I *half* agree with this. 2019 #ACASabotage-created rate increases will have *some* political impact, but not nearly as much as many thought. Here’s why:
EASY MESSAGE: “Rates increasing 20% instead of 8%!”
HARD MESSAGE: “Rates increasing 8% instead of dropping 2%!”
Ironically, the very ANTI-#ACASabotage measures being taken by some states reduce political impact. GOP kills mandate, causing rates to spike 10 points. State scrambles, reinstates mandate, spike cancelled out for that state. Doesn’t change what GOP did to other 4 dozen states.
And in other states it’s even harder to make the point: Minnesota’s reinsurance program means rates will DROP 8% next year, which is good…but if the GOP hadn’t repealed the mandate, they would’ve dropped by around *15%* or so. That’s much more difficult to “prove” to voters.
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⚠️ GRAPHICS-HEAVY THREAD: Next week, the #TexasFoldEm lawsuit brought by 20 Republican Attorneys General against the #ACA goes to court. The Trump Administration is refusing to defend against it even though it EVERY legal expert says it’s a pile of steaming garbage. 1/
2/ If the #TexasFoldEm plaintiffs succeed, federal protections for those w/#PreExistingConditions would be gone. Not just on the individual market…people w/EMPLOYER coverage would be at risk as well, especially since most people are out of a job at least once in their lives.
3/ Here’s a reminder of the idiotic “argument” the #TexasFoldEm plaintiffs are using: 1. SCOTUS ruled the #ACA mandate is only Constitutional because it’s a tax. 2. The GOP repealed the mandate tax. 3. Therefore, they get to repeal the rest of the #ACA as well.
Really. That’s it.
THREAD: For those who still don’t understand how important the #ACA#TexasFoldEm case is (along #StopKavanaugh), here’s a simple timeline of the ACA’s 3-Legged Stool:
1/ Here’s how the #ACA’s 3-Legged Stool was *supposed* to work when the law was passed. The blue leg includes the patient protections. The red leg is the part everyone hated but which served an important purpose. The green leg is the financial help for people to pay for it.
2/ This is what it ACTUALLY ended up looking like: There were two main problems. The financial assistance was cut off at 400% FPL income (& wasn’t generous enough), and the mandate penalty wasn’t strong enough to be fully effective. Both were EASILY fixable.
Here’s a reminder. Watch both commercials, but especially the second one. There’s a LOT going on here:
2/ First of all, notice how in 1993, “community rating” (i.e., not being allowed to charge people more based on their health status) was considered a HORRIBLE thing.
3/ Cut to 2018: 8 yrs after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, 89% of the public thinks it’s important NOT to charge people more for their health insurance based on their health status. EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT. This is the real legacy of the #ACA.
ATTENTION MICHIGAN RESIDENTS: I’m trying to track down the Twitter handles for the following 2018 Democratic nominees; please help if you can, thanks!
HD001: Tenisha Yancey
HD003: Wendell Byrd
HD004: Isaac Robinson
HD005: Cynthia A. Johnson
HD006: Tyrone Carter
HD012: Alex Garza
HD013: Frank Liberati
HD014: Cara Clemente
HD016: Kevin Coleman
HD022: John Chirkun
HD024: Laura Winn
HD025: Nate Shannon
HD028: Lori M. Stone
HD030: John P. Spica
HD031: William J. Sowerby
HD032: Paul Manley
HD036: Robert Murphy
HD045: Kyle Cooper
HD048: Sheryl Y. Kennedy
HD049: John D. Cherry
(yes, THAT John Cherry…he doesn’t seem to be on Twitter?)
HD050: Tim Sneller
HD051: David E. Lossing
HD054: Ronnie D. Peterson
HD056: Ernie Whiteside
HD057: Amber Pedersen
HD058: Tamara C. Barnes
HD059: Dennis B. Smith
HD063: Jennifer Aniano
THREAD: Yeah, I have insomnia, so here’s some wonky info re. single payer, M4A and the Michigan Gubernatorial primary. 1/
2/ Now that the #MIGov primary is over, since the most contentious debate between El-Sayed and Whitmer (besides 'dark money') was about single-payer healthcare, let's get a few things straight:
3/ 1. "Single Payer" refers to any healthcare system where the gov’t is the payment source for healthcare providers (doctors/hospitals/drug cos/etc).
🚨🚨🚨
GRAPHICS-HEAVY THREAD WARNING!
How Much More Will #ACASabotage Cost Unsubsidized Enrollees in YOUR Congressional District???
1/ Last year, I posted state-by-state infographics which broke out the estimated number of Americans who would lose healthcare coverage if each of the various #ACA repeal bills form the GOP were to become law.
2/ At first I used my own estimates, but then @EmilyG_DC and her colleagues from the Center for American Progress (@amprog) stepped up and started compiling their own projections. Their methodology was different but our estimates were generally in the same range.