one year to both repeal and replace the law. Republicans haven’t even coalesced around a single plan — and many in the party believe that the federal government should leave health care alone and want to leave the entire reform process to the states. Thus, “if replacement does not happen in the first 100 days, it won’t happen at all—that is, it won’t happen as a single measure, but rather will take the form of dozens of small incremental changes adopted episodically over the next 20 years.”
4) Americans support Obamacare’s provisions. While Americans may not like “Obamacare” — and the political process of passing it — they do support its major provisions and are likely to resist any effort by Republicans to take away their benefits. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that while 56 percent of Americans oppose the law as a whole, 61 percent of respondents favored allowing young adults to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26, 72 percent wish to maintain the requirement that companies with more than 50 workers provide health insurance for their employees, and 82 percent of respondents favored banning insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. As more benefits roll out in 2014, it will be increasingly difficult for Republicans to argue for their repeal.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/06/28/508503/4-reasons-why-republicans-wont-be-able-to-repeal-obamacare/
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Let's be clear about ACA and taxes
It's clear that the Republicans are going to try to cash in on Chief Justice Robert's ruling that the mandate is constitutional because of Congress' taxing authority. The big line they're using is "See…we told you President Obama would raise your taxes!"
To those of us who know about what is in the health care reform bill, this is ridiculous. But just in case you run into people who don't have that information, here are some facts that might be helpful.
If you're part of the 85% of Americans who currently have health insurance…YOUR TAXES WILL NOT GO UP
READ ON:
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2012/06/lets-be-clear-about-aca-and-taxes.html