Remember how Democrats once hailed ObamaCare as a "big f---ing deal?"Nowadays, as inadvertently revealed by Politico, many Democrats have turned their backs on the 15-year-old program they have come to loathe (while urging continued funding for it) and instead increasingly demand its replacement with Medicare For All.
On Sunday, Politico reporters Lisa Kashinsky and Elena Schneider revealed the deep Democrat discontent with ObamaCare in "Democrats are united in bashing GOP on Obamacare. Medicare for All could reopen a rift."
The article began with how fervently many Democrats are in their desire to ditch ObamaCare in favor of the entirely government-financed Medicare For All:
Progressives are pushing Medicare for All in some of the Democratic Party’s most competitive Senate primaries next year, threatening the unity the party has found on attacking Republicans over expiring Obamacare subsidies.
In Maine, Graham Platner said he’s making Medicare for All a “core part” of his platform in his race against Gov. Janet Mills, the establishment pick who’s called for a universal health care program. In Illinois, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly are both championing the concept — and calling out rival Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi for not fully embracing it.
In Minnesota, Medicare for All has emerged as a key distinction between progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and moderate Rep. Angie Craig, who supports adding a public option to the Affordable Care Act rather than Medicare for All. Flanagan said she “absolutely” expects the policy to define the primary because “it doesn’t matter if I’m in the urban core, the suburbs or greater Minnesota — when I say I’m a supporter of Medicare for All, the room erupts.”
And it’s become a flashpoint in Michigan, where physician Abdul El-Sayed, who wrote a book called Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide, is using his signature issue to draw a contrast with Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who favor other approaches.
Think about it. If the insurance company enrichment program known as ObamaCare were working effectively as they had promised way-back-when, why would many Democrats be urging an entirely different health program to replace it?
This appeared to be an admission that the the first word in the official title of ObamaCare, "AFFORDABLE Care Act" is anything but affordable.
Notice the reporters touted calls to keep it alive and/or replace ObamaCare with Medicare-for-All without giving weight to the (many) negative consequences (emphasis mine, click "expand"):
But some more moderate Democrats worry that progressives’ renewed push for Medicare for All would undermine the party’s recent united front in fighting for an extension of the Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, leading to a significant spike in insurance costs for millions of Americans. Their effort initially failed in the Senate, but with the help of four vulnerable Republicans who crossed party lines this week, Democrats have now secured a House vote on an extension in January.
“We have a singular message, which is: ‘Don’t let these tax credits go.’ We have Republicans on the ropes,” said a national Democratic strategist who works on Senate races and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I don’t think introducing ‘we need MFA’ is the right strategy right now. I think it would be unhelpful.”
Several Democratic consultants pointed to recent public polling showing Americans like having individual insurance coverage, despite being dissatisfied with health care companies. An NBC News poll found 82 percent of Americans were satisfied with their plans, both private and government-sponsored. Based on that data, these consultants said allowing Americans to buy into a government-offered plan, known as a “public option,” is more politically palatable.
Centrists have long dismissed Medicare for All as both a policy pipedream and political albatross for their party — a rallying cry for the left that serves as catnip for Republican admakers looking to broad brush Democrats as socialists. They argue that surveys often fail to present voters with the full picture of how Medicare for All would work, and therefore fail to capture its electoral toxicity.
Too bad the Democrats are just waking up to how horrible ObamaCare has turned out to be especially since the architect of ObamaCare, Jonathan Gruber, gloatingly bragged it was not primarily intended to be an effective health care program but a scam to fool the public via lack of transparency and count on the "stupidity of the American voter" to get it passed:
The issue is also becoming a flashpoint in Democratic primaries for some of the most competitive House seats in the country, driven in part by Sanders-backed candidates running from California’s Central Valley to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.
“There’s immense hostility and anger toward the way the insurance industry functions, doubled up with health care itself being one of the biggest affordability issues,” said Mark Longabaugh, a progressive strategist who worked on Sanders’ 2016 presidential bid. “Progressives are smart to push the case.”
ObamaCare scam artist Jonathan Gruber was unavailable for comment.
