Via Healthcare.gov
By zerlina • 10 years ago

Forget the headlines: Here are 5 fundamental facts about Obamacare (with bonus GIFs)

1. You have until December 15th to sign up.

I’m currently uninsured and I’ve gone onto the New York exchange to compare my options.  Like I’ve said before, I had 124 choices, so going through them is taking time.  But let’s be real: I’m probably going to be like this until the first deadline on December 14th:

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And for people who are uninsured who want to avoid the $95 penalty, you have until March 31st to sign up.  Only the people who want coverage beginning on January 1st, have to sign up by December 15th.  We all procrastinate.  Most Americans will sign up at the very last minute.    

2.  People didn’t sign up for Romneycare in the first month either.

In Massachusetts, 123 people signed up for Romneycare in the first month. Yesterday, HHS announced that 106, 185 people have enrolled in Obamacare, either through the federal site or the state exchanges.  That’s 5 times the rate of Romneycare in month one.  Again, everyone procrastinates and if you look at Romneycare as a guide, enrollment starts slow and begins to pick up when you make it closer to the deadline (see #1).

3.  Having health insurance is life changing.

Last week, I fell down a flight of stairs and sprained my ankle.  I did one of these numbers like Michelle from Destiny’s Child:

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And as I mentioned above, I’m uninsured.  So my first thought upon falling, beyond the pain, was hoping that my ankle wasn’t broken because I won’t have health insurance until January 1st.  I’ve been thinking all week, as I’ve been giving my ankle the R.I.C.E. treatment, about how much my life would be turned upside down not just by a broken ankle, but any type of accident or unforeseen illness.  Obamacare will fundamentally change the lives of millions of Americans, including me.

4.  Republican critics of the Obamacare rollout are full of it.

Republicans do not have an alternative to Obamacare.  And yet they still get on television and on twitter to bash the rollout, the enrollment numbers, and of course President Obama.  It’s ridiculous.

Republicans have voted more than 40 times to repeal Obamacare.  They just shut down the government in  an attempt to defund it.  And you want me to believe that they are upset the website didn’t work properly early on? Americans are smarter than that!

5.  Democrats shouldn’t forget why we fought so hard to get Obamacare passed.

The Healthcare.gov web site failures and “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” headlines have been dogging the Obama administration in the past few weeks.  Democrats are beginning to do that thing they always do when they are getting hammered by the media– look for an escape hatch.  They need to get in front of the mirror and get it together like this:

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There is a reason it took decades to get health care reform passed.  It was hard!  Getting reform passed was a long process and Republicans fought against the law before, during, and after it passed.  And after  it was approved by the Supreme Court.  And after it was fully implemented last month.

I truly believe that as soon as a year from now we are going to look back and laugh about the web site drama.  When I can finally go to the doctor on January 1st, I’m not going to be thinking about a web site.  Democrats need to stop focusing on the headlines and focus on the people they are helping.

Also, make sure you check out the “Autofill: A Gender Study” video created by Emma Hall.

Zerlina MaxwellZerlina Maxwell really wants to be a superhero, but will settle for blogging.

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