That same dumb fucks that vote republican and don’t want any changes to their government benefits. Then again Donald and Republicans did almost nothing this first year…maybe they know something?
So they’ve determined that Obamacare and the ACA are one and the same?! Why, NOTHING gets by these folks!
This is an annoying and misleading headline and lede. I think the problem lies with the AP, not TPM, but TPM should not credulously repeat this stuff or amplify it with this kind of headline.
The 8.8 million figure is signups on the FEDERAL exchange. That’s today’s news. States had a choice of whether to set up their own exchanges or participate in this federal exchange. Most of the big blue states (California, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, etc.) chose to build their own exchanges. Thus, it’s not surprising that 80% of enrollees on the FEDERAL exchange are from red states – those are most of the states on the federal exchange! Now, to be sure, it’s not a perfect correlation. A bunch of blue states are on the federal exchange (Oregon, Michigan, and more) and a number of smaller red states went ahead and built their own (specifically, Idaho, Mississippi, and Utah). But by and large, most of the states on the federal exchange tend to be red states. So this 80% number is 100% due to that fact. When the enrollment periods end on the state exchanges, we’ll get a fuller picture of where all the Obamacare individual plan enrollees are. It will not be 80% in Trump states.
Part of why I find this SO annoying is that while there is not a strong correlation between being in a Trump state and enrolling on the Obamacare exchange, there IS a stronger red-blue correlation between who would be eligible for the Medicaid expansion if states would expand Medicaid (there are lots more poor people in some of the Trump states, who would be eligible for Medicaid if their state chose to participate in the expansion). That is an important story. You can’t see the important stories if journalists who don’t understand health policy are putting out stories like this one.
You beat me to the first point, but this one is also crucial, and it’s not just because those states have a high proportion of poor people. It’s also because their pre-expansion eligibility criteria were so harsh. For example, before the ACA, in New York you qualified for Medicaid if you made up to 100% of the poverty level (or something similar to that). In Texas, and most other southern states, you could only qualify for Medicaid if you earned less than 19% of the poverty level - i.e., about $4,500/year - and even that was only for pregnant women, young children, and recent mothers. As a single childless person, it was virtually impossible.
The expansion would be so huge in those red states because so few are being covered now. But they care more about sticking it to those undeserving poors.
So how is Trump going to kill Obamacare now, with more than 80 of his voters recently signed up for it!
Oh, I forgot for just a moment, they are a bunch hypocrites and do not know that the Affordable Care Act is also Obamacare. Truly hope it breaks Trump’s empty heart!
It makes you wonder if the Obamacare enrollees in trump-won states know that their Senators more voted for the tax bill which aims to destroy Obamacare. There’s an awful lot of stupid out there.
Let’s not get carried away here! It’s much more likely that the Trumpsters were cheering the end of Obamacare as they enrolled in the ACA. And toasting the completion of Mr. Trump’s wall at the same time.
The reason Red states are on the Fed exchange doesn’t change the fact that they are on the Fed Exchange. They had Repug Governors & assemblies, who refused to do anything helpful or sane. Its their own stupid, pigheaded fault.
“There’s politics, and then there’s taking care of yourself and your
family,” said analyst Chris Sloan of the consulting firm Avalere Health.
“You can have political views about a program like the Affordable Care
Act, but when you get an opportunity to get subsidized health insurance
for you and your family … politics is a distant consideration.”
So, when it comes to other people, fuck them? I absolutely don’t get this.
Plus, the Russians love Red states, so the Trumpskyites got Obamacare and Ruskiecare.
I am shocked, shocked, that Republicans vote against their own interests.
"
Here in Georgia, that is exactly the issue. Journalists here refuse to cover it, however. People do not press Nathan Deal about why he opted out of the ACA in 2012 (they just figured “it’s politics”) but has persisted in opting out of the ACA, even though there is enormous pressure to do so, especially in rural districts where hospitals are closing and no doctors or PAs want to work because they can’t get paid. And, yes, those rural districts went resoundingly for Trump.
You are absolutely right: THE story is the suffering of poor people in non-expansion red states. They have no access unless through the federal exchange, and their party is keeping it that way. They might not understand that, but they do understand the need to get treatment for a work injury, cancer, or the flu.
This is probably good news for McCaskill and Heitkamp if they dare embrace the benefits of the ACA to Missouri and North Dakota. God knows they will need all the help they can get.
“Other people” don’t deserve a helping hand when times are tough. They are lazy and unworthy, whereas you are just down on your luck and will inevitably turn things around if only given the chance.
The narrative has always been that poverty is deserved.
When homesteading was allowed. – you got free land just for living on it – you were being granted a productive asset for life – the ultimate welfare. In that setting, poverty was a function of industriousness. But times have changed, there is no modern equivalent with the possible exception of education if you have access to good schools early. But poverty is your own fault remains the default belief in this society.
Well said, joey.
For example, the California exchange, CoveredCA, is chugging right along, thank you very much, and unlike the Federal exchange didn’t shorten the open enrollment period by half. Open enrollment in CoveredCA still available through January 31, 2018, unaffected by Prez Chaos’ attempted sabotage.
You and all others that replied have made some very good points. The media itself has never done a comprehensive job of reporting on the ACA. It’s journalistic laziness.