Harry Reid Goes Around the Bend on Obamacare

by John Hinderaker in Obamacare, The War on the Koch Brothers
The disgraceful Harry Reid, one of America’s most corrupt politicians, a man who has mysteriously gotten rich as a public employee, is losing his grip. This has been going on for a while; remember his insane claim during the 2012 presidential campaign that Mitt Romney doesn’t pay any taxes? Today the subject was Obamacare. Reid, probably because he sees his position as majority leader slipping away on account of popular revulsion toward Obamacare, went on a hysterical rant against those who criticize the Democrats’ signature legislation:

Across the country Americans who were once denied insurance because they suffered for something like cancer or as simple as acne have been able to buy affordable health insurance they could afford and could trust. Despite all that good news, there’s plenty of horror stories being told. All are untrue, but they’re being told all over America.

Got that? Every “horror story” about Obamacare is a lie! With more than five million people already having been booted off their existing coverage by the ACA, that’s a whole lot of liars.

The leukemia patient whose insurance policy was canceled could die without her medication. Mr. President, that’s an ad being paid for by two billionaire brothers. It’s absolutely false.

Harry Reid is obsessed by the Koch brothers. He rarely speaks in public without denouncing them. The leukemia patient he is referring to is Julie Boonstra, whom I wrote about here. There is nothing false about the Americans For Prosperity ad in which she appears; she lost coverage with which she was happy, against her will, because of Obamacare, and a key medication that she relies on to stay alive is not covered by her new, high-deductible Obamacare exchange policy.

Or the woman whose insurance policy went up $700 a month, ads paid for around america by the multibillionaire Koch brothers, and the ad is false. We heard about the evils of Obamacare, about the lives it’s ruining. The Republicans’ stump speeches in ads paid for by all the magnates, the Koch brothers. but in those tales, turned out to be just that: tales, stories made up from whole cloth, lies distorted by the Republicans to grab headlines forming political advertisements.

Reid went on to rant hysterically against the Koch brothers for another ten minutes or so, as though it is their fault that Obamacare is a disaster. But that is par for the course. What was remarkable was Reid’s assertion that every claim to have been harmed by Obamacare is a “lie.” Of course, only a tiny proportion of the many millions who have lost their health insurance coverage or been forced to buy more expensive insurance because of the ACA have spoken out publicly. But the Senate Republicans took the trouble to compile a partial list of Americans who have spoken out, based on their personal experiences. Here it is; there are links in the original, but I have omitted them here:

ALABAMA WOMAN: ‘Facing Higher Deductibles For Almost Twice The Price’
AL Woman: ‘It’s scary. … oh no, I didn’t get to get my insurance plan … it went up!’ Casey Heaps: ‘This is not affordable at all, this is a very unaffordable care act’ Reporter: ‘That’s Gainesville medial assistant Casey Heaps.’ Heaps: ‘I don’t know what this world’s coming to. It’s scary. … oh no, I didn’t get to get my insurance plan I had. I had the one I liked, the one that worked for me, the one I could afford, but no I didn’t get to keep it, it went up!’ (WAAY-AL, 11/26/13)
AL Woman: Reporter: “Mary Elizabeth Comulada of Huntsville is still in sticker shock… the family health insurance policy she uses with her two children and her husband has been banned under the Affordable Care Act and [her insurer] offered her a different plan that complies with the act with higher deductibles for almost twice the price.” Comulada: “Then how can my premium double per month, how can our deductibles go up on every single family member and yet you’re providing me the same plan.” (WAFF-AL, 11/21/13)
AL Woman: “We were at $352 a month with our premium, our individual deductible was $1,500 for a family it was $4,000… at this point $796 a month, $6,350 deductible.” (WAAY-AL, 11/26/13)
ARIZONA WOMAN: ‘I Cannot Afford’ Obamacare
AZ Woman: “‘I cannot afford to pay $200 more per month,’ said Pedersen, 54, who added that the cheapest alternative policy she’s found with the newly established federal government exchange would more than double the $186 monthly premium she paid in 2013. ‘We’re more than halfway into November, and my insurance broker is telling me it takes up to 45 days to get on a plan. I just feel like this situation did not have to happen.’” (“After Obamacare Fix, Consumers Remain Uncertain,” USA Today, 11/17/13)
AZ Man: “My son is 1-1/2 and he has a preexisting condition. It’s a heart defect. My wife and I received a letter this week that his cardiologist group is getting dropped from our health care provider on November 1st… being forced upon them by Obamacare.” (“Victim of Obamacare Loses His Doctor,” The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/31/13)
AZ Man: “For me and my lifestyle, doubling and more than doubling my [premium] costs is absurd. It’s insane.” Reporter: “President Obama’s Affordable Care Act isn’t so affordable… company is opting out and dropping Lee.” Lee: “It’s frustrating, it’s challenging, it makes you really question what’s really going on.” Reporter: “With no coverage, Lee says he had no other choice than to find out what was going on with Obamacare, but when he did he couldn’t believe what he was told.” Lee: “Your rate right now is $268 dollars. If you go to Obamacare it will go to $563 for the same type of care you have. … For me and my lifestyle, doubling and more than doubling my costs is absurd. It’s insane.” (KTVK-AZ, 11/13/13)
CALIFORNIA WOMAN: ‘Doctors … Can’t Treat Her Because They Won’t Take Her [Obamacare] Insurance’
CA Woman: ‘The health plan she’s paid for through the Affordable Care Act keeps sending her to doctors who say they can’t treat her because they won’t take her insurance’ REPORTER: “Beth Kramer says she’s running out of options.” PHONE: “The expected wait time is approximately one hour.” REPORTER: “And out of time. The disabled mother of two says she’s out of medication for an auto-immune disease, she’s run out of antibiotics for a painful internal infection, and the health plan she’s paid for through the Affordable Care Act keeps sending her to doctors who say they can’t treat her because they won’t take her insurance.” KRAMER: “I’m out of medication. I’m sitting here with an infection that I’m out of antibiotics [for] and symptoms are coming back and I have no idea when I can go to a doctor or where.” REPORTER: “Kramer signed up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act through Covered California…” (KCBS-CA, 1/22/14)

(use link to read the rest of the dozen+ California stories...and the stories from the balance of the 35 states cited at Powerlineblog.com)

 http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/02/harry-reid-goes-around-the-bend-on-obamacare.php