Trump cheats at golf - the ONE and ONLY politics thread

Even stipulating that "it works fine" (which I do only to further the discussion), it doesn't solve the problems you say you want to solve. All it does is it makes health care more aesthetically pleasing to you.

 

It can't cover everyone?

I think a single payer system can cover everyone.

 

You appear to be challenging the reporting the L.A. Times without actually presenting any facts in favor of your argument. I'm interested to hear what you have to say, let's just hear it.

 

I'm not quibbling with the facts the Times reported. I'm quibbling with: A) what they didn't report (e.g., how do the rate increases for embracers/non-embracers differ? are these differences a one-year or multi-year thing?); and B) the focus on the number of exchange policy providers when the real story (right now) are the rate increases. I'm not one to criticize the media, but this is a prime example of advocacy masquerading as straight news.

 

Totally agree on the first point. It's necessary to provide context.

As for your second point, well, these stories are all from today ...
Obama administration confirms double-digit premium hikes for healthcare
Obamacare premiums are spiking 25% next year. How bad is that?
Illinois Obamacare premiums rise by double-digits for 2017 plans
Donald Trump says his employees have problems with Obamacare, then concedes they don't depend on it

 

"Cover everyone" doesn't mean what you think it means. Google "postcode lottery cancer" ...

 

Maybe this is what you mean by context, but you cannot conclude what that article concludes -- and it really does conclude -- without taking that missing information into account. It's the kind of "study" you'd expect to see coming out of a Congressperson's office ... not in the news columns of a major daily newspaper.

 

Newt vs. Megyn - who ya got?

WATCH: Newt Gingrich has a complete meltdown after Fox’s Megyn Kelly calls Trump a ‘sexual predator’

 

The party having the vapors over alleged voter fraud intimates that it can leak the way you mark your "secret" ballot to the neighbors.

New Mexico Republicans threaten Albuquerque residents: “Your neighbors will know” if Democrats win

 

What's Megyn's WAR? Worth Above Republicans, that is.

 

For the good of the discussion, here's a few thoughts shared by a friend of the family:

"With all this talk about the rate increases for plans offered under the Affordable Care Act and blaming it on insurance companies, the Affordable Care Act, or even President Obama himself -- makes me angry that no one talks about the real reason. I work for an insurance company, our rates went up higher than normal this year as well. Not because of new government rules, or a greedy insurance company -- the majority of your higher-than-normal rate increase came because of the huge and obscene increase in the cost of prescription drugs.

We as a country need to stop looking at the insurance side of why healthcare isn't affordable in this country and start looking at the underlying cost of healthcare itself. You get the base cost of healthcare under control, the insurance rates will follow. Insurance rates are set mainly to ensure there is enough income to cover the cost of claims."

Also, I think I recall the cost of malpractice insurance being a significant factor as well.

I'm not going to claim any sort of expertise on the subject of health care. I am leery about a fully socialized system, though mostly for logistics reasons (big country, lot of people). And if Obamacare was any indication, there'd probably be GOP lawmakers self-immolating in front of hospitals to stop a fully socialized system.

I think the most powerful nation in the history of the planet ought to have the werewithal to provide health care for its citizens, though I also know the ethos of the nation dating back to the Baby Boom era (summarized as "Any public expenditure which doesn't benefit me or my family directly is waste.") goes against the grain of that.