The public option: how many of us remember when and why it died?

[BrotherIvan]

49. I believe the eye rolling comes from the fact that while those bullet points are good

They do not go nearly far enough.

I support the ACA's many improvements:

Pre-existing conditions
Out of pocket maximums
No lifetime caps
Kids on insurance
Subsidies for low income people

But the biggest problem is that we are still dancing with insurance companies. They are in the business of denying care. That is how they make profits. Their business practices are despicable and they are now forever entrenched within the system. There is no cap on premium costs and my insurer, whom I have been on the phone with all month long, has on their hold loop a message saying that ACA premiums are set to already go UP later this year.

As I said on another thread, my insurance went up every quarter beginning in 2008 when the ACA negotiations started. It went up from $180 to $476 this year because there are no safeguards in place for price gouging which is exactly what they are doing.

And now, there have been many articles and people are finally realizing that the networks for ACA plans is so narrow, they cannot find a doctor in their area. There is going to be a provider crisis and the insurance company is ensuring that it happens. I was told I can't use my insurance out of state. I am not covered for emergency hospital use out of state! Which means, you guessed it, I will enter the ER as an uninsured patient (I travel for work). These policies, the more people try to use them and figure out all the restrictions and loopholes the insurance companies have written into them will see that these policies are pure junk.

But rewriting history and saying it's all because Teddy Kennedy died and that this wasn't the biggest fumble by a super majority party, or worse yet, the classic instance of taking a dive, is disingenuous at best.