Poll: We are All Working to Transform the ACA into for Medicare for All, or Better, Right?

[grahamhgreen]

3 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes, the ACA is the first step towards Medicare for All, or better!
	1 (33%)
	No, the ACA is all we need.
	0 (0%)
	No, The ACA just needs a few minor adjustments, then it will be perfect.
	0 (0%)
	Other
	2 (67%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Scuba]

1. Medicare for All, including dental, optical, hearing aids, mental health and nursing home services.

Yes, we can afford it.

[JoePhilly]

2. Yes, but you are jumping some steps that will have to take place first.

A few states will have to add public options to their exchanges, which the ACA allows. Some also need to create single payer alternatives. Also allowed by the ACA.

Once those take hold, the federal exchanges will add a public option. Ironically, when this happens, all of the red states that tried to screw the ACA by not setting up their own exchanges, will suddenly get a federal public option.

The competition from state and federal level POs (or single payer plans) will create a situation in which the insurance companies can't compete.

As insurance companies merge and drop out, more people will move easily and painlessly to POs or single payer plans.

A tipping point will be reached and the shift to Medicare for all, or a straight universal plan will happen.

Its unlikely for there to be a straight jump to Medicare for all without some of these interim steps.

[Demeter]

3. Very few are working for Universal Single Payer

Aside from the destitute, who actually get single payer through Medicaid, most Americans are in total denial. After all, they have health care through their generous employment benefits.....or they finally qualified for Medicare, which is better than Obamacare any day of the week...or they believe the BS (although those numbers are decreasing with each obstacle).

[mike_c]

4. yeah, I'd like to know whom among dem leadership is included in OP's "we all...."

I don't know of any who are working for single payer, except maybe Senator Sanders. Can anyone enlighten us about congressional efforts underway to expand the ACA to single payer, universal health care for all Americans? I think the answer is essentially "none."

[Demeter]

5. Bernie is an Independent....not a Democrat

"We're just good friends!"


I think this is a really clever form of "push-poll". Shame on the OP!

[mike_c]

6. I understand-- he's a self described democratic socialist....

But he's the only senator I could think of who would probably answer an enthusiastic "YES" to the question posed by the OP.

[Zorra]

7. Yep, and the quicker the better. nt

[etherealtruth]

8. That is my fervent hope

[ProSense]

9. How to strengthen Obamacare, courtesy of the Progessive Caucus.

How to strengthen Obamacare, courtesy of the Progessive Caucus.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024702695

[grahamhgreen]

12. I like them all! Especially Waivers for Single Payer, the public option, & negotiating drug prices:)

HEALTH CARE

An aging population and rising health care costs represent one of the greatest federal budget challenges. To meet this challenge, the Better Off Budget lowers health care costs while protecting consumers. We build on the positive reforms in the Affordable Care Act that are known to bend the health care cost curve over time. Medicare operates more efficiently than private health care systems; our budget protects Medicare's integrity and creates savings to improve long-term solvency. Our budget also provides states the freedom to improve on the Affordable Care Act by transitioning to a single payer system of care.

Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Negotiation – permits the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical manufacturers. Giving HHS the ability to negotiate prices, as the Department of Veterans Affairs currently does, will save Medicare $157 billion over 10 years and will reduce costs for seniors.

Payment Improvements – builds on Affordable Care Act solutions by accelerating the use of bundled payments as an alternative to fee-for-service. Single payments are provided for a group of related services which creates incentives for providers to coordinate care. Paying for quality of care instead of quantity leads to better outcomes and cost savings.

Offer a Public Option – improves the Affordable Care Act by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to offer a public health insurance option within the health insurance marketplaces. This ensures choice, competition, and stability in coverage. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the premium costs for Americans under the public option would be between 7 and 8 percent lower than costs in private exchange plans.

Cigarette Tax – raises the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack. CBO finds that younger smokers are especially deterred by higher prices, resulting in a decline of smoking rates by approximately 3 percent.

Junk Food and Fast Food Marketing – ends the tax deductibility of advertising and marketing junk food and fast food to children. One out of every three children is overweight or obese, disproportionately affecting communities of color and low-income children.

Closing the Medicare Tax Loophole (NEWT Act) – adopts Rep. Charles Rangel’s Narrowing Exceptions for Withholding Taxes (NEWT) Act, which would clarify that individuals are unable to avoid employment taxes by routing their earnings through a limited liability corporation or a limited partnership. Newt Gingrich has used this loophole to avoid paying some Medicare taxes.

Generic Prescription Drug Development and Release – prohibits “pay for delay” agreements that brand name manufacturers use to reduce competition and prevent lower cost alternatives from entering the market.

State Waivers – until we guarantee universal access to quality care, our work is not complete. As states continue to struggle with their budgets, we will provide them with the ability to set up and administer more efficient state-level single payer health programs. Our budget allows necessary waivers and protects existing federal funding for those states establishing a state single payer program.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. kick for more voting

[1000words]

11. Does anyone really believe ...

any transformation will happen in the next 20 years? Seriously.

The way I see it, we will be told to give it time, which will account for a decade. It'll take at least another decade to hammer out and implement "the transformation."

[grahamhgreen]

13. Yes. First Vermont, then wildfire:)

[joshcryer]

14. One state will have single payer in 3 short years.

Just as many more will have gay marriage legalized and marijuana legalized or on the path to legalization.

My question is what next. Living wage possibly? I think since Libertarians are gaining ground we can bring back the idea of the negative income tax.

[1000words]

16. Why would insurance companies ...

agree to such a short-term business plan? Goes against everything they espouse.

[joshcryer]

17. They knew the writing was on the wall.

We're still talking 15 years from ACA being passed. They still have 9 or so years to pad their accounts.

[Recursion]

20. Insurance companies make plenty of money off Medicare because they do the actual provisioning

They'll make plenty of money off of Vermont, too. Vermont will do like Medicare and Medicaid, bid out a block payment to a provisioning insurer or insurance group, and that will be that. (Note that Medicare's "2% overhead" only counts the administration costs of getting those payments to the insurance provisioners, not their cut between that payment and the providers.)

[TheKentuckian]

15. Nope. Probably, twenty years is optimistic.

Unless the TeaPubliKlans win at the wrong points or some of our corporatist sell us out so the subsidies lag too hard or waivers are denied AND there are still more than a handful willing to demand consequences rather than making excuses, throwing platitudes around, or so afraid that "we" will lose that accountability is mocked rather than employed.

[TheKentuckian]

18. Other: While I hope the effort is a first step, I do not believe it is but if you point me to an

effort to move that needle then I'll work for it but I won't work blind toward what I don't want again either.

I actually wrote McTurtle and worthless ass Dumbing for this, I'm talking paper here. All kinds of emails. Near harassment levels of calls. Called people to do the same. Did everything I knew to do to raise awareness individually face to face and not once did I pitch single payer other than to explain the concept and to contrast (of course that could be said for what we actually got which I called GingrichCare too).

[Recursion]

19. Even our Medicare is overpriced compared to public insurance in other countries

The particular payment model we use is much, much less important to me than making the fee-at-use small enough for people to afford it. There are a lot of ways other countries have made this work, and I don't particularly care which one we take.