Probably lost in yesterday’s Super Bowl frenzy was the news that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, signifying six more weeks of winter. It was like much national news that didn’t cut through the football-focused consciousness of folks in Washington State last week.
And while the nation’s favorite groundhog sees our short-term weather patterns remaining cold, the view from Shift’s Common Sense in Seattle blogger predicts an even colder future for the liberals’ favorite law, “The not so Affordable Care Act”, aka ObamaCare. Our voice from the deep-Blue Emerald City notes the polls last week showing even the UN-insured rejecting ObamaCare to point out that our state’s elected leaders have put us on point for experiencing the failure of this grand experiment…
Democrats’ Health Care Law Continues to Falter
When Democrats jammed Obamacare through Congress on a straight-party line vote, then-Speaker Nancy Peolosi famously said, “We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it.” They did pass the bill, and now the more Americans find out about Obamacare the less they like it.
It has never enjoyed majority support in the almost four years since it was passed, and today it is more unpopular as ever.
Now come news from Kaiser Health News that even the uninsured don’t like Obamacare.
“Uninsured Americans – the people that the Affordable Care Act was designed to most aid – are increasingly critical of the law as its key provisions kick in, a poll released Thursday finds.”
The Kaiser poll found that 47% of the uninsured are unfavorable toward Obamacare, while only 24% are favorable. Among all Americans, most, 54% according to Gallup, disapprove of the health care law.
The bad news for the people of Washington State going forward is Democrats decided to put our state at the forefront of Obamacare implementation. That means the problems in the law are going to hit us harder than in other parts of the country.
Jay Inslee voted for Obamacare when he was in Congress, and now he is one of the most aggressive governors in the country in implementing it. Democrats in Olympia have been enthusiastic about the cancelation of people’s current coverage and pushing people toward the state-mandated exchange. More than 290,000 Washingtonians have lost their insurance plans so far, often losing access to their doctor as part of Inslee’s bargain. Families will be receiving more cancellation letters in the months ahead.
When even President Obama recognized increasing problems with his namesake law, and announced an option late last year for letting people keep coverage they liked for one more year, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler quickly said No! (“We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies”). Kreidler’s partisan decision seemed more appropriate for when he was in Congress, than for a statewide official unilaterally denying health care choice to people in Washington. That is forcing us to bear the full brunt of health plan cancellations.
As the 2014 election season heats up, Democrats are frantically trying to change the subject to income inequality, minimum wage, global warming, nasty Republicans…anything but the painful topic of Obamacare. It won’t work. As mid-term elections approach, people will remember who pushed a partisan, unnecessary and disruptive law on us. Obamacare is deeply unpopular, and people will be ready to vote for alternative candidates, in Washington and nationwide, who support creating affordable health care choices for everyone.
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