Obamacare

Post Reply New Topic

“There was such a need for many years that we would have people coming through the medical clinic from the time the doors opened early in the morning all the way until 4:00 in the afternoon,” Bowser said. But over the past several months, that changed — and the number of patients in need has dwindled to next to nothing. Only about 80 people came through the clinic in February. By March, that was down to just three people.

“Our services won’t be needed anymore, and this will conclude our mission,” she explained.

Sebelius and her team convinced red states to form partnership health care exchanges in which the federal government and the state would share responsibilities in running the marketplaces. They routinely presented GOP governors with information on all other state models and waivers, assuring them that they could customize reform to their specific state needs. As a result, several Republican-dominated states bucked the national party and chose to run their exchanges either on their own, or in collaboration with HHS.

The solutions became politically tenable to Republican lawmakers because they could claim that they were covering their residents on their own terms, using unique state-tailored solutions that rejected the “one-size-fits all” prescription of Obamacare. Sebelius’ policy flexibility provided conservatives with enough political cover to implement key parts of the law.

“It’s helpful that Secretary Sebelius has been a former governor and she understands the uniqueness of the states, the challenges we all face, which are different,” said Gary Herbert, the GOP governor from Utah, joining several other Republicans who have publicly praised her willingness to meet with hostile governors and answer their questions.

My take on Obamacare is that it seems to be focused almost entirely on the insurance industry and how to deal with them.