As Obamacare Sign-Ups Surge, So Does Conservative Rage

[babylonsister]

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/as-obamacare-signups-surge-so-does-rightwing-rage


As Obamacare Sign-Ups Surge, So Does Conservative Rage

Josh Marshall – January 3, 2014, 2:12 AM


It is amazing to witness the sheer depths of rage, denial and disgust many people experience as they see millions of people gaining access to affordable health care for the first time. Back on the 31st I wrote this overview which outlined how more than 9 million people now have health care coverage because of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). It now seems like the number is more like 10 million (more on that in a moment).

snip//

So how does it get to 10 million? What none of these tabulations take into account are people who bought ACA-compliant policies directly from insurance carriers as opposed to purchasing them from private carriers via the exchanges. A lot of people did this and there was actually an aggressive push to get people to do so while the federal exchange site remained basically dead in the water. There is no tally of this number yet and will require a survey of carriers throughout the country. But I suspect it is certainly in the hundreds of thousands. And thus the round number of 10 million.

Now, as I said up at the top, there are a lot of Obamacare dead-enders out there who just blow a gasket when they make first contact with these numbers. The first claim is that Medicaid expansion somehow doesn't count. Or it doesn't count if a 24 year old is now covered under their parents policy because well that happened a while ago or well, something.

The best dead-ender argument is that well, maybe these people who've signed up for subsidized private insurance policies won't end up paying their premiums. When the arguments get down to this level you know you're dealing with a deep and intense form of denial. I mean, what if all these people change their mind next month and decide they don't want the coverage after all? What if Obamacare is so bad they all die in the Spring? What if Spartacus had an airplane? If you really, really are hoping for bad news you can come up with anything to keep hope, as it were, alive.

And then finally, these numbers are just more administration lies. Because, well, because. Here's where Gaba's spreadsheet is so helpful. It has the breakdown for private insurance and Medicaid expansion in numbers in every state with a link to an independent news source reporting the numbers.

These are the numbers. Lots of people have partisan or ideological or in many cases deeply emotional needs not to believe them. But these are the numbers.

[wcast]

1. Lack of knowledge of the ACA is rampant

I'm a union leader for my school district. Members ask me constantly how "Obamacare" is going to impact them. While it gives me a chance to explain what the ACA actually does, if you don't read sites like DU and rely mainly on Fox or CNN for your news-or don't really pay attention at all- most only know what is shouted by the opposition. I don't know the best way to inform the general public but there is a real need. In my experience, most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about this or any other other political happenings. Fox is their primary news source and they take what is said there as gospel.

[jeff47]

2. In your particular case, how 'bout a letter or email or wiki page with a FAQ for your members? (nt)

[wcast]

3. That's a good thought.

It used to surprise me that others were not as informed as I was. Almost half of all teachers voted for Corbett in PA for governor, and then were shocked about his gutting of public ed. I will say I was surprised about the number of my members who voted for Obama. They came to me almost as if to a priest in confessional to tell me they voted for him. Many had to lie to their relatives.

An FAQ of the facts is a good idea. It gets the facts out and allows individuals to determine what is true instead of just hearing me say it.

[riqster]

4. "What if Spartacus had had an airplane "?

Brilliant!

[SCVDem]

5. Numbers

Does anyone have a reference number of how many sign-ups would be the maximum?

What is considered totally successful?

I know we exclude the already insured by work and other means.

Numbers without a reference point have little meaning to me.

"The best dead-ender argument is that well, maybe these people who've signed up for subsidized private insurance policies won't end up paying their premiums."

These are the people who call telethons and never send money saying this. That's why they so quickly came up with that argument. It's familiar to them.