The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Exchanges are OPEN, The Government is CLOSED!

October 1, 2013 HAPPY TUESDAY! from a sunny, Patchogue, NY where we're going up to 70 degrees.

AWARENESS: To be happy is to become aware of oneself without fright. - WALTER BENJAMIN

INSIGHT: Sticking to your goals will pave the way to a satisfying and successful adult life.

SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE ON HEALTHCARE.GOV TODAY. Encourage everyone that doesn't have health insurance to sign up at Healthcare.gov, especially those ages 21 to 35. https://www.healthcare.gov/what-is-the-marketplace-in-my-state/#state=new-york

The Republicans have SHUT DOWN the GOVERNMENT!

Quinnipiac Poll: Government Shutdown to Oppose Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Support: 22%
Oppose: 72%

Quinnipiac Poll: Opinions of Republicans in Congress:
Approve: 17% (This is the lowest score they have EVER gotten)
Disapprove: 74%

I'd like to meet the 17% of Americans who approve paying Congressmen $170,000/yr to do little more than obstruct almost every bit of legislation including Jobs, Infrastructure, Education, Immigration, or anything that would help the country and the American people.

CNN/ORC Poll: Thoughts on Congress:
Approve: 10%
Disapprove: 87%

NBC/Kaiser Family Foundation Poll: Enthusiastic about Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Democrats: 44%
Independents: 18%
Republicans 5%

The Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Exchanges ARE OPEN! but the U. S. Government has been SHUT DOWN by the Republican Party. Don't believe any lies about who is at fault for the government shutting down. All that had to be done to avoid the government shutting down is that a clean bill for a Continuing Resolution (CR) had to be passed. Passing a CR has always been done and is normal, to allow the country to have money to continue operation the government, EXCEPT now because the Republicans decided they wanted to hold the country hostage by attaching a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act as part of passing a continuing resolution. That's it! plain and simple. It wasn't enough that the House Republicans spent taxpayer money voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) law more than 40 times, knowing that it would not happen, now they have shut down the government in another attempt to defund a law that has been a law for three years. The "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed by both the House and the Senate, signed by the President, and upheld as being constitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court. This was all done in 2010. Today the health exchanges for people to sign up for healthcare open, even though the government is shut down. Yes, the 30 million Americans who could not afford healthcare insurance can sign up today to get affordable healthcare.

Senate Debating Obamacare - Tell Them to Stop the Politics and Obey the Law

Senate Debating Obamacare - Tell Them to Stop the Politics and Obey the Law

If you want to know exactly what The Affordable Care Act will do for you, and how it will protect you,  get the facts right here https://www.healthcare.gov/how-does-the-health-care-law-protect-me/ .

How Does The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Help?

Pre-existing Conditions and "Lifetime Maximums"

 Millions of Americans are already had their lives saved or greatly improved by having health insurance where they would not have if The Affordable Care Act had not been made law and implemented. Insurance companies were canceling people's policies, even though they paid premiums for years and years, because they became sick, claiming pre-existing conditions. Others had become sick and policies cancelled because the insurance said they reached a maximum benefit. Many Americans paid, or their employers paid, insurance premiums for tens of years only to be dropped when they became sick. This cost many their homes and their lifestyles. The Affordable Care Act stopped insurance companies from not giving health insurance policies to people with pre-existing conditions, and from dropping them using pre-existing conditions as a reason. It stopped insurance companies from having "Lifetime Maximums" which stopped insurance companies from dropping people after they became sick.

Children Remain on Parents Insurance Policy Until the Age of 26

The Affordable Care Act made it so that parents could keep their children on their health insurance policies until the age of 26. This immediately insured millions of young people who did not have insurance because they reached the age of 18 or 19 years of age.

Made the Insurance Companies Spend 85% of Premiums Collected on Actual Patient Benefits Instead of Keeping Millions in Profits and Giving Million Dollar Bonuses and Salaries

Many people received refunds because of this part of the law. It forced the insurance companies from taking more and more of the money collected from premiums and not spending it on patient benefits.

Lower Cost Coverage for All and Insures 30 Million People Who Couldn't Afford Any Health Insurance

Many Governors, Congressmen, and Senators, not only refused to obey the law but in fact, have done everything they could to block the law from being implemented. 

In Nashville, Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, instead of expanding Medicaid and forming an insurance exchange they set up a lottery, look at this article, it's disgraceful. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/us/tennessee-holds-health-care-lottery-for-the-poor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& 

In Florida Governor Rick Scott passes law that will force health insurance premiums up, and passes another law forcing insurance companies to lie, yes, forces them to lie, and blame the increased premiums on Obamacare. This would be unbelievable if it didn't actually happen!

First do no harm. That's a tenet of medical ethics that future doctors worldwide are taught in medical school.
If only the people we elect to represent us were required to take such an oath when they're sworn into office.
Because they aren't, folks in Florida are facing having to pay far more for health insurance over the next two years than necessary. And health insurance executives will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Florida state lawmakers, in their ongoing efforts to block the implementation of Obamacare in the Sunshine State, recently passed a law that will allow health insurance companies to gouge Floridians more than any corporate boss dreamed was possible.
And if that weren't bad enough, insurers will actually be required by law to mislead their Florida customers about why they're hiking their premiums. Read the entire article here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/florida-insurers-are-now_b_3785206.html .

These kinds of things are happening wherever Republicans control the states. Then the Congressmen, Senators and Governors, make speeches saying that "Obamacare is making health insurance premiums rise." It is a very sad state of affairs that the very people that were elected to office to work for the American people are actually doing only what is in their best interests and don't care one bit what is best for the very people that elected in the first place. Why? Because the 1% of people in this country that have 95% of the wealth spend billions of dollars to lie to the American people and mislead them. They spend this money to get people elected and them shape laws that will benefit them. The politicians, in many cases are afraid to go against them because they know they will probably be voted out of office if they don't do what the wealthy, greedy, extreme obstructionists want.

We need to take back our country from the 1% of people that hold 95% of the wealth on this country. Now is the time to do this. I implore every American to contact their Senators right now, there debating the bill that the House of Representatives sent to them. The bill allows a continuing resolution (CR) so the government won't shut on October 1, 2013 but defunds Obamacare. Look at the link at the beginning of this articles which clearly explains what The Affordable Care Act will do. Click the other links to see the truth about what politicians are doing to mislead the America people because of the pressure their under from The Tea Party Obstructionists, The Koch Brothers, Karl Rove (Crossroads) and the other greedy rich people. Use this link to find out who your Senators are and/or get their phone number and call them right NOW! Tell them to vote for YOU! Tell them to pass the Continuing Resolution WITHOUT defunding Obamacare!

CALL YOUR SENATORS RIGHT NOW! TELL THEM YOU WANT THEM TO PASS A CONTINUING RESOLUTION WITH OBAMACARE FUNDED!

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

33 States are making the Federal Government Set Up Their Exchanges

It disturbs me that 33 states are making the Federal Government set up the exchanges in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Congressman were paid $29,000 for working 9 nines in August, they receive a "Golden" healthcare plan for LIFE once elected, and spend most of their time raising money and satisfying their base. When their constituents let them know that as much as 95% of them want to require background checks for purchasing a gun, they vote against them. Now, with their given healthcare plans, for life, they want to deny 30 million Americans without affordable healthcare to go to the emergency room if they need care, the most expensive way to provide healthcare. What I find hard to believe is that people vote these useless, lying, greedy, politicians into office. WAKE UP AMERICA! Read the facts about states that have already implemented the law.

On September 5, 2013 the New England Journal of Medicine posted an article: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1308032?query=TOC#t=comments you might want to read to get real facts about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The GOP leadership is still debating how to handle the pressure from conservatives for a vote on the CR to cut off all funding for health care reform.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-spending-bill-96393.html#ixzz2eDgfETxL

The Obstructionist Tea Party is still pushing for shutdown of the government unless the ACA is completely defunded. Only 16 states and D.C. are going to run state based exchanges. The exchanges open October 1, 2013 with coverage to begin as early as January 1, 2014. The obstructionist continue the misinformation campaign to confuse the public as to what the Affordable Care Act does. They have a focus on young people to discourage signing up. The more young people that sign up, the lower the costs will be because it spreads the risk for insurance companies as they are healthier. It is advantageous for young people to sign up because studies show that they will see a doctor 2.7 times a year and for those visits, and any labs or x-rays will bring the cost to more than what a plan will cost.

Some technical glitches exist including how medical charges and deductibles are listed, industry officials say. Health insurers planning to sell policies say they expect the glitches to be fixed by the October 1, 2013 commencement of signing up. Huffington Post had an article recently posted on this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/obamacare-health-insurance_n_3870784.html

Getting the 30 million people in America who can't afford health care is a good thing. Please contact you Congressman and Senators and tell them to do something other than for themselves. Contact information, if you need it, is on the "Pages" on the left side of the blog. ?Follow the blog with the button on the top left of this blog. Sign up for e-mails of new posts. Check out my Facebook page on Medic3569 "Stop the Obstructionist Tea Party" and LIKE the page. Thank you for reading this blog.

Conservatives Bent on Talking Young People (18-34) Out of Signing Up For Health Insurance Through the Exchanges in October.

Conservatives Bent on Talking Young People (18-34) Out of Signing Up For Health Insurance Through the Exchanges in October.

 I received an e-mail from HuffPost Hill on August 16, 2013 which mentioned a publication (#652) http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA652.html  from National Policy Analysis, which is a publication of The National Center for Public Policy Research. The paragraph in the e-mail I was immediately drawn to had a heading of "A SHINING MOMENT IN THE CAMPAIGN TO RESCUE AMERICA FROM OBAMACARE" which stated that  a conservative think tank said "Young people would save a lot of money by not buying health insurance through Obamacare exchanges this fall," because premiums are more expensive than the new tax penalties for not signing up.

CBS News reports that for the health care law to work, 2.7 million people known as “young invincibles” – young adults between the ages of 18 and 35 – need to enroll. What is so bad about 2.7 million young invincibles signing up for health insurance through the exchanges? The National Policy Analysis publication by David Hogberg, Ph.D. shows this example:

Haley Townsend is a pleasant 22-year-old woman working at a shop in Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. Like many her age, she is uninsured.

While she sees some value in insurance, she claims she doesn't need it right now.

"Overall, I'm pretty healthy," she said. "The only thing I need to see the doctor about are the glasses I wear." 

Haley currently earns about $18,100 annually. She's also going through divorce proceedings that have put her into considerable debt. 

"Right now, a lot of my paycheck goes toward paying that off," she said. Thus, financially she has little room for error and no room to pick up a major new expense like health insurance. Yet due to ObamaCare, in 2014 Haley is expected to purchase health insurance through the Washington D.C. "exchange"—known as the Health Benefit Exchange Authority—or pay a fine of $95.

If Haley buys health insurance through Washington D.C.'s exchange, she'll be eligible for a subsidy of about $1,329 under ObamaCare to help her pay for insurance. If she puts that toward the lowest-cost Bronze plan on the exchange, about $1,541, then she'll only have to pay about $212 out-of-pocket for health insurance. 

That may not seem like much, but for Haley that $212 represents about 14 percent of one of her monthly paychecks before taxes. If she instead pays the $95 fine, then she'll save $117. "I could easily use that money for groceries or transportation," she said.

Let's look this example and how it really works out. The publication says that 18-34 year old people have an average of 2.7 physician visits per year, well, last time I checked, a single office visit to a doctor's office costs $100 for an uninsured person. Does Haley really have a savings of $117? If an 18-34 year old experiences even a minor illness, or injury, how much will it cost them? What with labs, x-rays or whatever they may require for a simple virus or fall, a single incident could cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

David Hogberg says that his study finds that over 3.7 million single individuals aged 18-34 without children will save at least $500 by declining insurance and paying the fine in 2014. Over 3 million individuals will save at least $1,000. I certainly question the data in this study, do you?

The study then goes on to show how their "subsidy calculators" come up with the figures of over 3.7 million single individuals aged 18-34 without children will save at least $500 by declining insurance and paying the fine in 2014. Over 3 million individuals will save at least $1,000. No where does it mention that a single illness or injury (remembering that the study itself does admit the 18-34 year old people average 2.7 doctor visits per year) will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars for the uninsured.

All the while if the "young invincibles" do sign up with the exchanges we will lower healthcare costs overall. We will have 30 million people who can't afford health insurance with health plans which will significantly lower costs by not having people use emergency rooms as their primary care physician, and receive preventive medicine which everybody, even the insurance companies know is cheaper in the long run.

Let's work at getting our representatives in congress and the senate to start looking out for us. Let's explain to every 18-34 year old why signing up for the exchanges this October is the best thing for them and all of America! Tell your representatives you don't pay them $174,000/yr and more to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (a law) 40 times. Are the republicans afraid that a healthcare bill that was enacted by a Republican Governor, upheld by a Republican Supreme Court, is saving Republican lives? 

WLOS-TV: Grieving mother asks why Patrick McHenry would repeal Obamacare

 This is only one story that has been shared. There are countless, and there will be millions more, on how the "Affordable Care Act" LAW (not "bill" as Republicans still insist on calling it even after it was passed by both houses and signed into by the President, and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court) will, can, and is, helping Americans all over the country. How do Governors, Congressman, Senators, who only care about getting reelected, convince the people their SUPPOSED to be representing that they are better off with NO health insurance rather than health insurance that is FREE! Oh! That's right, they have figured out that they can't convince the people of that! So now they are refusing to implement the law by setting up exchanges so come October 1, 2013 people can start to register for their health insurance to take effect January 1, 2014. They are also trying to defend the law even if they have to shut down the government! Even people in their own party recognize this as being ABSURD! Funny, if we ignore the laws we can pay a fine or go to jail, but not the politicians that are getting richer by the day!

PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO FROM YOUTUBE FROM THE GRIEVING MOTHER.