You Know That Healthcare Thing?

Dear America —

You know, the healthcare thing that got shot down today because far right Republicans couldn’t agree with moderate Republicans? There is a way to get a better deal than what Obamacare is now.

COMPROMISE!

Bring in the Democrats. Make a deal. No one said Obamacare can’t be better.

There are 192 Dems. You don’t need to convince every one, just thirty or so. On the other hand, there is no compromise from the Freedom Caucus (aka Tea Party), the Republican’s most conservative faction.

Our nation’s history is filled with bipartisan compromise. It’s part of our nation’s strength.

For a few decades I helped negotiate the union contract at Channel 8. It’s a difficult job I’d never want again.

In the end both sides compromise to make a deal they can live with. No one gets exactly what they want, but both sides are invested in the outcome. And it’s tougher to be a dick in a face-to-face negotiation than it is in a press release.

7 thoughts on “You Know That Healthcare Thing?”

  1. I mostly stay away from politics. However…I will say this ….Obamacare has given me two things…..an increase in my monthly premium since 2011 from $225 to $1200 and less doctors to choose since they moved away…so now even though I have two autoimmune diseases …I never see a Doctor …only a P.A. Bottom line … there are people who pay far less who get to see actual doctors because they have Obamacare and work very little if at all.

  2. Republicans are not trying to make Obamacare better, Geoff. They’re trying to scuttle it. They failed for now. That’s it.

  3. I keep reading tales of woe about Obamacare, and no doubt there are some folks who are worse off under it, but my experience has been decidedly different. I used to get health care through a professional organization; the premiums went up just about every year while the lifetime caps decreased and deductibles increased. My first year of Obamacare, my yearly premium dropped by $12k, and that’s with NO subsidy. The premium’s gone up since then, but my old plan would have gone up at least as much, if not more. For me it saved money, but to others it gave insurance that they otherwise could not afford, could not qualify for, or both.

    Fix Obamacare to help those who are having trouble dealing with premiums and deductibles, but don’t “help” them by taking away their insurance, or by allowing insurance companies to sell them policies that are cheap but offer little coverage. Every advanced industrial society has figured out how to do this; what exactly is our problem?

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