Replies

The thread concerns pre-existing conditions. It’s about focusing on certain people who maybe won’t be subsidized as much, and ignoring other people.

Before Obamacare, 41 million didn’t have health insurance. After, 29 million. Almost all of the increase in insurance was due to Medicaid expansion.

http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/

In addition to the 29 million without health insurance, 30 million can’t afford the deductibles.

http://www.newsweek.com/many-americans-insured-cant-afford-health-care-334624

That’s a total of 59 million either without health insurance or who can’t afford the deductibles.

These are the people who don’t get the subsidies but who aren’t rich either. They are generally working-class people. Think of them as “in the middle.”

Why is the cost of health care (premiums + deductibles) so expensive to those who actually pay for their health care? There are a lot of reasons. Among them is: Paying for health care for people with pre-existing conditions with cross-subsidies (over-charging the healthy to subsidize the sick).

You may remember that this was the boast of those who supported Obamacare. They were upfront about this. Only, their numbers were terribly wrong. If they weren’t outright lying to us, their numbers indicated that - if they got everyone into the system - the average premium would go down by $2,000. The subsidies needed for those with pre-existing conditions would come from part of the savings that would accrue with universal coverage. But, insurance didn’t go down by $2,000 per family. It has skyrocketed.

Obamacare hasn’t expanded health care in America. It has taken away health care from people in the middle to favor those at the bottom and certain others. The people who have had their health care away deserve as much attention as those to whom the health care was given. Those who criticize the Republicans for trying to make health care affordable for those who actually pay for their health care, should be honest. They should say they favor taking health care away from people in the middle. People in the middle are irredeemable and deplorable.