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Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Monday, October 06, 2025

The real problem is that the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable. President Barack Obama's signature achievement allowed people to buy insurance on marketplaces with subsidies based on their income. The architects of the program assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be. As a result, policies cost more than expected.

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Who in their right mind ever thought ACA would work. I find it incredible anyone would claim it would bring healthcare costs down. I am sure there some here regurgitating the Obama lines. But any logical thinker would have understood it was crony capitalism. Its ironic, I bet the same people that supported ACA, cheered on Luigi. They still can't see the irony.

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I guess that's why Trump replaced it with Trumpcare.

#1 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-06 12:06 PM | Reply

" The architects of the program assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be."

Let's give credit where credit is due.

Republicans consistently refused to fix ANY of the flaws in Obamacare, for fear they'd be primaried.

By contrast, when it became apparent Republicans had screwed up wording in the tax code regarding farmers, Democrats voted to fix it immediately.

#2 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-06 12:21 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

"I find it incredible anyone would claim it would bring healthcare costs down"

Maybe you should pick up a history book.

In the decade before Obamacare, inflation was 31%, while medical inflation was 131%, i.e., more than FOUR TIMES INFLATION. Trustees of medical insurance plans were freaking out over the trajectory. (I know; I was a Trustee of a medical insurance fund, and we were freaking out.)

What the ACA did, was bend the trajectory downward. That, combined with the after-effects of the Bush Bust and Bailout, lowered the inflation rate for multiple years, and gave a lot of Health Plans some breathing room.

As regulars know, I've been against the ACA since the start, but I've always said I'd give kudos if it addressed runaway medical inflation.

It did.

#3 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-06 12:32 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

"I find it incredible anyone would claim water is wet"
--Republicans

#4 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-06 12:43 PM | Reply

Onelumpofs*&^ wants to whine that ACA wasn't perfect.

Meanwhile, he's silent while his preferred administration destroys not only healthcare but the entire economy.

#5 | Posted by jpw at 2025-10-06 01:00 PM | Reply

I'll bet it would work a lot better and be a lot cheaper if Republicans were not constantly trying to undermine and destroy it.

But the fact is it is still infinitely better and infinitely cheaper than the nonexistent republican healthcare plan they have been promising will be ready "in a week" for over a decade.

#6 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-06 01:00 PM | Reply

The last Republican health care reform was over fifty years ago. When Nixon created HMOs, in 1973.

Republicand have no new solutions.

None.

#7 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-06 01:10 PM | Reply

"The architects of the program assumed that risk pools would be bigger than they turned out to be."

Amazing what happened, when Republicans removed the mandate.

#8 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-06 01:11 PM | Reply

o-ring naut thinks he's getting a medbed after they repeal ACA.

#9 | Posted by horstngraben at 2025-10-06 01:16 PM | Reply

It was sold to us as perfect.

#10 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-10-07 09:46 AM | Reply

It was sold to us as perfect.
#10 | Posted by BellRinger

You're a terrible liar.
It wasn't sold to you at all, because you never bought it.

#11 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-07 09:50 AM | Reply

"It was sold to us as perfect."

Is this one of those times you lie on purpose, just to get attention?!?

#12 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-07 09:57 AM | Reply

Have we seen Lewzer's "concept of a plan" yet?

#13 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-10-07 10:06 AM | Reply

"It was sold to us as perfect."

It really wasn't. But the Republicans didn't have anything better, neither then nor when they were back in power later. And it was based on a Republican plan.

#14 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-10-07 10:14 AM | Reply

Even SSentinel is dunking on JeffJ. LMFAO dude. Get wrecked.

#15 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-07 10:21 AM | Reply

It was sold to us as perfect.

#10 | Posted by BellRinger at 2025-10-07 09:46 AM | Reply

No it wasn't. Obama gave us the Republican plan. It didn't even have a public option for Christ sake.

#16 | Posted by LauraMohr at 2025-10-07 10:29 AM | Reply

"Is this one of those times you lie on purpose, just to get attention?!?"

He's just doing what every partisan hack does.

Pwning the clowns

#17 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-10-07 10:32 AM | Reply

-No it wasn't. Obama gave us the Republican plan. It didn't even have a public option for Christ sake.

Look, the republican party has contributed nothing to health care reform. They offer nothing as an alternative to Obamacare.

But.........ACA is entirely a democratic party product. Good or bad. It was the outcome of a compromise amongst democrats.....with zero republican votes.

No public option? democrats couldn't agree on it.

ACA may have been copied from a previously republican party based plan......but so what? calling republicans hypocrites is accurate.....but it's hardly relevant at this point.

And it certainly wasn't perfect. Leading democrats made that very clear at the time.

Howard Dean
Dennis Kusinich

those guys thought ACA was a giveaway to insurance companies......so no....not perfect.

#18 | Posted by eberly at 2025-10-07 11:18 AM | Reply

It was sold to us as perfect."

Is this one of those times you lie on purpose, just to get attention?!?

#12 | POSTED BY DANFORTH

DingDong is just "creating stories" so that the ... media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people!

#19 | Posted by donnerboy at 2025-10-07 11:20 AM | Reply

"DingDong is just "creating stories" so that the ... media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people"

Ahhh, the "Look what you made me do!" defense.

Or is it more "If you run out of lies, I can make up new ones!"...?

#20 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-07 11:26 AM | Reply

Insurance companies, pharmacies and drug companies love the ACA, health care providers less so. Did I leave anyone out?

#21 | Posted by visitor_ at 2025-10-07 11:47 AM | Reply

Did I leave anyone out?

#21 | POSTED BY VISITOR

One score million Americans soon to have no health insurance?

#22 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-07 11:54 AM | Reply

Did I leave anyone out?

#21 | POSTED BY VISITOR

MAGA is all about leaving other people out.

#23 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-07 11:58 AM | Reply

You should have quit while you were a head, Zed.

#24 | Posted by sentinel at 2025-10-07 12:34 PM | Reply

Did I leave anyone out?
#21 | Posted by visitor_

Did anyone get left out by the government shutdown?

#25 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-07 12:36 PM | Reply

Trump dumping my brother-in-law from his medical insurance may well kill him. He's being treated for cancer.

He's also fully-fledged MAGA.

Yet another sacrifice for the cause.

#26 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-07 12:42 PM | Reply

F--- cancer, lets spend tax dollars on cancer research!
--Democrats

F--- cancer patients, let's cut cancer research!
--Republicans

Why won't Democrats do something to help cancer patients?
--Eberly

#27 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-07 12:44 PM | Reply

The real problem is that the Affordable Care Act was never actually affordable.
Posted by oneironaut

Cool story...meanwhile Joni Ernst summed up the Republican plan when she told voters "Well, we all are going to die".

#28 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2025-10-07 04:28 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

The only way the ACA works is getting healthy people to sign up and then not use the care to help subsidize the unhealthy people. If you are a healthy person, it was always going to be a disaster for you. The problem with healthcare in the US is NOT lack of coverage, it is the cost of the care. Bring on the AI and cut a ---- ton of the family docs. Get rid of the illegals so that the insured don't have a built in cost adjustment to pay for the uninsured that skip out on their bills. Fully support Trump in getting drug prices down to the developed nation average pricing.

Above and beyond that, I am okay with outsourcing medical procedures to other countries. Charter a 747 of routine procedure patients to Thailand and have the procedures done there at 10% of the US cost even with the travel included. If you want to control healthcare costs, quit looking at the insurance price and look at the cost of the underlying care.

#29 | Posted by ScottS at 2025-10-08 10:12 AM | Reply

" The only way the ACA works is getting healthy people to sign up and then not use the care"

Don't look now ... but that's how ALL insurance works.

#30 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-08 10:23 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 2

Bring on the AI

POSTED BY SCOTTS

An unconscious "entity" which assumes no responsibility.

Sure.

#31 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:27 AM | Reply

Look, the republican party has contributed nothing to health care reform. They offer nothing as an alternative to Obamacare.
#18 | Posted by eberly

Not true, Eberly. Not true. We are seeing the Republican alternative play out right now. Republicans refuse to continue Obamacare premium support tax credits; instead they shut down the government. That's the Republican alternative to Obamacare. It's called "no more Obamacare for you" and it overwhelmingly affects Red States.

Take a victory lap. You're winning. Don't you understand that you're winning?

#32 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-08 10:29 AM | Reply

"Don't look now ... but that's how ALL insurance works.
#30 | Posted by Danforth"

No, that is not how insurance works. Insurance works by predicting what your drag on the system is expected to be and then charging your cost+plus for the service.

In the case of Obamacare, we had a ton of people that WE 100% KNOW are horrible insurance risks as they will are 100% certain to use huge amounts of medical procedures. Rather than charging these known medical disasters for the actual expected cost of their care, the Dems thought they could force enough healthy people into the system to subsidize them without complaining. It didn't work.

#33 | Posted by ScottS at 2025-10-08 10:38 AM | Reply

Rather than charging these known medical disasters for the actual expected cost of their care

#33 | POSTED BY SCOTTS

Trump and MAGA are telling them that they can die.

#34 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:46 AM | Reply

Rather than charging these known medical disasters for the actual expected cost of their care

#33 | POSTED BY SCOTTS

How many of these people are MAGA, by the way?

Hell of a way to treat your own voters, by killing them off.

#35 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:47 AM | Reply

#33 | POSTED BY SCOTTS

I know that you identify with MAGA.

Got any family members who are going to die because of what Trump and the GOP are doing?

Be honest.

A reach, I know.

#36 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:49 AM | Reply

"that is not how insurance works."

Thanks for telling us you don't understand the equation. That is EXACTLY how insurance works.

ALL insurance is sold with the hope you won't be using it. If too many people are using it, or too many non-users aren't signing up, the insurance company goes broke, or refuses to issue (see home flooding in FL and fire in CA). You've ALWAYS got to have more non-users than users.

#37 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-08 10:49 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

"Trump and MAGA are telling them that they can die.
#34 | Posted by Zed"

Link to that or admit that you just lied.

#38 | Posted by ScottS at 2025-10-08 10:49 AM | Reply

Link to that or admit that you just lied.

#38 | POSTED BY SCOTTS

I know people who are very likely to die because of what Trump is doing.

So do you.

You people brag about being realists until things get real.

#39 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:51 AM | Reply

MTG is against Trump on the ACA because her MAGA constituents are calling her up, FRIGHTENED TO DEATH, over what's going to happen to them with out the health care they have now.

The health care Trump/GOP have no plans to provide.

#40 | Posted by Zed at 2025-10-08 10:54 AM | Reply

"WE 100% KNOW are horrible insurance risks as they will are 100% certain to use huge amounts of medical procedures."

That's why every time Republicans sat down at The Heritage Foundation to come up with a national plan, they had to include a mandate for it to balance.

"Rather than charging these known medical disasters for the actual expected cost of their care, the Dems thought they could force enough healthy people into the system to subsidize them without complaining. It didn't work."

Give credit where credit is due: Republicans came up with the idea. But that was back when they were using Actual Math. Now, Trump can claim he's brought in $17 Trillion, and every MAGAt slurps it up without question.

And I noticed you skipped over Republicans repealing the mandate. That's when O'care got repealed.

#41 | Posted by Danforth at 2025-10-08 10:56 AM | Reply

"ACA was never affordable."

Wow, what a headline!
What's next, are you gonna tell us the PATRIOT Act wasn't Patriotic?

#42 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-08 10:57 AM | Reply

The only way the ACA works is getting healthy people to sign up and then not use the care to help subsidize the unhealthy people. If you are a healthy person, it was always going to be a disaster for you.
#29 | Posted by ScottS

Imagine being this stupid.

"The only way [CAR INSURANCE] works is getting people [WHO HAVEN'T BEEN IN A CAR CRASH YET] to sign up and then not use the care to help subsidize the people [WHO HAVE BEEN IN A CAR CRASH]. If you are a person [WHO HASN'T BEEN IN A CAR CRASH YET], it was always going to be a disaster for you."

That's how stupid this sounds.

HEALTHY people are HEALTHY for now. They get sick or injured later. THEN they should be allowed to sign up and get help so the rest of us can cover them?

I know you Republican Pedos LOVE to be free riders and want everyone else to pay for you.

#43 | Posted by Sycophant at 2025-10-08 11:08 AM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Sycophant you make valid and irrefutable arguments.

Unfortunately, because of how broken they are intellectually and morally, that just makes them think the whole thing is a racket.

Especially since car insurance is legally required to operate a motor vehicle.

This is somewhat the origin story of those Libertarian types who think they don't need a driver's license or a license plate on their car, since they're not operating it for commerce.

#44 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-08 11:15 AM | Reply

If you are a healthy person, it was always going to be a disaster for you.
#29 | Posted by ScottS

Because people always get two or three months notice of a heart attack, accident with bodyily injury or cancer diagnosis to shop around the marketplace for a plan that will cover them.

The entire point of insurance is to spread the cost over a large group of people some who will use it and some who won't.

#45 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-10-08 11:40 AM | Reply

If you are a healthy person, it was always going to be a disaster for you.
#29 | Posted by ScottS

This is exactly why the health insurance industry loves Medicare. They don't want people over 65 on private plans because they are sicker than people in their 20's.

#46 | Posted by Nixon at 2025-10-08 11:41 AM | Reply

If you are a healthy person, it was always going to be a disaster for you.
#29 | Posted by ScottS

Sure, having to pay for anything you don't need is a "disaster."

Just not nearly as big a disaster as not having health insurance when you need it.

You people operate at a fourth grade reading level.

#47 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-10-08 01:00 PM | Reply

Apparently, ScottS believes if you're a healthy person, you're always gonna remain a healthy person.

#48 | Posted by ClownShack at 2025-10-08 01:01 PM | Reply

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