Let's Look At Some Political Maps

[candycorn]

Here is a list of state legislatures which shows which party controls each chamber:

Here is a map of which states are and are not expanding Medicaid under the ACA:

“It is sad that in New Hampshire, you can stay at home, raise your kids and not work and get food stamps and health care, but then those of us who are actually working and paying taxes and trying to help ourselves can’t get a little bit of insurance for health care,” said Billie Jo Buskey, owner of a Plymouth hair salon.

Buskey, 35, and her husband, a landscaper, both started working at age 14 and make just under $28,000 a year. But that is too much to qualify for Medicaid under New Hampshire’s current income guidelines. Neither can afford health insurance so they go without. Their sons, ages 5 and 13, are covered by Medicaid, which has more generous eligibility criteria for children.

Buskey prides herself on paying her bills – mortgage, phone, electricity, and day care — on time. Last year she needed to have her gall bladder removed, and now owes the hospital more than $8,000, which will take her nearly six years to pay off at $115 a month.

“I’d much rather pay $115 a month for health insurance than $115 a month to pay off one hospital bill,” she said. It is still unclear what private coverage options would be affordable to Buskey and her husband, if any, without Medicaid expansion.

A couple who works their ass off would have qualified for Medicaid under the expansion, but they are being blocked by the Republicans in their state legislature. And this is wrecking them financially.

The people are not going to forget this.

The issue ad writes itself:

“Once again, they’re playing a political game in saying no to all aspects of Obamacare, no matter how common sense and right for us as a state and as a nation,’’ said Kary Jencks of the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance, a social justice advocacy group. “The folks who end up paying a price are the hard-working middle- and low-income people.’’

So while all the right wing pundits are gleefully poking a stick at the snafu'd federal website, the real pain is going to last much longer for those who are being blocked from Medicaid by the GOP.

The website will get fixed. The denial of Medicaid will, too, when the citizens kick the GOP to the curb.

The GOP is playing a very, very dangerous game. If the state legislatures change color because the GOP is perceived as denying healthcare access to hardworking people, those newly blue legislatures are going to redraw congressional districts, and that will change the color of the House of Representatives. For a long, long, long time.

Republicans in the Legislature have blocked the state from participating in a federally funded expansion of the Medicaid program, meaning that up to 58,000 Granite State residents are in line to be denied coverage.

58,000 pissed off voters in a small state.

New Hampshire's state Senate is red. 13 Republicans to 11 Democrats.

58,000 pissed off voters like the hard working couple.


Let's see what color NH Senate is 14 months from now.

There is probably a lot of truth in the purple states. A lot of the 55-45 districts may swing with the unpopularity of the TEA party. I doubt you'll see much movement in the South where the illiterate are unable to see who owns them.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Why didn't she have catastrophic insurance.....?

it would probably have only cost about $100/month...and would have covered her gall bladder operation...

this plus saving some pre-tax dollars in a Health Savings Account for regular checkups would be an effective plan...

But then she would have nothing to whine about..

 

[thereisnospoon]

The GOP fucked up, big time. They fucked up ten years ago when they had all the power and did not get out in front of the issue of rising healthcare costs outpacing inflation. They handed the issue to the Democrats on a silver platter.

And now we are on our way to single payer healthcare.

Thanks a lot, assholes.

The cost of medical care is not rising nearly as much as the cost of insuring people against medical maladies.
The cost of insurance is driven by interference in the medical insurance marketplace.
Of course the insurance carriers are almost as culpable as the politicians.

 

[rdean]

be that as it may, Romneycare is not sustainable, as a sate they just have not caught on yet, wait times etc. are multiplying, and.....well, here, I picked a fairly 'neutral source';

Is RomneyCare Working? - Hit & Run : Reason.com


look, a state is a state, they can especially in a state where in the leg. is controlled by one party and a friendly gov. make changes, pick one pocket to put money in another, they need to and raise taxes fees etc. on the fly, read the article, then remember economy of scale and the entire nation swallowing this all at once.

you might this interesting too.....

http://bluecrossmafoundation.org/si...cation/MassHealth Revenue Chartpack FINAL.pdf

The Democratic Party is not really "one party". It's a coalition. It has had to form a consensus before a public position and it has been that way for years.

Republicans are 90% white. The crazies lead that party.

And that's why your post falls apart.

And yet those "crazies" keep nominating the most moderate Republican running! That's why YOUR post falls apart! You keep trying to paint the GOP as "extreme" and they keep nominating guys like McCain and Romney who don't have an extreme bone in their bodies. Gee, how do you explain THAT, Deanie! Duh?

McCain wasn't bright. He picked Sarah Palin as his running mate and he graduated 5th from the bottom out of a graduating class of 895. That means he was like the most stupid person in every class. And he was one of the Keating 5.

Romney was a privileged kid in school assaulting a terrified gay kid after he got 5 classmates to hold down the unfortunate kid. He tortured his dog and it ran away. He illegally impersonated a police officer. And that's just being a "kid". As an adult, he was much worse.

Hardly moderate.

And this is the GOP's "best and brightest"?

 

[Oldstyle]

The Democratic Party is not really "one party". It's a coalition. It has had to form a consensus before a public position and it has been that way for years.

Republicans are 90% white. The crazies lead that party.

And that's why your post falls apart.

And yet those "crazies" keep nominating the most moderate Republican running! That's why YOUR post falls apart! You keep trying to paint the GOP as "extreme" and they keep nominating guys like McCain and Romney who don't have an extreme bone in their bodies. Gee, how do you explain THAT, Deanie! Duh?

McCain wasn't bright. He picked Sarah Palin as his running mate and he graduated 5th from the bottom out of a graduating class of 895. That means he was like the most stupid person in every class. And he was one of the Keating 5.

Romney was a privileged kid in school assaulting a terrified gay kid after he got 5 classmates to hold down the unfortunate kid. He tortured his dog and it ran away. He illegally impersonated a police officer. And that's just being a "kid". As an adult, he was much worse.

Hardly moderate.

And this is the GOP's "best and brightest"?

Dude, Obama was a member of the "Choom Gang". He was stoned through most of High School and coked out through most of his undergraduate college years.

By the way, Spanky...the kid who's hair Romney cut wasn't "gay"...he just had long hair. Romney didn't torture his dog and it didn't run away.

You just can't admit that the GOP that you constantly accuse of being "extreme" always seem to vote for the most moderate candidate running!

 

[Trajan]

When Massachusetts enacted RomneyCare, the "invincibles" waited until the last minute before signing up. It is only natural that those who want insurance, and who have been unable to get it, will sign up first. And it is only natural those who don't want it will wait until the last minute to sign up. I think we will see a rush of young and healthy people signing up when the deadline approaches for them. The fine for not participating was cheaper than insurance in Massachusetts, but people still obeyed the mandate nevertheless.

If the GOP is counting on ObamaCare failing, they are on the wrong side of that gamble. RomneyCare grew and grew in popularity. Five years after enactment, 74 percent of the people of Massachusetts said they wanted to keep it around, even though half said it still needed tweaks to fix it.

That is a super-super-majority.

Hoping ObamaCare will fail vs. working to defeat it are two different things, and people are going to remember the GOP worked to defeat it.

be that as it may, Romneycare is not sustainable, as a sate they just have not caught on yet, wait times etc. are multiplying, and.....well, here, I picked a fairly 'neutral source';

Is RomneyCare Working? - Hit & Run : Reason.com


look, a state is a state, they can especially in a state where in the leg. is controlled by one party and a friendly gov. make changes, pick one pocket to put money in another, they need to and raise taxes fees etc. on the fly, read the article, then remember economy of scale and the entire nation swallowing this all at once.

you might this interesting too.....

http://bluecrossmafoundation.org/si...cation/MassHealth Revenue Chartpack FINAL.pdf

The Democratic Party is not really "one party". It's a coalition. It has had to form a consensus before a public position and it has been that way for years.

Republicans are 90% white. The crazies lead that party.

And that's why your post falls apart.

I was referring to Massachusetts asshat, its a STATE..........