Not Hypothetical For Many–A Repeal Of Obamacare Will Kill And Bankrupt Many

With the Supreme Court’s decision on the health care law expected next week, GOP politicians and their media allies are attacking Obamacare in full force. Many are treating the repeal or the potential Supreme Court rendering of the bill unconstitutional as some sort of a game. It is far from a game for millions of Americans.

I came to this country to get an education. I decided to stay for a better life. I worked professionally as an engineer. I then formed my own company. I never took anything from the government. I have always purchased health insurance for my family.

When I formed my own company my health insurance cost skyrocketed. Over the years my wife developed Lupus, a chronic disease. That locked us in to our policy which had escalated to almost $20,000 a year (that was over 5 years ago). In Texas we finally found a high risk pool for my wife and a catastrophic policy for me and my daughter and a college policy for my daughter. Our combined deductible is $15,000 per year. As such we pay all of our health care out of pocket even as we pay north of $15,000 a year for health insurance. While I understand my family is subsidizing the system, we can afford it at these rates. Many can’t.

The real issue is that if Obamacare is repealed or deemed unconstitutional, it is almost guaranteed that because a party, the Republican Party is anathema to universal healthcare, the laissez faire healthcare system will continue. This will cause the deaths of many Americans and the bankruptcy of many Americans. This is not conjecture. This is not hypothetical. This is fact. My wife who runs the Lupus support group in my community is continuously attempting to help Lupus sufferers whose insurance was rescinded, who are unable to get insurance, and who simply cannot afford it. Many have kidney problems that need care to prevent their deaths but because they are not in dire straits now, the emergency room is not an option. This story can be repeated for millions of Americans with other ailments. This system is inhumane, immoral, un-Christian, and a travesty to decency and ethics.

The talking points by the Right Wing claim that people hate Obamacare.

• Actually, polls have consistently shown that the majority of Americans think Obamacare is an improvement — that it makes American health care better. That’s because a lot of people think the health law doesn’t go far enough or isn’t liberal enough — and if you include them, the polling shows just that.
• And when Americans learn what the health law actually does — like preventing insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions or dropping them when they get sick — they strongly support it.
• That consistent view — that Obamacare made American health care better — comes despite the President’s political opponents outspending the law’s supporters by 3-1 on attack ads. Not to mention the media repeating their false spin.
• What’s universally unpopular is the health care system we had before — Americans overwhelmingly agree it was broken. Now more Americans want to keep or expand the health care law than repeal it.

One of the biggest lies that have been allowed to metastasize in the minds of many is that Obamacare is a government takeover of healthcare in our country.

• It’s about time we had someone on our side. Insurance companies have had free reign at our expense for long enough.
• The health care law holds insurance companies accountable and ends their practices of denying and dropping coverage just when you need it the most.
• Opponents of the law are siding with the insurance companies that donate to their campaigns and oppose the law because they don’t want to have to cover people with pre-existing conditions.
• It’s time to move forward — we can’t afford to put insurance companies back in charge.

I have read the entire 2700+ pages of the bill. I will admit that because it references other laws it is difficult to read and much of it is cloaked in legalese above my pay grade. That said it is easy to ascertain that the bill does not increase the deficit especially when it is noted that absent the bill those of us with insurance are stuck paying for the free loaders and the poor.

• Actually, the health law reduces the deficit.
• Here’s how: The health law cracks down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare, ends billions in taxpayer handouts to insurance companies, and expands smart preventive care so doctors can detect illnesses early, before they get more expensive to treat.
• So repealing Obamacare would increase the deficit. Take it from the nonpartisan authorities required by law to be objective.

For those that contend that Obamacare increases costs, we must remember that the bill in effect has many measures to reduce cost. It is ironic that many of these cost reducing policies were attacked disingenuously by the Right Wing.

• The health care law holds down health care costs by capping the amount of our premium money insurance companies can siphon off for marketing and padding profits. The law also allows small businesses to band together to get the same lower insurance rates as big corporations.
• The law also lowers patients’ costs with common-sense measures that hold down everyone’s costs in the long run: eliminating co-pays for check-ups, providing free preventive care, and lowering prescription drug costs for seniors.
• An overwhelming majority of Americans are worried about paying for health care, but Republican politicians would let the insurance companies go back to charging us whatever they want and siphoning off our premium dollars for marketing and CEO bonuses instead of our health care.
• The health care law does essentially everything experts say we need to do to hold down health care costs. Going back to the old broken system only means we’ll all have to pay more

One of the biggest lies was intended to scare older Americans into believing that Obamacare would cut $500 billion from Medicare and as such negatively affect the healthcare of seniors. The reality is the biggest threat to Medicare is the Romney/Ryan Budget Plan.

• Here’s the truth: The law does not cut Medicare benefits, period. Instead, Obamacare cuts waste and abuse out of Medicare to make sure older Americans and taxpayers aren’t getting ripped off.
• The law’s political opponents are just trying to confuse people into thinking Medicare benefits would be harmed, but they are not affected at all.
• The real threat to Medicare is the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it by replacing its guaranteed benefits with a privatized voucher program.
• If Republican politicians really wanted to protect Medicare, guess what? They’d support the health care law. It’s already doing it.

Sadly, one of the most grotesque lies was that the bill had death panels. Would any politician Republican or Democrat codify death panels in any law? That is simply incredulous and silly. I read the entire bill. There are no death panels.

• Republican leaders quietly admit that private insurers are the ones that "ration care for profit," but they’re trying to put the insurance companies back in charge anyway because that’s who funds their campaigns.
• Obamacare keeps insurance companies from getting in between patients and doctors. The health law also creates a taxpayer protection board to make sure seniors and taxpayers aren’t getting ripped off by fraudulent providers and corporate lobbyists.
• This taxpayer protection board will make recommendations to cut waste from Medicare without reducing benefits. Its job is to do what’s best for patients — not politics or whose lobbyists spend the most money in Washington.
• By law, it cannot ration care, increase taxes, or make changes to Medicare benefits.

I have always said we get the government we deserve. I must change that for now because it is a bit harsh and condescending. We cannot expect well-meaning Americans to simply disregard all the information that is continuously fed to them with no effect. Instead of judging, we must inform our friends, acquaintances, and family to the truth so they can filter the garbage they are being fed. Informed Americans will make the right choice. Then and only then will “we get the government we deserve” be a reality.

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