In 1993, newly elected President Bill Clinton made an ambitious overhaul of the national health care system his top priority. It ended up getting bogged down in complicated congressional negotiations over the many details of the proposal, became unpopular, and didn’t pass, and Democrats got hammered in the 1994 midterms.The failures were less expensive than the success. My #1 expense month-to-month is now health insurance, purchased on the Exchanges, but I haven't been to a doctor since 2014 because I now have a $13,000 deductible. At least Donald Trump didn't cost me any more. The Republicans just failed to completely repeal the mess that Obama's team put into place.
Then in 2009, newly elected President Barack Obama made an ambitious overhaul of the national health care system his top priority. It ended up getting bogged down in complicated congressional negotiations over the many details of the proposal, became unpopular, did pass despite poor polling, and Democrats got hammered in the 2010 midterms.
But then in 2017, newly elected President Donald Trump made an ambitious overhaul of the national health care system his top priority.... Not coincidentally, Republicans got hammered in the 2018 midterms.
When people ask me why I don't favor this or that Democratic plan to fix some social problem using the government, they don't really like that my answer tuns on how much worse my problems got after their last attempt to fix my problems. Thanks, but no thanks.
Vox can wish all they want to that nuking health insurance again(what they really are messing with) not be a Dem top priority but it will always bubble up to the top of the list because, short of food rationing, it is the best lever to exert control over the largest number of people.
ReplyDeleteMy deductible's not that bad, but I'm part of a co-op with a total pay-out cap. Plus I suspect I'm younger and, ah, a bit lower mileage than our honorable host. And yes, it is my largest single bill.
ReplyDeleteBefore the co-op I went through a plan every year to six months because of the "improvements" required by O-Care. They cancelled the one I'd had for a decade because I'd opted out of obstetric coverage.
I have no desire for the government to do anything but get out of the medical field completely, including electronic records requirements.
LittleRed1
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.”
ReplyDelete― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy
Obama and the Democrats have effectively crucified two of my children with "Obamacare."
ReplyDeleteI will not forget, nor forgive.