Federal Court Deals Potentially Crippling Blow to ObamaCare

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In a country that has long had perhaps the worst healthcare delivery systems in the civilized world one would think that every effort would be made to change that.  Unfortunately the opposite is the case as the Republican led congress, as well as every Republican senator is intent on dismantling the law and returning to the private insurance based scam that brutalized the country for decades.  Now the courts are in on the effort to destroy the law and leave millions without access to health care once again.

state_health_insurance_exchange_decisions

From Newser:

A federal appeals court has delivered a serious setback to President Obama’s health care law, potentially derailing subsidies for many low- and middle-income people who have bought policies. If upheld, the decision could mean premium increases for more than 5 million of the 8 million Americans who purchased taxpayer-subsidized insurance under the law. It affects consumers who purchased their coverage through the federal insurance marketplace—or exchange—that serves 36 states who did not set up their own.

A three-judge panel in Washington, DC, ruled 2-1 that the law, as written, only allows insurance subsidies in states that have set up their own exchanges. That invalidated an Internal Revenue Service regulation that allowed subsidies in all 50 states. The Washington Post also sees it as as “serious setback” to the law, if it’s upheld. “It represents a potentially crippling blow to the health-care law, which relies on the subsidies to make insurance affordable for millions of low- and middle-income Americans.” NPR notes that the Obama administration will likely ask that the full 11-judge panel hear the case, and could appeal to the Supreme Court.

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Professor Mike

Professor Mike is a left-leaning, dog loving, political junkie. He has written dozens of articles for Substack, Medium, Simily, and Tribel. Professor Mike has been published at Smerconish.com, among others. He is a strong proponent of the environment, and a passionate protector of animals. In addition he is a fierce anti-Trumper. Take a moment and share his work.
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jess
9 years ago

Maybe they should just get to getting single payer and that would not be a worry for the low income people.

jess
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

I think it will be before that, I really do. It is just going to take one state starting it and the rest will drop like a domino set up. Look at what happened with marriage equality, one state after another is getting it done. Did you ever think you would see that in your lifetime? Half the older members of the LGBT community I know are shocked the way it is going and have told me they had no idea this would happen in their lifetimes. The two old beloved goats in my family I call my aunts said it too.

9 years ago

I have already left and the healthcare disgrace was only one reason.

Every other country in the world with a developed economy and a freely-elected government has a health care plan that covers all of its legal residents. That places the USA with countries such as North Korea, Vietnam, and many undeveloped African countries.

A few months ago, I had a personal incident where I apparently fell out of bed during the night and hit my head. In the morning, I was breathing but unresponsive and could not be awakened.

An ambulance was called and I was transported to a hospital via the emergency room. After a couple of hours and an MRI and an IV, I became semi-coherent (so they said, I’m not sure) and was able to leave. The total cost to me? R$0.00

Ambulance, ER. treatment, MRI and all was covered under the Brazilian national health plan. If a supposedly corrupt second-tier country like Brazil can do this, WTF is wrong with the USA?

O, I forget, Brazil is not financing counter-productive wars and spending more on military things that the rest of the world combined.

Yes, I do support our troops. One of the things I support is not sending them to be maimed and killed in conflicts that have no benefit to anyone but the US defense contractors.

Anonymous
Reply to  James Smith
9 years ago

yes…and the cost of your care to the Brazilian government was likely a penny to the dollar of what it would cost up here…after we cycle the cost through the corporations, who, of course, believe they have an absolute right, nay…an obligation, to profit from your misfortune.

Reply to  Anonymous
9 years ago

Good point. Also, there’s a cultural difference that doesn’t stipulate that being a doctor automatically entitles one to become wealthy. There are doctors here that do very well but they get there by hard work and staying at the top of their profession.

I have relatives here that are doctors and lawyers and most of them do fine but not compared to what they would expect in the USA.

One of the problems I see with the ACA is it leaves the same power structures, the AMA, big pharm, and insurance companies continue to reap enormous profits.

Private insurance is available here and I had it for a time. For two people in their 60s, it was under $500 USD a month and included everything. No co-pays, no minimums, nothing.

Prescription drugs were not included but they are so cheap here, they are less than my co-pays were in the USA. For example, my blood pressure medication in the USA was $115 a month in 2002. Here, they have hovered around $40 a month depending upon the exchange rate.

I could get some government subsidy for hypertension, but being so inexpensive, I’d feel embarrassed at asking for more.

The taxes I pay on everything else covers my medical but there has been little of that and I don’t ask them to pay for my annual blood test as the lab I use is a five minute walk away and It’s less than $50 for a total blood work up. Even better, I download the results from their web site, often the same day.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  James Smith
9 years ago

i agree about the aca. it doesn’t address the underlying pathology, just puts a bandaid on one symptom. of course that bandaid is getting some people more healthcare and that is a good thing, but the system is still broken and the aca does nothing to address that…in fact i have this unsettling feeling that it entrenches it further in some ways.

by the way….interested in sponsoring a universal undesirable for citizenship down there?

Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

I have a daughter in the insurance business, including heal vare coverage. Before the ACA became active, that business dropped off sharply. People thought it was going to be a real plan and they wouldn’t need private coverage.

I told her not to owrry, after implementation, things would be back to normal or better.

She’s lately asked “How did you know dad?” Keeping the legend alive, I said, “Because I’m the Dad, that’s why.”

Citizenship isn’t really required there’s a program similar to having a green card. I instantly qualified because I am married to a Brazilian. There’s a set of rules for others, such as retired people but I don’t know what they are. Mostly it’s showing you have sufficient income to support yourself, I think.

Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

a step in the process of allowing scotus to return to a state of grace. the only imperfections of the Robert’s court are that they did not strike down the aca in it’s entirely the first time around and that they held doma imperfect. there are now cases on the way which will allow them to rectify those mistakes. i believe in them, they will correct those mistakes and return our nation to a more perfect union.

Marsha Woerner
Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

Pennyjane Hanson,
Maybe you can help me. I keep trying to find out what it is that people think is a despicable about so-called “Obama• care”. Never mind that “Obama CARE” is a total misnomer, because it doesn’t even pretend to offer “CARE”. Its intention is solely to make sure that people get health insurance. I am sure that I must be missing something, but I just can’t see it.
Thank you for any information that you can get that will clear this up for me. I don’t think that the ACA is optimal, but I, at least, believe that it is FAR BETTER than the alternative (of nothing)!

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Marsha Woerner
9 years ago

i’m sorry, marsha. this was nothing more than cynical sarcasm. leaving the sarcasm behind and holding on to the cynicism….one thing i think that some people find despicable about the aca is that it it moves, if ever so slowly, towards creating a healthier society. healthy societies aren’t compatible with corporate greed as healthy people are less desperate and capable of more critical thinking about their circumstances. desperate people are more susceptible to exploitation, therefore more desirable, than healthy ones.

still cynical, but righteously believed…i think scotus actually thinks as i said…i honestly think they look forward to the opportunity to “fix” those two decisions i spoke of….at least the five who actually matter anyway.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

wow! i thought my comment was so absurd that no one could take it seriously. i retract everything i said.

universal healthcare paid for by a single entity (the government) is the only approach i find either rational or in compliance with my christian beliefs. the aca, i can live with only in that it offers hope to many even while it does not do much to fix the atrocious system it is intended to impact. it’s like putting a compress on a sucking chest wound…just tries to keep the patient alive until real treatment can be found.

my apologies to all. pj

Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Several of us have been asking about a sarcasm font or at east sarcasm punctuation. That would be something like quotation marks to warn us to get out the grains of salt. 😉

jess
Reply to  James Smith
9 years ago

I always just write, do not make me say it here when I am being all sarcastic for the most part.

Rachael
9 years ago

If the Affordable Care Act ends up being overturned, repealed, or otherwise destroyed I will start to think about leaving America.

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Rachael
9 years ago

Few people know how difficult that has become. None the less, the number of people renouncing their US citizenship is at an all time high.

Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

Not so difficult. Move to a country wit clearly-defined rules for citizenship, meet them and become a citizen with ID and passport. BTW, just picked up my new Brazilian ID this morning. 🙂

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