Life, Liberty and the Pursuit...

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Some dead guys wrote that a long time ago. They had the right idea, but were also making shitloads of money off of slave labor... So, kind of a hypocritical statement. The truer statement would have been...

"We, in not knowing a damn thing, think that old, white men rule! We also think a Creator, but not a particular religious based one, because that would be uncool, gave us some rights that are pretty rock solid, them being Life. Liberty, And a sappy Will Smith movie! Thankfully, we are aware of our limited grasp... so Ladies, African-Americans, and LGBTs... Amend this bitch! (After we are worm food)"

This blog is about the Affordable Healthcare Act. I think it could fall under the whole "Life" part of the aforementioned inalienable rights. (SIDE NOTE: I have never, ever heard that adjective used anywhere else! Ever!)

This SUPREME COURT UPHELD LAW has caused more ass itch then almost anything of recent memory. Hell, the Republican Corpo-Electorate has voted to repeal the thing FIFTY, FIVE ZERO, times... There is a point where you cease to be standing your ground, and start being an annoying piece of shit. They passed that point 49 votes to repeal ago.

The law has caused a veritable abyss in the political discourse and general work place discussion. In my workplace, someone, anonymously laid a printout of "The Tea Party Guide To Defunding Obamacare" in the break room. Wouldn't ya know it... I grabbed my,  Someone grabbed a Sharpie and wrote "THIS IS NOT NEEDED, THE BATHROOM IS FULLY STOCKED WITH TOILET PAPER!" Anonymity is a double edged sword. And I own swords. Plural.

To find some resolution, one must find common ground from where to start the discourse. And here it is...

"Once it became a "Health Care Industry", we ALL were hosed."

Insurance companies are a legalized form of gambling. They get money coming and going. And they were sucking you dry every year with larger fees, lesser coverage, and higher deductibles. They would tell you this is because of the rising cost of the uninsured.. People skipping out on paying the emergency room bills. So, we, the people doing the right thing, have to shoulder the burden.

Some truth to that... Sure. So, I dunno... Try to make there be less uninsured?

Insurance companies, in order to keep their shareholders happy, would kick off people when it was discovered that they had some serious illness - because it was non-cost effective. Kind of the ultimate dick move. No one could argue that should be a big no no.

So, I dunno... Make it so they can't kick you off if you get sick?

Insurance companies could pick and choose who they would steal from accept as clients based on preexisting conditions. So, your old Insurance Co. kicked you out for being sick and no one will insure you because you are sick? Congrats, you are going to die in agonizing pain and completely draining the financial resources of your family for generations to come... THANKS FOR PLAYING!

So, I dunno... Eliminate the pre-existing condition clauses?

Guess what the first phase of the Affordable Health Care Act did???

The Money Fellating Right Wing's major argument - well, sound bite, because most of their supporters can't comprehend a fully formed thought of more than two sentences, was "Your insurance rates are going to raise 5000%!!!!" Or was it Sarah Palin's "Death Panel" bullshit? I forget.

Understand this, President Obama did not raise a damn thing. The Affordable Health Care Act did not raise a damn thing. That would be the insurance companies choice to do so. No one else's. They were going to raise your deductible anyways. Seriously. Every year they did so. Suddenly it is the President's fault. Tell that story walking.

The roll out of the website was a fiasco - granted. As a programmer, I can fully understand the complexity of a site like that... But to have 55 different companies involved in the coding??? THAT is unforgivable and would cause the cluster we all were privy to. So the interface was jacked. People getting covered was not. And as of yesterday, that number is around 7.1 million.

The second phase was a bit more tricky. It was an implementation of a standard of coverage. Some of the insurance companies sell a "street 'surance", mostly to low income families. It looks good on paper, but it covers next to nothing. So, having it creates a nice, false sense of security - until something goes wrong. The Affordable Health Care Act said no more duping the already struggling. Here is the standard.

So far, the biggest fun is to see the "Americans For Prosperity" (aka The Koch Brothers Propaganda Machine) wheel out their "Obamacare Horror Stories". The fun comes from someone fact checks them and in five minutes, debunks them. In some cases, showing the "victim" how the AHA is actually going to help them. Good times. Suck my Koch.

The amount of disinformation, and money spent on said manure, being pumped out by the opponents of the AHA is astounding. If they, I dunno, put that money towards medical research, maybe we could cure some shit... HAHAHAHAHA... Who am I kidding, that would help people... And they could give a rat's bleeding rectum about people.

You want an all too typical depiction of insurance companies? Watch "The Rainmaker". If you don't feel a tad sense of revulsion by the end, you must be a soulless creature, or worse, a Republican

With as much as we spend on healthcare in this nation, to be ranked 37th in the world in "Quality" is a travesty. That is the horror story that needs to be told. The treatment of our Veteran's medical care is a disgrace. The War Pigs have no problem sending them to war, supporting them (for photo ops), but seem to have a damn problem funding/fixing the VA and voting for job bills for Veterans.

Am I happy with the AHA? No, I wanted the single payer mandate. It would free employers from having to provide... But they would have to provide more pay. Hell, I want socialized medicine. I would pay another 6 to 8 cents per dollar to not have to worry about medical bills. Ever. "Oh but I heard Canadians have to wait 42 years for a broken leg to get fixed". I am sure you did. What time of the day were you watching Fox "News"?

The Doctor is in, bend over,

d

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