Health care law doing what it’s supposed to EJ Dionne – with commentary

Health care law doing what it’s supposed to

EJ Dionne – with commentary

WASHINGTON — Is there any accountability in American politics for being completely wrong? Is there any cost to those who say things that turn out not to be true and then, when their fabrications or false predictions are exposed, calmly move on to concocting new claims as if they had never made the old ones?

The fact that the Affordable Care Act hit its original goal last week of signing up more than 7 million people through its insurance exchanges ought to be a moment of truth – literally as well as figuratively. It ought to give everyone, particularly members of the news media, pause over how reckless the opponents of change have been in making instant judgments and outlandish charges.

We can easily agree with EJ, but he does not call out the biggest liar of them all about the ACA; namely Obama himself.  The most agregious declarations were “You can keep your plan…”  “You can keep your doctor!” “This law will save $2,500 for each American”

When the health care website went haywire last fall, conservatives were absolutely certain this technological failure meant that the entire reform effort was doomed. If you doubt this, try a Google search keyed to that period relating the word “doomed” to the health care law.

EJ conveniently leaves out that no one knows the details and that will be huge when it does come out.  How many actually paid?  How many did not have insurance before they signed up. We are beginning to hear the horror stories of those that “think” they were signed up and are having huge surprises at hospitals and doctor’s offices around the country.

It should be said that the general public was much wiser. A CNN poll in November that Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent highlighted at the time found a majority (54 percent to 45 percent) saying that the problems facing the law “will eventually be solved.” Political moderates took this view by 55 percent to 43 percent, independents by 50 percent to 48 percent. Only Republicans – by a whopping 72 percent to 27 percent – and conservatives (by 66-33) thought the law could never be fixed.

This is when opinion becomes propaganda.  There are many reports that demonstrate that the more people know about the ACA the more they dislike it and that is in huge proportions.

Their representatives in Washington, moderate conservatives as well as the tea party’s loyalists, followed the base’s lead. In mid-November, for example, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told Fox News flatly that the law is “destined to fail,” “fundamentally flawed” and “not ready for prime time.” House Speaker John Boehner predicted dire outcomes before the website fiasco. He repeatedly insisted, as he did in July, that “even the Obama administration knows the train wreck will only get worse.”

Families are going to have less money in their pockets to spend thanks to much higher health insurance premiums under Obamacare, a wide variety of tax increases, higher interest rates on debt, and cuts in government welfare programs. Presidents of large healthcare providers are predicting ridiculously high rate increases for 2015.

This attitude affected more neutral observers. Forbes magazine posted a piece on Nov. 22 under the headline: “What to do if and when Obamacare collapses.” The op-ed modestly acknowledged that “it’s too soon to write an epitaph for Obamacare,” but then barged forward, since “its crises are piling up so fast that one has to begin looking ahead.”

At this point, the etiquette of commentary typically requires a “to be sure” paragraph, as in: To be sure, the law could still face other problems, blah, blah, blah. But such paragraphs are timid and often insincere hedges. Every successful program, even well established ones such as Medicare, Social Security and food stamps, confronts ongoing challenges.

This is simply a false comparison.  The ACA does not face challenges; it faces a level of complexity that no one call contemplates a solution.  Further, EJ fails to mention that Obama himself has changed or suspended portions of the law 39 times to avoid near term collapse.

So let’s say it out loud: The ACA is doing exactly what its supporters said it would do. It is getting health insurance to millions (right now, it looks like around 10 million) who didn’t have it before. And it’s working especially well in places such as Kentucky, where state officials threw themselves fully behind the cause of signing up the uninsured. Those who want to repeal the law will have to admit they are willing to deprive these people, or a large percentage of them, of insurance.

This is blatantly false.  We supposedly have 7 million signed up (no assurance) while we have 5 million and growing people that have lost their insurance.  Reread the aforementioned comments above and YOU determine if the ACA is working as designed.  Democrats are running from Obamacare and not running on it!

Too many conservatives would prefer not to say upfront what they really believe: They don’t want the federal government to spend the significant sums of money needed to get everyone covered. Admitting this can sound cruel, so they insist that their objections are to the ACA’s alleged unworkability, or to “a Washington takeover of the health system” (which makes you wonder what they think of Medicare, a far more centralized program). Or they peddle isolated horror stories that the factcheckers usually discover are untrue or misleading.

Another lie from EJ.  He knows full well that the country could have easily provided coverage for the uninsured in a different manner with less cost and disruption to the healthcare system.  Remember, 88% of Americans were happy with their current situation and did not want the ACA.  They too knew this was a fool’s folly. Lastly, the horror stories are rolling in and are factual.  Only EJ and Harry Reid think they are made up.  Ask the real people and get their opinions.

Thus the moment of truth, about the facts and about our purposes. Time will prove EJ wrong, in the meantime pay attention and make up your own mind.