The Democrats are playing a game of don't repeal it, or if you do, you alone are responsible for the correction. That's fine, but the reality is I don't know how this gets fixed at this point. The dems fucked up an already bad system to perhaps beyond any repair. In the short term, any fix would be catastrophic to some people, and will republicans survive that short term? Most independent experts on the subject who agree that Obamacare was a disaster, acknowledge that a fix is threading a fine needle.

I hate to say it, but I think Obamacare was intended to fuck everything up so bad that its only repair is total free market (not going to happen) or complete socialization. Something that trump might actually support, democrats want, but too many interest don't.

I see a different sort of compromise. Maybe high risk pools, which have failed in the past, properly implemented underwritten by federal gov't. Again, not preferable to a freer market approach, but at this point none of my original ideas would be feasible in the short or even medium term.

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"In the world I see you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Towers. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying stripes of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighway." T Durden

The buck stops everwhere but with him?

"I'd argue that it's clear Obamacare is already clearly failing. .....How far does it have to fail before it's safe to offer a fix? "

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Was reading that 20 million Americans who voted for Trump will now lose Obamacare. There might be some voters remorse there.

As I've said a number of times before I have a hard time believing health care costs will not continue to rise significantly for the foreseeable future and people's health insurance won't keep costing more and more. The latter is what people don't like and I think it unlikely much of anything the govt. does is going to fix that.

Why? They'll just go back to he way it was, gambling on not needing health care and passing the buck onto us responsible folk when they do.

I think what he is saying is don't be too aggressive in repealing it.

There are a lot of Republicans who want to repeal ACA the day he is sworn in, but their are two main concerns with this, ACA can't be replaced in a day, its so complicated it will take a few years to dismantle. Secondly it would be political suicide if it was repealed without a good strong solid replacement.

Assuming Trump is a smart businessman, he will tell the Democrats its going to be repealed/replaced. Either fight a losing fight (because ACA is failing and Republicans have majority), or work with us to make something better. ACA will change that is a given, either work together or drag it out at the expense of the american taxpayer.

I work a lot with ACA and I myself can see it falling apart, but not in the way most people think of it falling apart.

I'm sure you can use Google yourself. The average rate increase YOY pre-ACA was just as high or higher than post-ACA.

Non-ACA plans exist. They still meet the requirements of ACA but are essentially unchanged from what they were pre-ACA. This is most of the big employer plans you find in business.

COBRA is a prime example. It doesn't meet affordability requirements but is offered by law. Which Im not sure why it is still law with ACA in place.

As for average rate increases, I believe if you look at private plans, yeah the rates are increasing dramatically higher. According to Gruber, the guy who said ACA is banking on the stupidity of the voter, believed they many insurers under priced themselves initially when the exchanges went up which is why we are seeing large increases in premiums.

I'd like to go back to not having an entitlement and only paying 1/7 the cost.

Then they are ACA plans, no?

Depends how you view it. Does it meet the ACA affordability requirements? Or does it meet the other ACA requirements such as pre-existing conditions, joint pharmacy/healthcare deductibles, actuarial value (bronze, silver, gold, platinum). etc.

So Trump says something stupid and then retracts it after he was told how stupid he is.

Yes, it is going to be a fun ride. Hopefully for you guys he is held in check.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Article on what the Republican healthcare replacement law may look like. I really dont know if it will fix anything.




http://www.benefitnews.com/opinion/how-hhs-secretary-prices-plan-could-change-aca-forever

they are plans that existed in their current form before the ACA and are negotiated directly with the insurance companies - not on the exchanges. The economics of these plans are largely unaffected by ACA.

My buddy (also a former big 4 CPA) was complaining how expensive his silver family plan was on the exchanges...like 16K/year bla blah. Thought it was outrageous. Well, my big corp plan covers families with a rather high deductible (but not high enough for HSAs) for 15K/ year. Employees just don't know this because our kind big corp covers 12K on behalf of the employee. The system is CRAP. Before ACA and under ACA...there's no denying that. But pretending that the ACA is somehow wrecking the healthcare system when it was already wrecked is simple partisan politics.

The reality is that free market forces won't fix our healthcare system. The free market is driven by profits. You can't make money on sick poor people. Offering a low income family with a sick kid choices may be ideologically pure but people don't really want choices when they're sick and bleeding. They want to (and need to) be treated without an automatic life crippling megabill showing up later just because they made the wrong choice when they were shopping for insurance 6 months prior. We can blame their poor choices but once again, the reality is that insurance is something most people can't effectively shop for. People are stupid. Expecting them to understand complicated financial products is unrealistic.

Employer plans still must be ACA compliant or you pay heavy penalties. All plans are affected whether or not they are employer based or on the exchanges (with the exception of some very specific coverage). The ACA is wrecking what was an admittedly broke system. Free market forces can help the system in many ways. Allowing insures offer plans across state lines will increase competiton. Allowing people to take control of their finances and be able to shop for doctors/procedures will help the system, people need to learn how to manage their HC dollars. The free market in not a panacea for sure. Much needs to be done on the supply side as well (supply and distribution of doctors and other HC professionals). There are too many variables for it to be a simple fix.

Saying most people are stupid, and govt needs to do everything for them, is a tired typical liberal viewpoint.