General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Hurray for Health Reform By PAUL KRUGMAN [View all]zipplewrath
(16,698 posts)Keeping single payer out of the room was a lousy negotiating strategy. It's like telling the opponent where you WON'T attack.
And there were many things that would have been "better" than a GOP plan from 10 years ago. Your false dichotomy not withstanding.
HCR managed to "help" about 7-12% of the population get health INSURANCE with little guarantee that they would get health CARE. That's what constitutes "not falling through the cracks". Roughly half of those people already were eligible for federal assistance to begin with. Another chunk are 26 year olds who can continue to be covered by their parents policies. A final chunk are people being forced to purchase health insurance, regardless of their ability to actually afford the underlying health care. This is how we are "closing cracks". Something Obama described during the campaign as "the equivalent of solving homelessness by forcing people to buy homes".