Campaign Desk

12:28 PM - February 7, 2011

Selling Health Reform the Obama Way

Beware the “slob-lock”

By Trudy Lieberman

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I would like to suggest connecting the current unemployment crisis to the existing situation regarding access to care prior to 2014. There is yet another unemployed spouse among my friends, only this one was the primary breadwinner and they have kids. It took them two months to get coverage for their children but they're still working on coverage for themselves. The detail that really stood out was about how hard it was to find coverage for the kids, as in now rather than 3 yrs from now. In this case, the couple is fully committed to their marriage and their family and they did not pair up for the purpose of securing health insurance.

#1 Posted by MB, CJR on Mon 7 Feb 2011 at 01:54 PM

MB,

By letting her readers know that Sorian's suggestion to use the "slob-dick" factor to the group he was meeting with, Trudy was not saying people are sticking together to have health care.

I read that she was pointing out how desperate Sorian and the administration are to find honest talking points so people will warm up to this despotic law. If Sorian or the talking heads and politicians who so fervently support Obamacare actually talked about, for example, the expansion of Medicaid - a mediocre to crappy plan at best - and let the public know that those who are found eligible for this plan would have no other viable choice, that would have been important during the debate and still is, particulary because it is blatant discrimination. But instead all we heard sans cesse was: All Americans will have choice.

And Democrats and pundits who tout this scheme should also be letting the public know that those who are 55 and up and dumped into the expanded Medicaid will be getting a mandated collateral loan because of the federally-required estate recovery program which mandates states that receive federal Medicaid funding take assets upon death for Medicaid benefits used - RX and hospital are a must - but a state can recover for any and all medical care.

This should be at the top of the list in the name of "transparency" - another word that politicians love to throw around. After all, we the people deserve to know that this law not only discriminates but also exploits.

The many atrocities in this law outweigh whatever good points there are which are far and few between if they even pan out because the insurance companies are still in charge, and politicians on both sides of the aisle work for them, not us.

Journalists and the media should also be asking supporters of Obamacare: How many people is it OK to exploit in order to benefit a few?

Unfortunately, the majority of these talkers and writers don't have a clue how this scheme works so can't begin to know what parts to talk about in order to prepare the public for what is coming at them in 2014. Or, they've been bought and paid for.

If Democrats, pundits and mainstream media only talk about what a happy fizzies party Obamacare is, the general public - particularly the uninsured - will be shocked and appallled when they find out the details of the so-called affordable plans at the Exchange in 2014, not to mention the info above about regarding no choice and estate recovery.

And these points are just starters. There's so much more.

#2 Posted by fed-up American, CJR on Tue 8 Feb 2011 at 01:50 AM

Trudy, "slob lock" and bad job lock are real, and the Obama law would help solve those problems. The NY Times did an excellent article back in 2008 on how many Americans are making personal decisions based on how it would affect their health insurance. It's insane.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/us/13marriage.html?ex=1376366400&en=536088d42d1c0193&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

#3 Posted by Harris Meyer, CJR on Wed 9 Feb 2011 at 09:20 PM