3 million Californians insured under Obamacare - is "full repeal" realistic anymore?

[mota bhai 2,675]

Covered California fully enrolled 1.22 million consumers by the end of the day March 31 with about a third of that, or 416,000, coming in the last of six months of signups. In total, more than 3 million Californians got insurance, as 1.9 million were added to Medi-Cal.

...

Young adults enrolled with increasing frequency during March, with the 18-34 age group accounting for 32.1% of the monthly total. That drove up the overall cumulative to 28.2%, or 344,000 — exceeding base projections of 212,000. Experts have said the share of young adults should be a third or more in order to help spread the risk for carriers.

Lee said, however, that 28.2% is higher than actuaries projected when they priced individual health plans, so it’s a good bet that premiums will come down over the years ahead.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/04/03/500k-have-yet-to-finish-obamacare-applications-in-california-state-says/

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It's a half million in Florida. Would have been 1.3 million if Republicans hadn't pizzed $50 billion dollars into the wind which were available to extend health care coverage to the very poor.

And no, repeal is not realistic. It never really was.

[mota bhai 2,675]

It's a half million in Florida. Would have been 1.3 million if Republicans hadn't pizzed $50 billion dollars into the wind which were available to extend health care coverage to the very poor.

And no, repeal is not realistic. It never really was.

Florida has a lot more electoral influence than California does, despite having fewer actual votes. I'm not so sure that success in California means anything outside California.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Florida has a lot more electoral influence than California does, despite having fewer actual votes. I'm not so sure that success in California means anything outside California.

Yeah but by and large, people here are fairly pizzed off that Tallahassee has left the most vulnerable out in the rain. Even our otherwise idiotic governor understood that not extending coverage to the very poor is economically stupid and will hurt the state in the mid and long term. That is why he supported extending coverage but the legislature ignored him on that one. They're all safe there in Tallahassee - they made sure of that by cutting their districts right. Same goes for the Congressional delegation. But in statewide races they may find themselves with a bit of an issue this November. Especially now that the FL Supreme Court has put an end to their voter purge efforts.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Yeah but by and large, people here are fairly pizzed off that Tallahassee has left the most vulnerable out in the rain.

I will believe that when I see you guys elect Charlie Crist.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I will believe that when I see you guys elect Charlie Crist.

I think the odds are good for that to happen.

[mota bhai 2,675]

I think the odds are good for that to happen.

Florida is the dumbest state in the Union so I'll believe it when I see it.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Florida is the dumbest state in the Union so I'll believe it when I see it.

South Carolina is still part of the Union, no?

[mota bhai 2,675]

South Carolina is still part of the Union, no?

If there's a story on google news involving people too dumb to live, 9 times out of 10 it's from Florida.

Fact.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If there's a story on google news involving people too dumb to live, 9 times out of 10 it's from Florida.

Fact.

Years of Republican stranglehold are bound to leave a mark. Fact.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Years of Republican stranglehold are bound to leave a mark. Fact.

Lotta Republican states in this country. Florida is special, not in a good way.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Lotta Republican states in this country. Florida is special, not in a good way.

Yes it is. We have special Republicans here, too.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

California is awesome! The rest of the US pretty much sucks.

[deleted-05292014 331]

A lot of people benefit from lower health care costs - but especially those people in "Red" states or the South. That is why governors are turning down the medicare expansion, not because they think it's bad but rather when the ACA is fully realized, funded and working it will shatter the Republican mantra of "big government" is bad....AND the ACA is not even about big government, the irony is it's about big corporations (health insurance companies)

Watch 10 years from now when a lot of the issues have been worked out, Republicans will be standing there with their pockets pulled out and lint saying we got nothing when their OWN constituents are benefiting. When people in the red states, realize that they aren't losing their life savings because of health issues or that they don't have to work a 2nd ####### job just for medical benefits, or that their lovely kid at 22 still living at home and can't find a job with that art degree needs a medical treatment and can use their plan and not out of pocket, they will love the ACA and wonder what all the fuss was about.

I hope the Dems running for re-election don't turn spineless and run from Obamacare this fall. They need to stick by it, run on it. There has been so much money thrown against it by people like the Koch Brothers who are out of touch with the common American. They don't have to worry about health insurance or getting sick and wondering how their medical bills will be paid, but they have nerve to use their money to deny people life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Think about it. The only people who are against the ACA are rich people - who do not have the same problems as the working or middle class, and most certainly not the poor.

These Republicans are all discombobulated, that knucklehead Charles Krauthamer or whatever his name on Faux News was advocating that Democrats should have ran on single payer and that single payer was a better solution than the ACA. This guy must be from Colorado smoking some good weed because if Dems had eliminated health care companies Republicans would have blown a full tilt gasket claims of communism and goose stepping.

Edited April 4, 2014 by Jinx614

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Here are some numbers that might help those still in the dark understand why Obamcare is not going to be repealed.

317 million reasons to love Obamacare

...

Here's a rundown by the numbers:

3.1 million

That's how many young adults can get coverage because of the provision in Obamacare that allows them to stay on their parents' insurance plans until age 26.

105 million

That's how many Americans no longer have lifetime expense caps, whether it's because they have chronic illnesses or because their insurance company set restrictive policies.

6.1 million

That's how many Americans with Medicare Part D no longer have to go through the "doughnut hole" coverage gap. This means seniors can save more than $5.7 billion on prescription drugs.

3.2 million

That's the number of small businesses estimated to be eligible for tax credits for providing health insurance to their 19.3 million employees nationwide, credits worth $15.4 billion in 2011 alone.

4.4 million

That's how many low-income adults will now have access to health insurance thanks to states implementing the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare; an additional 5.8 million poor adults would be included in this count if 25 mostly Republican-led states weren't refusing Medicaid expansion.

50 to 129 million

That's how many people will benefit from the Obamacare provision that eliminates all bars for coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Studies say that anywhere from 19% to 50% of non-elderly Americans have health conditions that could qualify as pre-existing conditions.

49.4 million

That's how many current Medicare enrollees can feel secure knowing that, under Obamacare, existing Medicare benefits can neither be reduced nor taken away.

317 million

-- That's how many Americans — i.e., all of us — potentially benefit from the requirement that insurance companies provide flu shots, HIV screenings, prostate exams, mammograms and FDA-approved contraception for free, without a co-pay.

-- Plus, we all benefit from new requirements that insurance companies must spend at least 80% of our premium dollars on our health care as opposed to marketing or administration.

-- We all benefit from the new requirement that insurance companies publicly justify their actions if they want to raise premiums by 10% or more.

-- We all benefit from knowing that our insurance can now never be capped or canceled at the whim of insurance companies.

As high quality care is maintained while costs may go down because of improved coverage and access, we all benefit from a more affordable and effective health care system.

What about, you ask, the estimated 4.7 million Americans who lost their current insurance plans during the rollout of Obamacare? Well, according to a congressional report, 2.35 million or so can take advantage of the Obama administration's decision to grandfather those plans through 2014.

Another 1.4 million qualify for Medicaid expansion or subsidies in the Obamacare exchanges. On top of that, the Obama administration has agreed that a "hardship exemption" built into health care reform for any American facing major challenges in complying with the law would be interpreted to include those whose policies had been canceled. In other words, they won't be penalized.

When Republicans rolled out stories of alleged Obamacare victims, the details were usually debunked in some way. The truth is that many of the canceled plans were no longer legal under Obamacare because they neither covered the basic things insurance should cover or, worse, were dangerously designed to explode the minute the insured got sick: what Consumer Reports has called "junk insurance."

Arguing that people should be able to keep these plans is like arguing that people should still be allowed to drive defective Chevy Cobalts or cars without seat belts. Like it or not, the government's job is to help keep us safe and insurance companies that were peddling shoddy products were doing the opposite.

Polls show most Americans want to keep Obamacare and work to fix it rather than replace or get rid of health care reform altogether. And there's much to suggest support for Obamacare would be even higher were it not for constant Republican attacks and misinformation about the law.

After all, when Americans find out what specific provisions are included in Obamacare, they overwhelmingly support them. Eighty percent support the extension of dependent coverage, 79% support closing the Medicare "doughnut hole," 77% support eliminating out-of-pocket costs for preventive services, 74% support the expansion of Medicaid. These Obamacare components are even supported by a majority of Republicans.

And it's still early. As more Americans access private health insurance choices through the exchange marketplace, receive care minus the discrimination and dirty tricks that insurance companies could get away with in the past, we'll see more people getting the medicine they need, screened for cancer sooner in more treatable stages and pay less for good care.

Every day, as we all see the benefits of health care reform in our lives, support for Obamacare will grow stronger. Before long, not even the most partisan Republicans will be able to attack it.