"For now we have shored up the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries and that is what is really important, isn't it? "

...what's "really important" is the Medicaid expansion. This too:

New York exceeds Obamacare enrollment expectations by 60 percent, premiums halved
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024822354

Here's the thing about Uninsured - they do not have someone out there negotiating the prices for them when a visit is needed.

Let's say a typical visit to the ER to have a broken arm fixed runs $2500 for the visit. Insurance Companies negotiate that price and come back and say 'We'll pay you $1500 for that procedure and if you accept that price we'll put you in our network and send customers your way'. Hospitals either agree to charge that (and other procedures) or they aren't in the network.

So for the uninsured not only are they stuck with the higher price but there is also a good chance they can't even afford that higher price - if they could they'd probably have insurance already. And when they can't afford to pay the bill they may end up defaulting on it. And who pays it - the rest of us with even higher prices at the hospital.

So for these idiots who think it's ok for people to be uninsured - that's why costs rise for healthcare (that and Lobbyists - that's another rant).

People have insurance then they have better negotiated rates for ER visits. AND if they have insurance then maybe they'll visit the regular doctor first before something gets out of control and a person ends up in the hospital.

When you have high deductibles with insurance, you will end up paying the entire bill yourself. At my last job my deductible was $3,500. So that trip to the ER would cost the full $2,500 WITH insurance. What if you don't have $2,500 just sitting around that you don't know what to do with?

When I had food posioning, I went to an Emergency Care Clinic. The charges were $3,000 and I had to pay the entire bill myself because I had not met my deductible. I am sure the ER would have been far more expensive than that. They probably would have wanted to admit me too. What would that have cost? Plus, even after satisfying the deductibe, I would still have to pay 50% of the hospital charges. I don't know what the solution is, but health insurance as we know it isn't the answer.

My own daughter, who made $11/hour, got into so much debt because she did not have the money to pay off what insurance didn't pay. Nobody addresses what happens to the working poor with a lot of medical expenses. Oh, don't worry, I HAVE insurance. My daughter leaned that lesson very young and it has taken almost 15 years for her to get out from under it. The worst part is that even today her back problems are not any better.

"When you have high deductibles with insurance, you will end up paying the entire bill yourself. At my last job my deductible was $3,500. So that trip to the ER would cost the full $2,500 WITH insurance. What if you don't have $2,500 just sitting around that you don't know what to do with? "

...don't have to settle for high-deductible plans. They can get a low-cost silver plan with very low deductibles.

Anyone who doesn't qualify Medicaid after the expansion will be qualifed for additional subsidies available with a silver plan. In some cases, those plans reduce the deductible to zero.

Texas:

94% Cost Sharing Benefits Households with incomes between 138% to 150% of FPL qualify for the following cost sharing benefits for this silver plan.

Deductible (Individual) $0.00
Deductible (Family) $0.00
Out of Pocket Maximum (Individual) $500.00
Out of Pocket Maximum (Family) $1,500.00

http://www.valuepenguin.com/health-insurance/TX/blue-cross-blue-shield-blue-advantage-silver-hmo-004