Jimmy Kimmel on Affordable Care Act

[Lyion]

Made me lol.. The Old People ad at the end is everything that's wrong with America and so fuckin' true

[Reynaldo]

Funny. I don't know how true it is but that's certainly what it feels like.

[Gaazy]

Haha kind of related, but did anyone catch Jimmy Fallons thing he did with Bruce Springsteen? Funny. Its about That Jersey dude, Christie, go look it up if you havent

[brinstar]

everything that's wrong with America

"everything" is a bit of a stretch, sure, but i'll agree it is awfully disappointing how many people who can't be bothered to vote - especially young people, and ESPECIALLY when it comes to local/state elections

for the record i have a lot of friends who intentionally abstain from voting because they feel it legitimizes a system that only offers the illusion of choice between different flavors of corporate overlord; i wholly agree with their view but am thus far unwilling to voluntarily disenfranchise myself and will usually write-in Vermin Supreme if no choice exists which represents my views to my satisfaction

[Tossica]

Frank Zappa 2016!

[Menelvir]

will usually write-in Vermin Supreme if no choice exists which represents my views to my satisfaction

So you at least partially acknowledge the legitimacy of the view that non-voting is just as viable an option as voting for some predetermined, part-of-the-system-over-which-you-have-no-sway choice, but then you also occasionally completely undermine your own presumed reason for voting by turning it into a joke / jab at the system by writing in a name that has zero legitimacy (in the sense that the write-in has zero chance of being elected to the office in question).

I hope it at least makes you feel better when you're done, because that's about the extent of the efficacy I see in the whole process, gag entry vote or no.

Tangentially, I also find it quite humorous that people love to drag out that old saw about "if you don't vote, you have no right to complain" -- crock of shit.

People can do fuck-all about the weather, hasn't stopped anyone from complaining about that. I think people love to drag out old clichés like that as part of a social arsenal to guilt others into doing what they think their civic duties or responsibilities are. Doesn't work on some of us.

Anyway, if voting makes a person feel good about themselves, that's great, and I think that's reason enough alone to do it. If on the other hand, you see it as an exercise in abject futility, then abstaining is also a legitimate option.

[brinstar]

So you at least partially acknowledge the legitimacy of the view that non-voting is just as viable an option as voting for some predetermined, part-of-the-system-over-which-you-have-no-sway choice, but then you also occasionally completely undermine your own presumed reason for voting by turning it into a joke / jab at the system by writing in a name that has zero legitimacy (in the sense that the write-in has zero chance of being elected to the office in question).

yeah that pretty much nails it

if the system fails to present me with a candidate in whom i can believe, i find the system to be in contempt and treat it in kind - and yes, doing so makes me feel better than abstaining (which is also a perfectly viable option)

also i prefer carlin's take on voting abstinence:

[Menelvir]

I've always been entertained by and admired Carlin's adept melding of comedy with social commentary. =)

I was probably subliminally influenced by it.

[Narrock]

The ACA is gonna destroy us. It needs to be repealed or altered as soon as possible.

[brinstar]

The ACA is gonna destroy us. It needs to be repealed or altered as soon as possible.

your marionette strings are showing

[Narrock]

The ACA is gonna destroy us. It needs to be repealed or altered as soon as possible.

your marionette strings are showing

Dude, open your fucking eyes. Seriously.

[brinstar]

explain WHY you think "the ACA is gonna destroy us"

or explain why most of the components of the ACA are extremely popular on their own if it's such a "disaster"

empty soundbites echoed back from AM radio windbags are absolutely worthless and bring nothing to the table. substance or STFU.

[Lyion]

The ACA certainly won't destroy us, but it's a bureaucratic mess trying to synergize insurance and government entities providing services at the Federal level while locking down competition across state lines. It's an idiotic design at the national level copying something built to fix an issue at the local level.

I expect the GOP to use it to scare the old people into electing them, similar to how the Dems got elected over the last decade by scaring the same old people. Notice a pattern? That was my point of what's wrong with things, be you a bleeding heart tax and spend supporter or Genghis Khan conservative

We really need a single payer system with a good method of paying for it. It'll be good for business and better for everyone involved. The problem is we'd probably copy Canada who has just an awful system.

[Narrock]

The "exchanges" are substantially higher in cost than what we had before the ACA debacle went into effect. And who is footing the bill for those increases? The middle class. I don't care how many insulting comments you make about conservative talk show hosts, in a feeble attempt at trying to make yourself sound intelligent... makes me LOL actually, because you are clearly uneducated and misled about obammycare. Even your socialist and liberal friends and celebs are mocking obammycare for the piece of shit that it is. Stop towing the political line for once. You're starting to sound like that evil dunce, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

[leah]

you know alex has said repeatedly that he sees plenty of flaws in the ACA, right? he's not just blindly saying "ACA IS AWESOME OMG"... rather, he's always maintained that at the very least it's a step in the right direction, which it is. not everyone is as painfully black and white about things as you are.

bottom line is healthcare is not a thing that should be reserved only for people with money. as humans we should strive to care for our fellow man, even if it means we give up a little of our own wealth in the process. as a christian i would think you would see the value inherent in caring for each other rather than following an every-man-for-himself mentality.

anyway, pointless post is pointless. sorry, didn't mean to engage.

[Narrock]

you know alex has said repeatedly that he sees plenty of flaws in the ACA, right? he's not just blindly saying "ACA IS AWESOME OMG"... rather, he's always maintained that at the very least it's a step in the right direction, which it is. not everyone is as painfully black and white about things as you are.

bottom line is healthcare is not a thing that should be reserved only for people with money. as humans we should strive to care for our fellow man, even if it means we give up a little of our own wealth in the process. as a christian i would think you would see the value inherent in caring for each other rather than following an every-man-for-himself mentality.

anyway, pointless post is pointless. sorry, didn't mean to engage.

SISTER TO TEH RESCUE!!!

sorry, couldn't resist.

Anyway... here's an idea... how about everybody work and everybody pay for they own health care? It's un-American to force person A to pay the health care costs for person B. And that reminds me. Our insane governor, Jerry Brown, wants to create legislation that says illegal immigrants can also get health care coverage thru the ACA. Wow! Isn't that fantastic??? Now even MORE of our tax hikes and increased health care premiums can fund the illegals and they children!!!! Yay!!!! Thank you Jerry! Thank you so much!!! And thank you for opening that illegal floodgate so we can get even MORE illegals sneaking across our borders, because we are soooo rich we just don't know what to do with all our extra money!!!!

[leah]

again, the fundamental difference here is that i don't mind paying a little more if it means people who have fallen on hard times will be able to not die or plunge into terrifying medical debt. i like to think there are plenty of people out there who would do the same for me. it's a safety net, and it's making sure that we as a civilization are looking after one another.

and before you point it out, *obviously* there are people who abuse the system, who lay about without a job and proudly collect welfare and other social assistance. but for every one of those people, there's at least one other person who desperately needs a hand out of a hole of unfortunately circumstance, and i for one do not mind kicking in some dollars to extend that hand, even if it ends up getting bitten by someone who's abusing the assistance. but like i said, this is just where you and i are fundamentally different. i care about the welfare of my fellow man.

[brinstar]

The "exchanges" are substantially higher in cost than what we had before the ACA debacle went into effect.

do you have citations from a reputable source proving this? have you yourself gone on the exchange and compared?

And who is footing the bill for those increases? The middle class.

yes. that is a problem. but it is also unlikely to change as long as gullible bigots like you continue to support a party which unabashedly defends the wealthy and attacks the poor at any and every opportunity.

I don't care how many insulting comments you make about conservative talk show hosts

then stop sounding exactly like them

in a feeble attempt at trying to make yourself sound intelligent...

really? the only reason i could possibly disagree is a lack of intelligence? go fuck yourself. stop pretending to be interested in serious discussion if you're going to make grade school claims like that. besides, i don't need to make myself sound intelligent, that's what you're for

makes me LOL actually, because you are clearly uneducated and misled about obammycare.

or so your masters would have you believe

Even your socialist and liberal friends and celebs are mocking obammycare for the piece of shit that it is.

it's pretty clear you have no idea what you're talking about. ignoring for the moment who you think my "socialist and liberal friends and celebs" are, if you would bother reading any of my posts you would know that i agree it is a piece of shit. the difference is that you think it is a piece of shit because it offers to help poor people who you think don't deserve it (square THAT with your faith, i dare you) at the expense of those who are marginally better-off, and i think it is a piece of shit because it still involves for-profit insurance companies and pharma companies whose business model is not predicated on your health but on your lack of it - at the expense of those who are ONLY marginally better-off, rather than primarily at the expense of people raking in seven+ figures a year for doing nothing at all beyond shifting "money" around

Stop towing the political line for once.

what political line? and what the fuck, "for once"? i don't belong to a party, and i didn't vote for obama. i think you are confusing my attacks on your partisan-fueled lies with an earnest defense of the ACA (you probably can't tell, but there's actually a difference). it is time for you to accept that i don't fit in your oversimplified binary red-v-blue outlook, and neither do most people.

You're starting to sound like that evil dunce, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

case in point, i had to look up who that is. what a joke you are.

[Narrock]

You have a big heart Leah. But understand, here in California (the 7th largest economy in the world), we are broke. We cannot afford to feed, house, and provide health care to the illegals already here, let alone the incentive now for even more to slither across the border.

[brinstar]

btw, that spending bill congress just hammered out? totally funds the ACA. your valiant GOP just sold you out yet again.

[Reynaldo]

Just bumping this since we just had our 2015 benefits meeting at work.

So the identical family plan premium I signed up for when I started here in 2012 has gone from $380 per month for the 2013 plan, to $530 per month in 2014 and now is going up to $750 per month for 2015. It's basically a 90/10 PPO so it's pretty much nothing out of pocket but co-pays for non preventative maintenance visits. But doubling in two years? I thought the "Affordable" Care Act was supposed to help stop that kind of bs.

The only other option my company offers is an HSA that has a $200 per month premium and only covers preventative maintenance visits with everything else being 100% out of pocket up to the deductible (6500) then coinsurance up to 10k max out of pocket. So they've basically priced out any of us "middle class" folks of the good plan and forced us all to the HSA selling it as a "you have more control over your money" fantastic thing.

It seems like gas prices. if I made 200k a year i could give fuck-all about the price of gas or paying 200 more a month for a great plan, but making 50-60k, the premiums are going up at a faster rate than my hot 3-4% raises. Just gotta cross my fingers we don't have any catastrophes for the first couple years until I get 10k built up in the HSA.

Not a railing on Obama or anything post, just more curious as to what everyone is seeing on their premium raises if they're as crazy as mine and frustrated that with all the focus on healthcare reform, that I'm getting so jobbed by it.

[Ganzo]

Just bumping this since we just had our 2015 benefits meeting at work.

So the identical family plan premium I signed up for when I started here in 2012 has gone from $380 per month for the 2013 plan, to $530 per month in 2014 and now is going up to $750 per month for 2015. It's basically a 90/10 PPO so it's pretty much nothing out of pocket but co-pays for non preventative maintenance visits. But doubling in two years? I thought the "Affordable" Care Act was supposed to help stop that kind of bs.

The only other option my company offers is an HSA that has a $200 per month premium and only covers preventative maintenance visits with everything else being 100% out of pocket up to the deductible (6500) then coinsurance up to 10k max out of pocket. So they've basically priced out any of us "middle class" folks of the good plan and forced us all to the HSA selling it as a "you have more control over your money" fantastic thing.

It seems like gas prices. if I made 200k a year i could give fuck-all about the price of gas or paying 200 more a month for a great plan, but making 50-60k, the premiums are going up at a faster rate than my hot 3-4% raises. Just gotta cross my fingers we don't have any catastrophes for the first couple years until I get 10k built up in the HSA.

Not a railing on Obama or anything post, just more curious as to what everyone is seeing on their premium raises if they're as crazy as mine and frustrated that with all the focus on healthcare reform, that I'm getting so jobbed by it.

Your company doesn't offer the High Deductible plan with the HSA?
It's the way to go on the budget once you got enough money saved up in HSA in case shit happens. I have the plan where i have to pay anything under 3k per person or 5k for entire family, but once that is met i have 100% coverage. I've saved up enough in HSA now to cover this initial gap and have no worries about anything big happening and bankrupting me. And High Deductible plans are cheap, mine is $180/month for whole family for health/dental/vision.
It realy helped a lot last fall when I had to have a surgery and wife broke her arm in span of 2 month. We paid 5k deductible with HSA and avoided over 100k in medical bills.

[Jay]

I've always been terrible at interpreting and following politics but I can tell you my experiences working in the medical field as a result of the affordable health care act.

I work for a DME (durable medical equipment) supplier and since all the major ACA changes have rolled over there've been quite a few changes.

First thing, breast pumps for new mothers. It used to be that you had to have pretty good coverage to get an electric one for rental or purchase. Now you can get them free of charge through medicare in Washington and if you have an insurance policy, breast pumps are now considered preventative care rather that DME which means they are no longer subject to co pay or deductible payments and are completely covered.

The problem is in hospice care. It used to be that we would rent hospice equipment to people and have an average turnover or about 20 days (from the day they are admitted to hospice until they day they pass away). Now the average hospice turnover is 3-5 days. That tells me that insurance doctors are "cheaping out" on hospice care which is really unfortunate because I feel borderline patients who could potentially graduate from hospice care are essentially given death sentences because they have to wait to get approved, not to mention that any patient who gets remotely better in the slightest amount gets removed from hospice until their symptoms come back worse.

[Reynaldo]

@Ganzo - yeah that's the 2nd plan they're offering which I'm kind of being forced to go to since I can't really afford the 90/10 PPO anymore. It's a 200 premium for family and 6500 deductible until 20% coinsurance kicks in until 10k out of pocket max.

You're definitely right though. If you had a huge medical issue and had the 10k saved in the HSA you're golden for the entire year. Which is another thing I don't really get. I mean obviously you're going to be paying a lot that year hitting your max out of pocket, but if you wait to do a surgery on January 1, you could basically go get MRIs every day at 0 cost for the next 364 days. That doesn't make a ton of sense to me but it is what it is i guess.

@Jay - that blows about the hospice care thing. At the very least you hope those folks can go out with some dignity =(.

[Jay]

Yeah its really bad. The best way to explain it is if there's 3 categories: bad, really bad, fucked, then it used to be that a patient would be eligible for hospice care at around bad, finally get approved at like final stages of bad, early stages of really bad, and from there they could go either way. They either get better and are able to continue their lives comfortably until they one day randomly hit serious or critical and pass away, or they will comfortably decline in condition, in bed, until they pass away.

How it is now is they don't get admitted into hospice until they are fucked and by the time they are admitted and taken care of, they'll die shortly after because it's not very possible to recover from fucked. Before hospice even comes into play, sometimes they used to rent equipment as preventative measures so that a patient doesn't require hospice care in the future (home health). Now home health is pretty non existent. You don't get treated until you're fucked.