ObamaCare Horror Stories Are Pretty Horrible

In response to If ObamaCare is delayed, it dies:

In a badly timed oped at MSNBC, one Steve Benen argues that Republicans are so desperate to prove that ObamaCare is hurting Americans, we’re just making stuff up. Sure, “there are real and substantial problems with the Affordable Care Act’s website”, but “websites can be fixed.” 

“The merits of “Obamacare”, Benen assures us, “are unaffected by online snafus.”

This whole idea of sky-rocketing premiums, people getting bumped off their plans, and businesses going under because of ObamaCare is just a bunch of horse-hockey, you guys.

For instance, the “beloved ice cream shop” featured on Hannity that supposedly went belly up because of the new health care law.

Not so fast, wingnuts, Benen has proof that the Ice Cream Shop and any other businesses that say they’re shutting down because of ObamaCare, were probably going out of business, anyway.  Some guy named Ken Jacobs from Berkeley says so.

“It seems highly, highly implausible that someone would be closing a business now in anticipation of projections around health costs 15 months from now,” Ken Jacobs, chairman of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, told Abcarian. “Any business that says it’s shutting down because of Obamacare is likely going out of business anyway.”
 
The point isn’t just to poke holes in poor anecdotal arguments. Rather, the key takeaway from stories like these is that Republicans are struggling mightily to find any real-world victims of the health care law.

 For the right, these victims should be **everywhere**, eager to tell their stories, because that darned “Obamacare” is such a public menace. If so, why do these stories keep falling apart, replaced with nothing?

Well, guess what Stevie? Ask and you shall receive. Blogger, Matt Walsh solicited stories from readers about how ObamaCare has already impacted their lives. He says within 24 hours his inbox was flooded with emails.

…here are the tales of many, many, many real Americans. Share this with your friends. Every time some Statist nincompoop extols the virtues of Obamacare; every time they insist that the “Affordable Care Act” has done nothing but “help” low and middle income families; every time they babble incoherently about how Obamacare isn’t “perfect” but it’s still “better” than what we had before — show them this. Challenge them to read what is happening out there. This isn’t abstract. It isn’t academic. It isn’t a matter of ideology. It isn’t even an issue of constitutionality (although it’s that, also). This is about people. People with kids, and bills, and health problems.

Their stories are heart-breaking: The Definitive Guide to How Obamacare is Destroying American Lives.

Sherry, Michigan: My name is Sherry and I am a 27 year old Wife and Homeschooling mom of 2 from Michigan. Our family is at the peak of health, I work out, eat healthy and the last time I was hospitalized was in the 1st grade from an injury. My husband and children are both very healthy and at the peak of health as well.Because of the New Obamacare law, my husbands company will only be covering employees but not their children or spouses. That leaves myself and my two daughters to find care on our own. I went onto the Marketplace website and I was quoted 525 dollars with a 3,000 dollar deductiable to cover me and my girls. My husband through his work will be paying 240 dollars a month just for him with a 1500 dollar deductiable. We make a little less then 60K a year. Paying over 700 bucks a month to be covered is outrageous. OurPremiums from last year to this year have more then doubled! What makes me upset is My parents are both in their early 60s and both has battled cancer these past few years, have health problems up the wazoo are paying very close to what our family is paying. This is ridiclous and I hope people realize what a mistake Obamacare really it.   

Jan, Idaho: Keeping this short and sweet. I’m Jan, a female from Idaho. I live on my pension plus Social Security, which I started drawing this year at age 62. Been treated twice for cancer in the last five years. My current Blue Cross policy is not great, but it’s what I could afford.It is not acceptable under the ACA, however and I’ll be losing it just after the first of the year. Preliminary inquiries into another policy point toward a doubling of my annual deductible (from $5,000.00 a year to $10,000.00) and a more than $200.00 increase in my already-substantial monthly premium payments. This increase is not something that I can afford. After my current coverage is deactivated in the next couple of months, I will be uninsured, for the first time in my life. I have accepted that fact, and come to terms with it. The ACA? I will not comply. I will pay the fine, instead. Obamacare will be the death of me. …

 Christy, Alabama: We own a small business. Actually, my husband runs an internet sales business. He used to own a small janitorial cleaning service. The economy of 2008 (and forward) kind of wiped that out…..after almost 20 good years. We purchase our health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. We have to buy from them individually. Our premiums right now are $420/month. We just got our notice that we can’t keep our plan, and if we want to get the plan that is closest to our old plan, it will cost us $1005/month. That is about the same as our mortgage. We need a new van for our growing family of 8. We would like to redo our kitchen. Neither of these are now an option. We will also have to dial back our spending every month. Imagine those decisions on a massive scale across America…… I can hear the crash already. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  The rest will take your breath away.

All this is to say – ObamaCare really does need to die. But I don’t think it will. To the leftists running the show right now, the remedy for big government failures is always more government. We’ve got a titanic fight on our hands and the Statists are winning. The middle class are losing – big time.

Hat tip: The Hayride