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Last I checked, the Affordable Care Act really didn't involve anyone at the Executive Branch deciding on what medical treatment I could get. Downvoted for fearm

Last I checked, the Affordable Care Act really didn't involve anyone at the Executive Branch deciding on what medical treatment I could get. Downvoted for fearmongering and paranoid speculation. (purposely botched implementation of a large software project to make single payer easier? Because the Tea Party shutting down the US government to try to block this healthcare bill makes it likely we will see single payer pass?)

Shivetya 13y ago
Actually if the Independent Payment Advisory Board fails to develop a proposal should costs exceed certain thresholds then the Secretary of Health and Human services must submit a proposal themselves which they must implement. Since all appointees to this committee must be agreed upon by the Executive Branch as well as both minority and majority leaders from each party (hence 12 from Congress with the Presidents approval/recommendation) and 3 from the President, yes the Executive branch could very well determine what health options are available too you. The real issues before us now are. 1) why can the Secretary of Health and Human Services even refuse to divulge enrollment numbers? 2) why is the same not keeping the President fully aware or made aware of the problems the site faced before launch and after (conspiracy advocated claim the President knew) 3) By regulating what must be covered and not covered they are deciding what you can have and have not. Remember, there are a lot of gray areas in the law which the Secretary has shown more than enough interest in creating actual rules.
- generj 13y ago
  Of course, the nice part is that since they do have analytics (as terribly implemented as it appears to have been), we can force enrollment number disclosure by filing a FOIA request for the web analytics data. Which, incidentally, I did today before this story broke.
- cma 13y ago
  You can still by supplemental insurance, so they aren't regulating what you can have, they are regulating the minimum floor.
  - drivingmissm 13y ago
    Obamacare is not a "minimum floor" it is a full suite of mandated coverage for every politically connected medical sector.
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      Yes, its a minimum floor. And there are many plans that offer more than the ACA minimum. You may not like where the minimum is set, but that doesn't make it anything but a minimum floor.
  - RickHull 13y ago
    > they aren't regulating what you can have, they are regulating the minimum floor. This is utter nonsense on its face. If I have (or want) something under the minimum floor, they have regulated that away from me. They have regulated what I can have.
    - VladRussian2 13y ago
      They also regulated away spoiled beef in stores, non smoke detectors equipped bedrooms and poisoned tap water. You can't have it. Minimum floor.
      - RickHull 13y ago
        Indeed. I'm simply asking that we call a spade a spade.
      - mrschwabe 13y ago
        Some municipalities mandate the addition of sodium fluoride in their public water systems. Sodium fluoride is a poison, so it's not necessarily accurate to claim they have 'regulated away' poisoned tap water.
        Aloisius 13y ago
        No one drinking publicly fluoridated tap water in the US is coming even close to a toxic dose. You might as well call all caffeinated beverages toxic given the toxic dose of caffeine is 1/30th that of sodium fluoride.
briandear 13y ago
Actually, have you read the entire bill? If Government is controlling the insurance, they are controlling the care. And yes, if the Affordable Care Act forces insurers to leave markets, then the only thing left would be a call for single payer. Harry Reid even said that Obamacare is "absolutely" a step towards single payer. And, by the way, the calls for Single Payer because of the Obamacare "mess" are starting, Paul Krugman seems to be leading the charge along with others. So could making the Obamacare rollout rougher than necessary prime the pump for a single payer push? I don't know, could closing the WWII memorial and Mt. Rushmore scenic roadside stops make the government shutdown worse than it needed to be to make a political point? The White House would never do that would they? That's just paranoid conspiracy stuff right? Strangely enough the Andrews Air Force Base golf course stayed open during the shutdown but the privately run Mt. Vernon (who happens to lease land from the Park Service) was forced to close. The even closed the Normandy beach in France! Yet, I had no problems getting a routine consular appointment during the shutdown in Marseille. It's not paranoia if it's really happening. http://www.healthcare-now.org/sen-reid-obamacare-absolutely-a-step-toward-a-single-payer-system http://www.healthcare-now.org/sen-reid-obamacare-absolutely-... http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/10/28/obama-care-a-mess-liberals-say-go-single-payer/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/10/28/o...

Shivetya 13y ago

Actually if the Independent Payment Advisory Board fails to develop a proposal should costs exceed certain thresholds then the Secretary of Health and Human services must submit a proposal themselves which they must implement. Since all appointees to this committee must be agreed upon by the Executive Branch as well as both minority and majority leaders from each party (hence 12 from Congress with the Presidents approval/recommendation) and 3 from the President, yes the Executive branch could very well determine what health options are available too you. The real issues before us now are. 1) why can the Secretary of Health and Human Services even refuse to divulge enrollment numbers? 2) why is the same not keeping the President fully aware or made aware of the problems the site faced before launch and after (conspiracy advocated claim the President knew) 3) By regulating what must be covered and not covered they are deciding what you can have and have not. Remember, there are a lot of gray areas in the law which the Secretary has shown more than enough interest in creating actual rules.

generj 13y ago
Of course, the nice part is that since they do have analytics (as terribly implemented as it appears to have been), we can force enrollment number disclosure by filing a FOIA request for the web analytics data. Which, incidentally, I did today before this story broke.
cma 13y ago
You can still by supplemental insurance, so they aren't regulating what you can have, they are regulating the minimum floor.
- drivingmissm 13y ago
  Obamacare is not a "minimum floor" it is a full suite of mandated coverage for every politically connected medical sector.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    Yes, its a minimum floor. And there are many plans that offer more than the ACA minimum. You may not like where the minimum is set, but that doesn't make it anything but a minimum floor.
- RickHull 13y ago
  > they aren't regulating what you can have, they are regulating the minimum floor. This is utter nonsense on its face. If I have (or want) something under the minimum floor, they have regulated that away from me. They have regulated what I can have.
  - VladRussian2 13y ago
    They also regulated away spoiled beef in stores, non smoke detectors equipped bedrooms and poisoned tap water. You can't have it. Minimum floor.
    - RickHull 13y ago
      Indeed. I'm simply asking that we call a spade a spade.
    - mrschwabe 13y ago
      Some municipalities mandate the addition of sodium fluoride in their public water systems. Sodium fluoride is a poison, so it's not necessarily accurate to claim they have 'regulated away' poisoned tap water.
      - Aloisius 13y ago
        No one drinking publicly fluoridated tap water in the US is coming even close to a toxic dose. You might as well call all caffeinated beverages toxic given the toxic dose of caffeine is 1/30th that of sodium fluoride.

briandear 13y ago

Actually, have you read the entire bill? If Government is controlling the insurance, they are controlling the care. And yes, if the Affordable Care Act forces insurers to leave markets, then the only thing left would be a call for single payer. Harry Reid even said that Obamacare is "absolutely" a step towards single payer. And, by the way, the calls for Single Payer because of the Obamacare "mess" are starting, Paul Krugman seems to be leading the charge along with others. So could making the Obamacare rollout rougher than necessary prime the pump for a single payer push? I don't know, could closing the WWII memorial and Mt. Rushmore scenic roadside stops make the government shutdown worse than it needed to be to make a political point? The White House would never do that would they? That's just paranoid conspiracy stuff right? Strangely enough the Andrews Air Force Base golf course stayed open during the shutdown but the privately run Mt. Vernon (who happens to lease land from the Park Service) was forced to close. The even closed the Normandy beach in France! Yet, I had no problems getting a routine consular appointment during the shutdown in Marseille. It's not paranoia if it's really happening. http://www.healthcare-now.org/sen-reid-obamacare-absolutely-a-step-toward-a-single-payer-system http://www.healthcare-now.org/sen-reid-obamacare-absolutely-... http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/10/28/obama-care-a-mess-liberals-say-go-single-payer/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2013/10/28/o...