ObamaCare Will Reshape the Electorate

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/11/22/9514/7148

ObamaCare Will Reshape the Electorate

by BooMan
Thu Nov 22nd, 2012 at 09:51:04 AM EST

snip//

Think about Boone County, West Virginia. It is 98.5% white and 22% of its residents are living in poverty. The median income for a household is $25,669. In 2012, the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) is set at $11,170 for a one-person household and rises by $3,960 for each additional family member. Thus, the FPL for a four-person family in 2012 is $23,050. I think we can surmise from these numbers that a very high percentage of the families in Boone County are going to be eligible for health care subsidies in the highest range.

People and families earning 133 percent of FPL, for example, will have to pay only 2 percent of their income toward the health insurance premium.

In Boone County, a family of four making the median income of $25,669 will only have to pay two percent of their income ($513/annually) toward a $10,000 health insurance plan. The government will also cover 94% of their out-of-pocket expenses. President Obama only received 32.9% of the vote in Boone County. I think candidate Biden or Cuomo or Clinton or Warner or whomever else will have a good shot at improving that number.

When Mitt Romney talked about the president winning the election by giving out gifts, he was wrong. Almost no one understood that they would be receiving gifts of this magnitude. If they had understood it, they would have told Romney to take his promise to repeal ObamaCare and shove it up his ass. I believe this is true in small, white, rural counties all over America.

I think John Boehner agrees with me, which is why he is still talking about destroying ObamaCare. When you take a poor, white family of four living in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia and you give them $9,500 a year to make sure they all have health insurance and you cover 94% of their out of pocket health care expenses, you have effectively counter-programmed the crap they've been seeing on Fox News. You want a new New Deal coalition? Here it comes.

[Turbineguy]

1. As in dead people don't vote?

that's the republican healthcare plan.

[Arctic Dave]

2. I believe this is overly optimistic.

They would hate Obama if he gave them all a million dollars and did their dishes for a year.

[David__77]

4. I don't know about that.

The right-wingers tried to break FDR's support in the south by baiting him as pro-black and pro-Jewish, if not Jewish himself. It didn't work. Although the backward elements might not have personally related to him, they voted with their concrete interests. The problem is that Democrats aren't offering poorer people much these days. At least this is something.

[greenman3610]

6. so in the 30s it was "Roosevelt is a secret Jew", and now it's "Obama is a secret Muslim"..

can you give me more details on the "Roosevelt is a jew" meme?

[marybourg]

7. They said his name was really "Rosenfelt", among other things.

[Ken Burch]

9. I didn't realize that...on SNL back in the Seventies(when it was a comedy show)

There was a great sketch about Nixon's final days...in which Dan Ackroyd(playing Nixon)was speaking to the presidential portraits on the wall...when he got to FDR's portrait, he called him "Rosenfelt" and made that "accusation"...I always thought the writers just made it up...didn't realize people really said that back in the day.

[marybourg]

13. Isn't it great what you can learn on DU if you have an inquiring

mind? and you obviously do.

[NWHarkness]

5. It's not about Obama.

He will never be on their ballot again.

It is about destroying the power of the GOP's anti-government message.

[hexola]

10. But his opposistion called it "Obamacare" - this will bite the GOP in the ass.

They have given him sole credit...if it's a success, the GOP will never, ever live it down...and never be able claim to be part of its success.

Just like "Obamaphone" - the GOP is too stupid to figure out their childish ridicule does nothing but ensure Obama gets credit for what is (in reality) a good idea.(started under Bush!)

[boingboinh]

3. Let's hope it morphs into REAL Single-Payer System (That will REALLY Make the Difference)

The world has experimented with all types of methods and single payer has shown to be the best so inevitably US will ahve to join the rest of the world.

Now if we can get America to drop the silly Imerpial system in favor of the rest of the world, and easy to understand, Metric system.

[TXDemoGal]

12. Hoping I live to see the day of real single-payer in this country

That's the U.S. I'd like to see!

[hogwyld]

33. Welcom to DU!

Hope you can help us to turn Texas blue again soon!

[TXDemoGal]

35. Thanks for the welcome, hogwyld!

Been voting Dem in Texas since I moved here in the mid-90s! Hope I live to see TX go blue in a future Prez election. That will be very, VERY happy day!

I've actually been around DU at least since BFEE/LIHOP (Bush Family Evil Empire/Let It Happen On Purpose) days. Was always an enthusiastic reader but never a prolific poster, and then life intervened & I either lost my old account info and/or DU changed to a different server/format. So this is a new account.

Before the 2000 Prez election, I was trying to convince my better half that Bush would be an utter disaster as president. It took lot of persuading, since at that time he was not plugged into non-MSM news sources, so to him Bush seemed like moderate Repub governor (or as moderate as a repub can get in Texas). I was really quite desperate for hubby to see the light, and of course, eventually he did.

Anyway, thanks again for the welcome.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

22. I like the single-payer system

[CTyankee]

24. Obamacare will be known as the precursor to Single Payer Universal Health Care, I am convinced.

Once people have health care, just as once people had SS and Medicare, they will likely be amenable, if not enthusiastic, about Single Payer. It will happen. That is the Conservatives' biggest fear. They know what happened in the past and they see the handwriting on the wall. That is why they want to punch holes in the argument for SS and try to starve Medicare (the Conservatives in the U.K. tried this with their National Health Service and were beaten back).

[Freddie]

26. That is precisely the Repugs' objection

And why they fanatically oppose any form of universal healthcare: once people have it, they will like it and never give it up. Heartless bastards.

[SugarShack]

28. As far as joining the rest of the world with "single payer", that's false. Here's the list:

This smacks the claim down we are being led like Europe
List of Countries with Universal Health Care
April 18, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
Thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care, with the United States being the lone exception [1]. The following list, compiled from WHO sources where possible, shows the start date and type of system used to implement universal health care in each developed country [2]. Note that universal health care does not imply government-only health care, as many countries implementing a universal health care plan continue to have both public and private insurance and medical providers.
Country – Start Date of Universal Health Care – System Type
Norway - 1912 – Single Payer
New Zealand – 1938 – Two Tier
Japan – 1938 – Single Payer
Germany – 1941 – Insurance Mandate
Belgium – 1945 – Insurance Mandate
United Kingdom – 1948 – Single Payer
Kuwait – 1950 – Single Payer
Sweden – 1955 – Single Payer
Bahrain – 1957 – Single Payer
Brunei – 1958 – Single Payer
Canada – 1966 – Single Payer
Netherlands – 1966 – Two-Tier
Austria – 1967 – Insurance Mandate
United Arab Emirates – 1971 – Single Payer
Finland – 1972 – Single Payer
Slovenia – 1972 – Single Payer
Denmark – 1973 – Two-Tier
Luxembourg – 1973 – Insurance Mandate
France – 1974 – Two-Tier
Australia – 1975 – Two Tier
Ireland – 1977 – Two-Tier
Italy – 1978 – Single Payer
Portugal – 1979 – Single Payer
Cyprus – 1980 – Single Payer
Greece – 1983 – Insurance Mandate
Spain – 1986 – Single Payer
South Korea – 1988 – Insurance Mandate
Iceland – 1990 – Single Payer
Hong Kong – 1993 – Two-Tier
Singapore – 1993 – Two-Tier
Switzerland – 1994 – Insurance Mandate
Israel – 1995 – Two-Tier
United States – 2014 – Insurance Mandate


now...we do need to get to single payer. study what happened with Medicare in the sixties. It was not single payer when it was first put into play.

[Dubster]

8. Spam deleted by gkhouston (MIR Team)

[Rstrstx]

14. OK help me understand this, here in TX what's going to happen to someone below 133%?

The way I've read the law is that they would be included in Medicaid. But since TX says (correction - Rick says) the state won't set up an exchange program then what happens? Am I right in assuming someone earning below 133% of the FPL won't be automatically enrolled in Medicaid in TX?

If so, then what happens? The federal government says they are going to set up an exchange for residents of states who don't participate but what exactly does that mean? Will they still be charged no more than $288 or 2% of annual income as a premium? Will they then be considered as enrolled in Medicaid when they pay the premium or simply be "insured"? And I assume this premiums for this exchange will follow the out of pocket premium tables that go up to 400% of the FPL? And how will an individual pay their premium, send a check to some place or have it taken out of their paycheck? What will copays be for such a federal exchange? Will a federal exchange complete with private exchanges?

Sorry if I seem ignorant on the subject, I think I get the general concept but there are lots of details that are unclear to me.

[Danmel]

21. the federal government will set up the exchanges if the states don't

[justabob]

23. that doesn't solve the Medicaid question though

Medicaid expansion is a separate issue from the exchanges. As it stands now, people under the poverty line are out of luck.

Eventually, I think Texas will cave in to expansion because the major cities/counties all want it, and the hospital conglomerates want it. It is just going to take a while longer and be more painful/stressful in the meantime.

[Rstrstx]

34. But I assume the federal exchange will still charge the totals set up in their tables?

If, for instance, an individual is at or below 133% of the FPL their maximum premium should be $288, will that stay the same? If so that's a pretty good deal for someone struggling even if they're not enrolled in Medicaid

[AlinPA]

15. Not in W.VA. The GOP will tell the people in W.VA that the Democrats are going to burn

their bibles and they will push the Republican button in the voting booth.

[yellowcanine]

31. See my comment in Reply # 30. First of all, W. Virginians are not all that religious.

Only about 36% self identify as being religious. This is significantly less than the U.S. as a whole - about 49%. http://www.bestplaces.net/religion/state/west_virginia

Secondly, it is exactly this kind of patronizing attitude which makes Democrats lose in places like WV and other rural areas. JFK did not talk down to West Virginians and he won the WV primary in 1960 with 60% of the vote even though only a month before he had been trailing Hubert Humphrey by 20 points.

[phiddle]

16. It COULD reshape the electorate

IF there is aggressive outreach to people who would benefit. Otherwise, adoption could be slow, especially given the determined opposition of Republican governors. This opposition is understandable when you consider that we would only have to convert 3 percent or so of the white voters (5% voter swing) to put the House of Representatives in play.

A similar result would be a massive infrastructure development program focusing on roads, bridges, water systems and the smart grid. These are jobs which can not be outsourced easily, and benefit one of the sectors (construction) which has suffered most since '08. This would help re-establish the Democratic Party as the friend of the blue collar worker. And opposition to this WPA-style program by Republican Legislators would create a campaign issue for 2014. Rebuild America!

[progressoid]

17. "a $10,000 health insurance plan"

What does that mean?

[frazzled]

29. A plan for a family of four

with a premium at current market rates of about $835 a month. Sounds about like the going rate to me.

[eridani]

18. It could be a huge liability among the 50-64 demographic

--particularly those from 133-200% of poverty level. They will be forced to pay three times as much for crappy bronze catastrophic coverage, and that will prevent them from accessing actual health care. Because the money they have to give insurance companies is money that might otherwise be spent on doctor visits.

[Odin2005]

19. WV is full of racists.

That is more important to them then healthcare.

[davidpdx]

20. Most of the people in places like W. Virginia, etc

believe Obama is a black socialist Kenyan. Which is why almost 2/3rd s of WV voted against him.

[Orangepeel]

25. I don't know about that. Didn't Reagan record ads against Medicare in the 60s?

[Zambero]

27. Yes he did

It was labeled as an affront to the personal liberty of elderly citizens who just want the government off their backs. Delivered with a characteristic grin concurrently with a knife in the back.

[yellowcanine]

30. Democrats need to look at John Kennedy and the West Virginia primary in 1960.

JFK won over Protestant WV by barnstorming the state and talking to West Virginians and being up front about his Catholicism. Instead of whining about voters "voting against their self interest" we need to talk to voters and explain to them why their interest is not with the coal companies, etc. I wish Obama had done this in 2008 and 2012 in WV. But it is not too late.

[AlinPA]

32. I always shake my head about WV going red and have blamed it on the Christian fundamentalists,

and some racism. They put in a Democrat- Manchin for governor and senate, so there's more to it. But Obama did not go into WVA this year that I can recall and may have done better with a few trips to be up front with them about coal.