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pampango

(24,692 posts)
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 11:32 AM Feb 2014

Krugman: The ACA will "increase the burden on fortunate people — the healthy and wealthy — to lift

some burdens on the less fortunate: people with chronic illnesses or other preexisting conditions, low-income workers."

The Affordable Care Act isn’t magic — it produces losers as well as winners. But it’s not black magic either, turning everyone into a loser. What the Act does is in effect to increase the burden on fortunate people — the healthy and wealthy — to lift some burdens on the less fortunate: people with chronic illnesses or other preexisting conditions, low-income workers.

Conservatives appear to be really upset that liberals are actually taking on the facts in the anti-Obamacare ads they’ve been running. How dare you question whether the people in these ads are giving an accurate picture — they’re suffering!

But there’s a different kind of struggle anyone trying to point out the facts encounters — a barrage of anecdotes. You say that the Obamacare horror stories are fake, but I kind of know this man who is being told that he has to buy a policy he can’t possibly afford / I read this sad story in the Wall Street Journal / I heard this tale on the radio / etc.. And so far, every single one of those sob stories has turned out to be false — because the very nature of the reform is such that such things hardly ever happen.

Suppose, then, that someone comes to you with an anecdote about a cancer patient, or just an older person in poor health, and tells you that this person is about to lose the care she needs, or face a huge increase in expenses, under Obamacare. Well, it’s almost certainly not true — people like that are overwhelmingly beneficiaries of health reform, thanks to community rating, which means that they can’t be discriminated against because of their condition.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/a-general-theory-of-obamacare-fiction/

"... increase the burden on fortunate people to lift some burdens on the less fortunate..." That sure sounds like something that republicans will oppose on principle.
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Krugman: The ACA will "increase the burden on fortunate people — the healthy and wealthy — to lift (Original Post) pampango Feb 2014 OP
Krugman also thinks 'free trade' is wonderful. nt Demo_Chris Feb 2014 #1
He also believes in progressive taxes, strong unions, equitable incomes and a strong safety net. pampango Feb 2014 #2
No serious economist opposes free trade. Nye Bevan Feb 2014 #3
Oh--so this claim, this thread might actually be bullshit? msanthrope Feb 2014 #4
That claim is bullshit Progressive dog Feb 2014 #5
Indeed----there were many opportunities on that thread for the OP to msanthrope Feb 2014 #6
Everything's coming up........... roses?? BKH70041 Feb 2014 #7

pampango

(24,692 posts)
2. He also believes in progressive taxes, strong unions, equitable incomes and a strong safety net.
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 12:25 PM
Feb 2014

And he know that republicans oppose all of those policies.

In many ways he is like modern Europeans/Canadians/Australians and a modern-day FDR - not perfect, but pretty darn good.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
3. No serious economist opposes free trade.
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 12:46 PM
Feb 2014

Free trade is, indeed, a good thing. President Obama, Al Gore, Paul Krugman, Bill Clinton and so on are not stupid people and they are not callous people, and they all support free trade. Of course we should also support assistance for those who happen to lose out from free trade agreements.

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
4. Oh--so this claim, this thread might actually be bullshit?
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 12:49 PM
Feb 2014
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024479945

I'm still waiting for the OP to post the letter as proof, mind you.


But there’s a different kind of struggle anyone trying to point out the facts encounters — a barrage of anecdotes. You say that the Obamacare horror stories are fake, but I kind of know this man who is being told that he has to buy a policy he can’t possibly afford / I read this sad story in the Wall Street Journal / I heard this tale on the radio / etc.. And so far, every single one of those sob stories has turned out to be false — because the very nature of the reform is such that such things hardly ever happen.

Suppose, then, that someone comes to you with an anecdote about a cancer patient, or just an older person in poor health, and tells you that this person is about to lose the care she needs, or face a huge increase in expenses, under Obamacare. Well, it’s almost certainly not true — people like that are overwhelmingly beneficiaries of health reform, thanks to community rating, which means that they can’t be discriminated against because of their condition.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/a-general-theory-of-obamacare-fiction/


Progressive dog

(6,915 posts)
5. That claim is bullshit
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 01:02 PM
Feb 2014

small businesses under BCBS went down 25%. If you get a letter, it'll be forged.

This is my reply to that OP.

I easily pulled this from the internet via Google. Out of curiosity,how does your friend explain that BCBS was reducing rates by nearly 25% for small businesses and he goes up 23%?

The basic cost of a health care plan for an individual or small business in Massachusetts will increase, on average, by only a small amount in the beginning of 2014, according to rates recently approved by the state Division of Insurance.

State officials point to the new rates as an example of Massachusetts' success in curbing the growth in health care spending.

That number does not reflect an across the board trend, but indicates a few insurers posting large decreases in their base rates, while most show modest increases. Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts, the state’s largest insurer, reported a drop of nearly 25 percent, while Boston Medical Center Health Net Plan and Neighborhood Health Plan reported decreases of nearly 10 percent. However, nine of the 14 insurers who reported their rates said they will increase premiums, generally by between 4 and 5 percent.


It's from Masslive, you can google it yourself.
 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
6. Indeed----there were many opportunities on that thread for the OP to
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 01:10 PM
Feb 2014

prove his claim. I would like to see the letter that he claims was sent to him, by his friend.

BKH70041

(961 posts)
7. Everything's coming up........... roses??
Thu Feb 27, 2014, 02:15 PM
Feb 2014

"Cities, counties, public schools and community colleges around the country have limited or reduced the work hours of part-time employees to avoid having to provide them with health insurance under the Affordable Care Act."

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/us/public-sector-cuts-part-time-shifts-to-duck-insurance-law.html?_r=0

The employer mandate applies to the public as well as the private sector, and although it's been delayed until next year, "many public employers have already adopted policies, laws or regulations" to avoid its costliest effects.

That means they don't get the 30 hours, which is the threshold. "Among those whose hours have been restricted in recent months are police dispatchers, prison guards, substitute teachers, bus drivers, athletic coaches, school custodians, cafeteria workers and part-time professors."

Mark Benigni, schools superintendent of Meriden, Conn, asks "Are we supposed to lay off full-time teachers so that we can provide insurance coverage to part-time employees?" “If I had to cut five reading teachers to pay for benefits for substitute teachers, I’m not sure that would be best for our students.”

Mayor Dennis Hanwell of Medina, OH (suburb of Cleveland) tells the paper his city had to reduce the hours (and thus the pay) of office clerks, sanitation men, park inspectors and police dispatchers to 29 hours from 35. "Our choice was to cut the hours or give them health care, and we could not afford the latter."

William J. Lipkin, an adjunct professor of American history and political science at Union County College in Cranford, N.J., said: “The Affordable Care Act, rather than making health care affordable for adjunct faculty members, is making it more unaffordable. Colleges are not giving us access to health care, and our hours are being cut, which means our income is being cut. We are losing on both ends.”

(Of course that gets it backward: The law isn't being "used" to "reduce faculty workload"; rather, reductions in faculty workload are being used to avoid the most burdensome aspects of the law. It's true enough that wasn't ObamaCare's intent. That's why they call them unintended consequences. - bkh70041)

The American Federation of Teachers lists on its website three dozen public colleges and universities in 15 states that it says have restricted the work assignments of adjunct or part-time faculty members to avoid the cost of providing health insurance.

http://www.aft.org/issues/healthreform/highered/adjunct.cfm

Here's another prospective unintended consequence: "Raising the minimum wage could cost Illinois' cash-strapped universities millions of dollars in added wages for their student workforce."

http://herald-review.com/business/local/minimum-wage-talk-concerns-university-officials/article_28b87235-f024-5971-b016-703c64720e4f.html

So. Illinois Univ. estimates that a minimum-wage hike would cost it $3.2 million a year; Illinois State Univ., $1.6 million; and Eastern Illinois Univ., $940,000 "at a time when the General Assembly may be considering further cuts in aid to higher education." Officials at both Illinois State and Eastern Illinois say the wage hike would force them to reduce the number of student workers, depriving those students of both work experience and income.

The "sob stories" are not false. Krugman's lying.

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