2016 Postmortem

Purveyor

(29,876 posts) Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:15 PM Dec 2013

Angry Self-Insured Voters Dim Democratic Takeover Plans

By John McCormick - Dec 5, 2013

To appreciate why U.S. Representative Scott Peters has twice broken with his Democratic colleagues and voted to roll back parts of Obamacare, it’s helpful to know that his San Diego-area district is teeming with voters who have reasons to be angry about the law.

The district has one of the nation’s highest proportions of residents who get health insurance through individual policies, instead of from an employer, and many have learned their policies are being canceled because they don’t comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Walter Niles is one of them. The self-employed biotechnology consultant with a doctorate in neuroscience was notified in September that his policy was being canceled. The coverage offered through Covered California, his state’s new insurance exchange, has left him unsatisfied.

“I’m paying more and getting less,” said Niles, 59, who leans Republican yet also says he voted twice for President Barack Obama. “It is fundamentally a worse plan.”

The political predicament for Peters, who was elected in 2012 with 51 percent of the vote, illustrates the complicated path ahead for Democrats as they approach the 2014 midterms amid a debilitating Obamacare rollout. Democrats need to gain a net of 17 seats to retake House control, and holding such swing seats as California’s 52nd District are vital to their mission.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-05/angry-self-insured-voters-dim-democratic-takeover-plans.html

9 replies

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Highlight:

Angry Self-Insured Voters Dim Democratic Takeover Plans (Original Post) Purveyor Dec 2013 OP

Why can't we tell assholes like him to "get a job".... Wounded Bear Dec 2013 #1

I call bullshit on Mr. Niles. SunSeeker Dec 2013 #2

But more ... 1StrongBlackMan Dec 2013 #3

Excellent point. It would not have been canceled if it offered more than an ACA-compliant policy. SunSeeker Dec 2013 #4

BINGO! ... 1StrongBlackMan Dec 2013 #8

Obamacare pricing...come out of the closet quadrature Dec 2013 #5

Oh no, your bullshit insurance plan that would have dropped you like a hot potato Arkana Dec 2013 #6

Yeah - looks like these folks won't be voting for Obama again anytime soon huh? nt. Blue Idaho Dec 2013 #7

Is there a real need to post this right wing bullshit? RBInMaine Dec 2013 #9

Wounded Bear

(58,656 posts)

1. Why can't we tell assholes like him to "get a job"....

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:29 PM

Dec 2013

That's what we hear all the time. Getajob. Getajob. Getajob. Getajob.

Unemployment at 7% (really pushing 15-20%, but that's just a quibble)? No worries. Getajob.

Can't buy food and they cancelled your food stamps? Getajob.

Need a new car? Getajob.

Want health insurance? Getajob.

Spent years looking for employment? So what? Getajob.

If he "leans Republican" I'm sure he's told any number of people that, or thought it, at least.

We need to GOTV this season. For sure.

SunSeeker

(51,557 posts)

2. I call bullshit on Mr. Niles.

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 02:59 PM

Dec 2013

First, he does not explain why the plan he is getting off the state exchange is a "fundamentally worse plan." What makes it worse, the fact that he can't be dropped when he gets sick? The fact that he gets free preventative care, like colonoscopies that he, as a 59 year old, needs and previously would have been charged up to $2,000 for? The fact that his insurer now must spend 80% of his premium dollar on actual healthcare?

Oh, and his complaint that he will be "paying more" is referring to the fact that this new plan will run him about $100 more a month. How much was his prior plan raising his rates year after year? How much would they have charged him as a 59 year old? Without the ACA, I can bet he would have seen a rate increase at least that much under his old plan, but without all of the protections the ACA now provides.

Bloomberg News fails to note all of that in their article, even though this Niles story has been kicking around for months, and more thoroughly discussed in the local San Diego media: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Oct/23/tp-thousands-in-county-alerted-that-health/2/

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)

3. But more ...

Reply to SunSeeker (Reply #2)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 03:47 PM

Dec 2013

how is this "republican-leaner that voted for President Obama ... twice', paying more for LESS. If his (cancelled) policy offered MORE than the ACA-compliant policy, it would not have been dropped "because of the ACA."

I think his leaning-republican is getting in the way of his truthfulness.

SunSeeker

(51,557 posts)

4. Excellent point. It would not have been canceled if it offered more than an ACA-compliant policy.

Reply to 1StrongBlackMan (Reply #3)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 04:20 PM

Dec 2013

Or at least it would not have been cancelled due to the ACA...

1StrongBlackMan

(31,849 posts)

8. BINGO! ...

Reply to SunSeeker (Reply #4)

Thu Dec 5, 2013, 07:52 PM

Dec 2013

The only incident where ACA-compliant plans have been cancelled because of the ACA (that I have seen) were in the California market where the insurer decided to completely pull out of the market to avoid having to accept folks with pre-existing conditions ... a decision that makes no sense to me because the law is national; so they may be able to avoid them in California, but the still would have to accept them in every other market they "serve." (Maybe, they counted the beans and found Californians have more pre-existing conditions. )