A longtime friend sent me an e-mail the other day about defunding Obamacare, hoping his side would shut down the government in protest. He is in that Tea Party/Republican/Libertarian loop of e-mailers who send out crazy, racist, bigoted, mean e-mails mocking President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
I sent a reply asking him why he did not want 40 million uninsured people to have health care insurance. He answered, “Because it’s socialism.”
I replied that the plans were underwritten by insurance companies, not the government.
I said, “You’re on Medicare. Don’t you like it?”
He said he did not like “the government telling him what to do.”
So I asked, “What are they telling you to do?”
No answer. I asked why he did not opt out of Medicare and pay out-of-pocket for another plan of his choosing.
He said, “Obamacare will cost too much.”
I said that was not true. Free annual preventive care checkups would catch health problems earlier, saving money in the long run, and new fraud detection methods would also save money. I asked if he did not like the fact that children could stay on their parents’ plan until age 26 now and pre-existing conditions were no longer a reason to deny coverage.
In the near future, the drug prescription donut hole will be closed, saving people more money on drugs. I said if he had a better health care plan, he should tell me about it or tell his party about it because it offers no alternative.
“What is your answer to the uninsured?” I asked.
He had no answers. All he had was party-line rhetoric, Obama-hater quips and the same bumper sticker language used by right-wing pundits. It is a shame. I cannot have a logical discussion with him because he is ignorant of the facts. When questioned, he thinks raising his voice and swearing will make him right.
But he is typical of many in his party who are condemning Obamacare and threatening to shut the government down. One problem is many voting Republicans are realizing that Obamacare is good for them, too, and they do not want it repealed and have go back to the old ways. This last stand by Republicans will not work and will cost them dearly in future elections.
I am not sorry for them.
Tyler Cassell
Flushing
