Failure is what doers do on the way to success. It's also what happens when you give up and otherwise would have succeeded. It's frequently hard to tell the difference until it's well in the rear view mirror.Bubba wrote:Personally, I think both sides have failed. Obamacare is failing at an accelerating pace and the Democrats own it. The Republicans have had seven years to craft a replacement and failed to do so. Congress under Republican control will do little or nothing to shore up Obamacare and Democrats will not join with Republicans to fix it until "repeal" is replaced by "modify". Good luck with that. Meanwhile, Trump's promise of better care at lower cost has been proven humorous at best as he had no plan and only learned how complicated healthcare is after he took office. Oh well...
The ultimate test of Obamacare is
►Do citizens want government between them and their doctor, or the insurance company between them and their doctor?
►Should there be a government mandate to buy a minimum policy?
I disagree on this talking point that "The Republicans have had seven years to craft a replacement and failed to do so. " You can't expect congress to work on a bill when they have no chance of passing it and knowing the circumstances will change year to year. That said, they've had since November and they clearly hadn't been laying any groundwork whatsoever among their caucus.
The more I use the medical system as it now stands, the more I'm convinced we're not even addressing the cost side of the equation. Yes, sell insurance across state lines. But also get rid of the infested pile of crap we refer to as "Group policies". That is the genesis of "we can't tell you what it costs because you have to get the code and find out what your plan pays." There is no ability to comparison shop without huge work and lots of arm twisting.
Should I drive to Rutland and get my knee done there or somewhere else? What's the cost difference? What does my prescription cost here vs there? Medical equipment is also a huge bloated mess where the insurance company feeds you to a medical supply company who charges 3 times the going rate on the open market. There should be zero ability for an insurance provider to tell you where to buy your medical needs as long as it isn't more expensive than their in house, Caribbean conference trip paid for preferred supplier.