Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Nuclear Unicorn

(19,497 posts)
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 04:27 PM Mar 2016

The ACA and the General Election

Since single payer -- to quote one "Democratic" candidate -- will, "never, ever happen" what will become of the ACA?

So far 36 states declined to set-up exchanges whatsoever. Of the remaining states that did make an effort half of those exchanges have either closed or are going on life support (assuming they can afford the premiums and deductibles). What's more, the employer mandate has been waived since the law's inception.

Sadly, the GOP has not suffered in the least for their opposition to the law. Sure, they may not have been able to repeal it but that's because Obama obviously refuses to sign the bill killing his quasi-eponymous achievement.

  • What will be the party's platform regarding the outgoing President's healthcare law?


  • Will the waiver of the employer mandate be lifted?


  • What will be done to assist struggling states?


  • What about citizens that refuse/neglect to enroll and how will that issue be characterized during the election?
1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The ACA and the General Election (Original Post) Nuclear Unicorn Mar 2016 OP
Not setting up a state exchange just defaults to the federal exchange which it better Hoyt Mar 2016 #1
 

Hoyt

(54,770 posts)
1. Not setting up a state exchange just defaults to the federal exchange which it better
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 04:38 PM
Mar 2016

for us anyway.

Now the Medicaid expansion is an issue, but the law was written where all states would have the expanded Medicaid for the poor. Then, the Supreme Court stepped in. That should be easier to figure out a way around, than scrapping the ACA and starting over with a single payer plan that is guaranteed to fail as long as 40+% of the populace is opposed to it (rightly or wrongly), and another good chunk of people -- who might be fine with a single payer system -- aren't going to believe it will be cheaper to them or better than what they have right now. It doesn't matter if single payer is better, too many people don't believe it is.

To me, a public option gets us there faster. Those that don't want to have their coverage changed can keep paying for it. Those that think a public option will be cheaper and better, can choose it. Overtime, if the public option is better, people will gravitate to it and what would essentially be single payer.

But, fighting for single payer will most likely end up with repeal of ACA and a crummy voucher system.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»The ACA and the General E...