Real Love Baby, Father John Misty
Month: October 2016
Some thoughts about Obamacare
Yesterday this CNN story showed up on my Twitter timeline.
The headline, “Obamacare premiums are set to skyrocket on average 22%.
I’m sure many folks will just read the headline. I often do that as well.
But I’m very interested in the progress and challenges of the Affordable Care Act (it’s not actually called Obamacare). So I kept reading.
While the average will go up 22% in 2017, more than 85% of ACA enrollees received federal subsidies so the premiums will be less than 10% of their income.
The CNN article coldly states that insurers are fleeing the exchanges because “insurers want to see younger and healthier consumers enroll.”
Let that comment sink in a moment.
Now let’s go back to the time before the ACA was signed into law. At the time, we had 46 million Americans without healthcare — which included 8 million children (not mentioned in the CNN story)
Insurance companies, simply put, did not want to offer healthcare to the poor and sick. They still don’t.
Now we have many Republicans saying we should repeal the ACA.
That leads us to a vital and critical question.
Should we as a nation offer compassion and support to those that need it most?
The ACA is an attempt to do so and I’m so grateful that our President had the courage to make it happen. It’s also working.
I’m sure there are many areas where the ACA can be improved and our future President seems to have some sensible ideas on how to do that.
But the thing that gets me are cold stories covering the ACA and folks that want to repeal it without offering a compelling, clear alternative.
Related:
My post, Taxing the Rich.
My post, My beef with the term fiscal conservative
Wikipedia, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
East Village, October 2016
Gone For Good, The Shins
Rebecca Patience | Nantucket, October 2016.
Gone, The Head and The Heart
Lauren and I are seeing them play tonight in Boston. I can’t wait.
This parenthood thing
Just when I feel like I am getting the hang of this parenthood thing I enter a new stage where I am learning all over again
Our oldest is in her senior year of high school. And she is right in the thick of her college applications and working hard to make sure her grades for this semester stay strong.
I am trying to be as supportive as possible and be a sounding board when she needs it.
And I am excited for her…senior year will be a fun year in the end and life beyond high school will be the journey she is clearly seeking out.
But i find myself becoming increasingly wistful. I can’t seem to get my head around that this baby girl that came into our lives some 17 years ago is moving on. This is coming from the guy who is open to life changes and embracing the unknown.
And yet I remember teaching her to walk and then ride a bike like it was just yesterday. And how we go from seeing each other nearly every day to a new life when she is out of the house seems beyond comprehension at this moment.
I am happy for her.
But I am sad for me.
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, Bob Dylan
Singer, songwriter and now Nobel laureate
Quiet moments. Nantucket Sound, September 2016
Six Different Ways, The Cure