Jeb Bush: Repeal Obamacare and replace it with APPLE WATCHES John "Jeb" Bush, younger brother of ex-president George “Dubya” Bush and former Governor of Florida, has found the solution to America’s healthcare problems: his Apple Watch. At a “town hall” meeting at the Chamber of Commerce in Tempe, Arizona, Jeb said: “I think we should repeal Obamacare,” before pointing at his wristjob, …
I can see it now, your watch notes you have something wrong and informs your insurance company, but you don't inform them and the something wrong then requires medical attention....
"You had a condition which you didn't inform us about, policy void!"
Watch informs you of a condition and you do tell the company
"You have an existing condition, we can't cover you for that"
Though lets face it, the American health system is already a mess. My friend is unable to pay for health insurance (Obamacare) so as she is unable to get insurance, she is going to be fined, what sort of country will fine people who can't afford medical care? Where do they think they will get the money from? I despair.
What confused me about the Affordable Care Act is why not just dump more money into MedicAid / MediCare and reduce the requirements to use them? Then they could have avoided the huge cluster-fuck that was the mass stampede to get it. Hell, then it could have just been a quick citizenship check at the hospital rather than having to pay monthly fees for something that isn;t needed 99% of the time.
But then Insurance companies would lose out on income, and we can't have that since those companies provide valuable campaign contributions... errr... jobs, yeah, jobs.
The ACA does increase the income thresholds to qualify for Medicaid to 133% of the federal poverty income (I believe thats the number). The local state(s) do have to agree to participate in that though, and many have decided not to, either out of concerns about being able to afford the long-term expansion of Medicaid (states pay for part of the program for their residents) or because they want more flexibility than the Feds allow when offering Medicaid programs.
What you described operates under the moniker of "Single-payer". You must not be from this side of the Pond, because if you were, you'd know the answer to your question. But since you are from outta-town, suffice to say that proposing, and advocating for, Single-payer immediately marks you as a "librul", which will, in turn, subject you to interminable scorn and disrespect from Rush Limburger, and the rest of the illiterati that has overrun this country.
My friend is unable to pay for health insurance (Obamacare) so as she is unable to get insurance, she is going to be fined, what sort of country will fine people who can't afford medical care? Where do they think they will get the money from?
Your friend is clearly not a Republican, because if she were, all the other Republicans would naturally assume she would have the money....
(Alien, because, well, if you're not one of us, you must be...)
And what is called "health care" in this country is not actually health care, it is sick care. There's nothing wrong with that, when you're sick you need care. Health care would actually be making sure you don't need sick care - getting off one's lardy ass, eating real food, not marinating one's body in toxic chemicals...
...but you can't monetize that sort of thing.
"Though lets face it, the American health system is already a mess. My friend is unable to pay for health insurance (Obamacare) so as she is unable to get insurance, she is going to be fined, what sort of country will fine people who can't afford medical care? Where do they think they will get the money from? I despair." - that doesn't sound right.
Obamacare reduces the costs of health insurance. Everyone, except a few exempt groups, is entitled to health insurance at a cost they can afford. If you can't afford the insurance being offered there are Federal subsidies that help defray the costs.
Now the question becomes, which avenue did your friend use to obtain health insurance? The private market place or the Obamacare website? If the private health market place, then the costs are just ridiculous; if the Obamacare website (or State equivalent) then the costs are tailored to your income (as detailed on your last Federal income tax return)- though they don't take into account your own personal debts/repayments and so on. Or, has this friend actually been on the Obamacare website or relied on a private health insurance broker to obtain the necessary quotes?
Your statement sounds just too pat and familiar...
Has she tried the Imaginary Health Care Program for imaginary friends?
No, but I did tell her to come over to the UK. What? You thought I was an American with an axe to grind against Obama? No, I'm British, a country where the government pays less per head on healthcare than the US and still manages to give free healthcare.
As for my friend, she was employed, now she isn't, her fiancé however is employed, but she doesn't have health care and has no income to pay for insurance so is going to get fined, the fine details? I haven't got a clue, I just think it's stupid that the US spends twice as much (per capita PPP) than the UK, twice as much of it's GDP on health care and doesn't have something better than us.
"Meet the new Bush, just like the old Bush(es)."
That's a bit unfair. Bush Senior was the one who, once the Iraqi army had been shot up on its way back to Iraq with the loot, stopped the pursuit.
Allegedly he once found himself in a meeting with GWBIII and his evangelical friends and remarked pointedly that he seemed to be the only person there who had only found it necessary to be born once.
How did he manage to produce such thick kids? I suspect that the US class and education system is the villain here. He is far from the first major ruler to have his sons turn out useless.
That's a bit unfair. Bush Senior was the one who, once the Iraqi army had been shot up on its way back to Iraq with the loot, stopped the pursuit.
Uh..no... He stopped the slaughter as they were leaving Kuwait City. The Sauds and the agreement that was in place wouldn't let the military follow them into Iraq and onto Baghdad.
@Arnaut the less
"I suspect that the US class and education system is the villain here. "
You are correct. Privilege has benefits if your family has lotsa cash, if they send to you a good school, regardless of your performance, party hard, join a frat, learn who's papa has power... network a bit and the next thing you know, you're every president for the past 20 years or so.
"I can afford this watch, therefore I have no need for Obamacare and no desire to pay taxes to support it. Those of you here today who can afford this watch, also can afford proper private healthcare and thus have a legitimate need to escape paying taxes for Obamacare. As for those who cannot afford this watch, then we (those of us who can afford these watches) bear no responsibility for your health care."
Yes, but without Obamacare (or something like it), soon only those who can afford the stupidly expensive a-Watch will be able to afford healthcare.
We should have a single-payer system like the rest of the civilized world, but the insurance lobby around here is far too strong. The ACA, for all it's flaws (and they are legion), is at least a step in the right direction.
The only problem with your statements is that there is no "free healthcare for the masses". The ACA (ObamaCare) has not made healthcare any more affordable, to anyone. It has driven up insurance rates and caused the majority of plans to now have deductibles (IE: you get no help paying for medical expenses until you have spent $2000-6000 out of your own pocket, on top of your monthly premiums). Sure, the premiums get subsidized so that those of low income can afford the insurance, but they still cannot afford to get sick.
Nah, I think our NHS is a shining beacon because we offer the same healthcare to everyone no matter how fancy their watches are. Middle class and in need of a bypass? You get the same service as the chav in bed 4 who thinks "employment" is a benefit given by the government.
That is the beauty of our system, of course, the rich can pay for private health care, but as our system is from taxation, they still pay, wait, did I just suggest the rich pay their fair share of taxes? What I meant was, the chronically ill are able to have long term treatment without having to sell their kidney, liver and lung.
Then you get that American bloke who thinks our system is so evil that if Prof. Hawkings was British, he would be long dead............ (yeah, he actually said that)
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"Nah, I think our NHS is a shining beacon because we offer the same healthcare to everyone no matter how fancy their watches are. Middle class and in need of a bypass? You get the same service as the chav in bed 4 who thinks "employment" is a benefit given by the government."
Oh? I thought if you approach them with a chronic condition that'll take mucho money to treat and will take this side of forever, you're instead shown the door and told to go somewhere and DIE.
> Oh? I thought if you approach them with a chronic condition that'll take mucho money to treat and will take this side of forever, you're instead shown the door and told to go somewhere and DIE.
Did the Republican Party tell you that? Because it's bullshit. If it wasn't, there would be no Multiple Sclerosis treatment on the NHS, which there most definitely is. Also anti-HIV drugs, etc as (literally) nauseam
"you're instead shown the door and told to go somewhere and DIE."
My parents have both survived into their 90s because that comment is absolute rubbish, and someone I know in his 80s is almost complaining that his GP seems determined to keep him going forever.
The real "death panels" already exist in the US - the insurance companies that seek to limit access to care for profit. The NHS has NICE, but its basic function is to identify nostrums promoted by the drug companies that don't actually do anything, and stop people wasting money on them. Like anti-cancer drugs that prolong someone's life by perhaps a few months (but don't mention that the side effects leave most people with no quality of life at all).
My gran recently left an NHS hospital after a fall. She was in a few days mainly for observation just to be sure she was OK.
She celebrated her 99th birthday last month... I thank religion.. Must be something to do with her utter rejection of religion that no gods want her :-)
@ Bloodbeastterror
"Our UK NHS is a shining example of civilisation, where the able help the less able. It's a tragedy that there are so many selfish imbeciles like Bush who want to remove people's access to health care. Isn't a healthy society a better society?"
It isnt quite the shining light although it has its upsides. For example our NHS is great if your critical, but outside of that its patchy at best. And while we look down on the US because their poor cannot afford healthcare, this country as a whole cannot afford the NHS (in its current form). This too is due to selfish imbeciles in politics (the political football and scaremongering) and the people demanding more and more while trying to push the tax to pay for it onto those who work/earn and likely have private healthcare.
The US system isnt great but ours has its own faults.
@codejunky
Maybe the NHS isn't perfect, but if you break your leg which side of the pond do you want to be on...?
I would say that the country can't afford ***to be without the NHS***
Health care, or Trident missiles mouldering expensively in unused and useless silos against a non-existent threat. Hard choice?
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