The Democrat’s Version of Health Insurance Would Have Been

The Democrat’s Version of Health Insurance Would Have Been Cheaper, Simpler, and More Popular, So Why Did We Enact the Republican Version and Why Are They So Upset?

Big Dougy wrote: The Democrat’s Version of Health Insurance Would Have Been Cheaper, Simpler, and More Popular, So Why Did We Enact the Republican Version and Why Are They So Upset?

Er... because Democrats are stupid? How more self evident can it be?

Big Dougy wrote: The Democrat’s Version of Health Insurance Would Have Been Cheaper, Simpler, and More Popular, So Why Did We Enact the Republican Version and Why Are They So Upset?

So why did the Democrats pick the Republican version and not one Republican voted for it? Are the Dems really that stupid that they would vote for something the Republicans created and the Dems hate? That really make sense to you?

Great point Rick which the Lefties can never explain. They claim they created it to win Republican votes but the pre-Tea Party Republicans refused to vote for it. And the American voters rebelled against ACA and gave the House back to the Republicans. The party of the dead right?

We wanted medicare for all, weve wanted it forever..This pile of shit is your baby- And just like like shutdown, the American people know it

While Republicans plot new ways to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, it’s easy to forget that for years they’ve been arguing that any comprehensive health insurance system be designed exactly like the one that officially began October 1st, glitches and all.

For as many years Democrats tried to graft healthcare onto Social Security and Medicare, and pay for it through the payroll tax. But Republicans countered that any system must be based on private insurance and paid for with a combination of subsidies for low-income purchasers and a requirement that the younger and healthier sign up.

Not surprisingly, private health insurers cheered on the Republicans while doing whatever they could to block Democrats from creating a public insurance system.

In February 1974, Republican President Richard Nixon proposed, in essence, today’s Affordable Care Act. Under Nixon’s plan all but the smallest employers would provide insurance to their workers or pay a penalty, an expanded Medicaid-type program would insure the poor, and subsidies would be provided to low-income individuals and small employers. Sound familiar?

Private insurers were delighted with the Nixon plan but Democrats preferred a system based on Social Security and Medicare, and the two sides failed to agree.

Thirty years later a Republican governor, Mitt Romney, made Nixon’s plan the law in Massachusetts. Private insurers couldn’t have been happier although many Democrats in the state had hoped for a public system.

When today’s Republicans rage against the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, it’s useful to recall this was their idea as well.

In 1989, Stuart M. Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation came up with a plan that would “mandate all households to obtain adequate insurance.”

Insurance companies loved Butler’s plan so much it found its way into several bills introduced by Republican lawmakers in 1993. Among the supporters were senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa (who now oppose the mandate under the Affordable Care Act). Newt Gingrich, who became Speaker of the House in 1995, was also a big proponent.

Romney’s heathcare plan in Massachusetts included the same mandate to purchase private insurance. “We got the idea of an individual mandate from [Newt Gingrich], and [Newt] got it from the Heritage Foundation,” said Romney, who thought the mandate “essential for bringing the health care costs down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they need.”

Now that the essential Republican plan for healthcare is being implemented nationally, health insurance companies are jubilant.

Last week, after the giant insurer Wellpoint raised its earnings estimates, CEO Joseph Swedish pointed to “the long-term membership growth opportunity through exchanges.” Other major health plans are equally bullish. “The emergence of public exchanges, private exchanges, Medicaid expansions … have the potential to create new opportunities for us to grow and serve in new ways,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen J. Hemsley effused.

So why are today’s Republicans so upset with an Act they designed and their patrons adore? Because it’s the signature achievement of the Obama administration.


There’s a deep irony to all this. Had Democrats stuck to the original Democratic vision and built comprehensive health insurance on Social Security and Medicare, it would have been cheaper, simpler, and more widely accepted by the public. And Republicans would be hollering anyway.

Big Dougy wrote: We wanted medicare for all, weve wanted it forever..This pile of sh** is your baby

We agree for once. It is a pile of poop. And again we agree... the Democrats have wanted single payer forever... and were dumb enough to settle for the ACA (which Republicans voted for the ACA?) And I'll even go as far as to agree it's the GOP's baby. And the GOP is going to be smacking you with that baby it all the way up to the elections in 2014.

The Democrats blew it... big time.

Walter L Newton wrote:

Big Dougy wrote: We wanted medicare for all, weve wanted it forever..This pile of sh** is your baby

We agree for once. It is a pile of poop. And again we agree... the Democrats have wanted single payer forever... and were dumb enough to settle for the ACA (which Republicans voted for the ACA?) And I'll even go as far as to agree it's the GOP's baby. And the GOP is going to be smacking you with that baby it all the way up to the elections in 2014.

The Democrats blew it... big time.

Ha ha..You said that about the shutdown....Grandpaw There's still some egg on your face from that one
lol

Why do you even care, you'll be dead before any of this stuff changes anything in your life? And don't say its the kids...None of you rightwingnuts ever talk about kids- You don't have any, or if you do, youre estranged from them...Go figure

Big Dougy wrote:

Walter L Newton wrote:

Big Dougy wrote: We wanted medicare for all, weve wanted it forever..This pile of sh** is your baby

We agree for once. It is a pile of poop. And again we agree... the Democrats have wanted single payer forever... and were dumb enough to settle for the ACA (which Republicans voted for the ACA?) And I'll even go as far as to agree it's the GOP's baby. And the GOP is going to be smacking you with that baby it all the way up to the elections in 2014.

The Democrats blew it... big time.

Ha ha..You said that about the shutdown....Grandpaw

Why do you even care, you'll be dead before any of this stuff changes anything in your life? And don't say its the kids...None of you rightwingnuts ever talk about kids- You don't have any, or if you do, youre estranged from them...Go figure

Personal attacks. That's all you got left. You're looking a little stressed. Someone give him some cookies and a glass of warm milk.

I love ya bro'.

Don't get your feelings hurt Walter, It was a question.. Why do you care? Are you afraid you might have to pay for your own insurance now, or do you work for, or are a major stockholder in the insurance industry or something? Theres got to be a reason

Youre on medicare right?

Big Dougy wrote: Don't get your feelings hurt Walter, It was a question.. Why do you care? Are you afraid you might have to pay for your own insurance now, or do you work for, or are a major stockholder in the insurance industry or something? Theres got to be a reason

Youre on medicare right?

I have a Cadillac health care plan, smartly set up by a non-profit... rates didn't move an inch. Probably as good if not better than your union pension plan health coverage.