" As has turned out, it created other problems."

Republicans never correcting its mistakes.
Republicans never allowing improvement.
Republicans killing the mandate.

This is TrumpCare.

" ACA wasn't a bad idea. It just didn't solve real problems."

The "real problem", as you intimated, was the trajectory of medical inflation. The ACA bent that curve downward.

I should know; I've been on the front lines of this issue since the mid 80s.

Since O-Care, medical inflation HAS NOT been 400% of regular inflation. How TF can you say that wasn't a "real" problem? It's like you don't know what TF you're talking about, but your blather matches your talking points.

"they got busted in an audit."

It's not that type of audit.

"When ACA activated my insurance for my wife doubled I had to pay? Was that fair?"

In the decade before O-Care, inflation was 31%; medical inflation was 131%, more than FOUR TIMES inflation. It's the oversized annual increases you've been referring to in your prior posts.

If her costs doubled overnight (which I sincerely doubt) it's probably because she wasn't covered prior, or only had McInsurance.

O-Care mandates free preventative care, like screenings, physicals, mammograms, and prostate exams.

"Wait until April 15th."

A lot of refunds will be based on Biden's energy credits; Trump 2.0 expires those tax breaks at the end of December.

IOW, if you're doing insulation, hot water heaters, HVAC units, doors, windows, etc, DO IT NOW, and make sure the job is done and check cleared by December 31st.

"Sustainability depends on fixing the cost drivers"

That would be coverage without the insurance middlemen. Is that what you're endorsing?

" You and I would probably be in agreement that cost controls are needed."

Well, the Republicans chose to make costs higher when they killed the mandate.

Do we agree?

" We need to know exactly, "where is the money going?"

Snoofy told you: America has middlemen health insurance companies who have to pay management and corporate staff.

In UHC countries, the government is the insurer, and health insurers offer boutique insurance.

" You sound determined to believe all ACA needs is another cash infusion and mandates."

Removing the mandate is like removing a leg from the Eiffel Tower. If it wobbles or falls, that's the fault of the folks who removed the leg.

Republicans either knew killing the mandate would jack up rates, or they're too stupid to be allowed to govern.

Why won't you blame Republicans for killing the mandate? And how is the current situation not TrumpCare? These are the parameters TRUMP created and cultivated.

And all without even THE CONCEPT OF A PLAN.

"Seriously?"

They reset the fiscal sights under Dubya and Cheney.

They wrote codes which were giveaways to the wealthiest.

Then Trump wrote codes which borrowed extra trillions for new tax giveaways, and now trillions more for MORE tax giveaways, so much so, they've got to slash Medicaid, and eventually, Medicare and Social Security DUE TO SEQUESTRATION RULES.

Meanwhile, Trump is giving more to Argentina this year than all the slashed TrumpCare xsubsidies would cost.

" Mandates push more money into the system...but...continually escalating costs (cost drivers) pull it right back out into the pockets of insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and many more."

Not true at all. It's like you don't understand the underlying math.

A mandate adds more money from younger and healthier subscribers. Add that to the 80% rule (if reinstated), and pressure on rates is downward, not upward.

It's what UHC countries do, through their tax systems rather than individual purchases. They also cut A LOT of middlemen costs out.

But UHC countries spend a lower percentage of their GDP, for a larger percentage of populace covered, with better measurable results.

The US could learn a thing or two.

" The US government has stopped even pretending to act fiscally responsible."

Republicans hold the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives.

Do you blame Republicans?

This is why betting sites on tragedies is such a good idea. Any weird mathematical anomaly sticks out. If suddenly a bunch of bettors from Lebanon and a bunch of bettors in London bet on a certain catastrophic event on a certain day...it gives investigators A LOT of evidence.

For example, despite all the NDAs, in the afternoon of August 23rd of 2000, about a hundred maximum bets were made from Studio City, California, on Richard Hatch to win the original season of Survivor.

"If Obamacare is affordable, why is the government having to heavily subsidize it to make it affordable for Americans?"

Because it's TrumpCare without the mandate.

You know...math we've all known about, but Republicans try to ignore.

" Technically, the mandate wasn't repealed. Just the penalty was changed to zero."

Distinction without a difference.

Either the Republicans knew what was going to happen and did it anyway, or have no idea how health insurance works.

Repealing the mandate made it TrumpCare.

If your prices are too high, give credit where credit is due.

"I think they're working on it now."

You're delusional. They're on recess.

"I think they're working on it now."

Really? When did they start...

...tomorrow?

"Please stop with the Heritage talking point. It was one person within the foundation with many of whom disagreed with the base proposal."

WTF are you talking about? It was RomneyCare. And, frankly, every other prior Republican think tank faced with the challenge.

NO ONE ever left without admitting the need for a mandate.

"A mandate without offsetting cost controls, nothing is solved."

What part of "They rebated excess profits, until Republicans repealed it" didn't you understand?

Do you blame Republicans for repealing it, or Democrats?

"Trump said he wants to "fix" Healthcare"

Then why hasn't he had a single meeting with lawmakers on the subject?

Even in the best of situations, plans like that take months.

Trump can SAY all he wants; his actions show he doesn't have a CONCEPT of a plan. The last time he said he wanted to "fix" healthcare, he ended up by saying No one knew how complicated it was.

"ACA wasn't planned well and in fact was pushed through by Democrats. Now, they're really in a mess."

Every honest broker has admitted plans like the ACA won't work without a mandate. The Heritage Foundation, what the ACA was based on, always underscored a mandate as the central key.

Republicans unilaterally repealed the mandate.

That turns the resultant ACA into Trumpcare.

The Unaffordable Care Act.

"You have Sy and Dan already building a framework."

All we're saying is if you want to treat certain people unequally, you don't deserve public money (i.e., tax exemptions) to do it. At that point, you're not serving "the public", you're serving your self-chosen subset. Tax law NEVER allows restricted advantage..

Discriminate on your own dime.

"The Churches can exclude people but they have to pay taxes."

Fair deal.

"What I said was in reference to the Christian bakers who did not want to participate in a gay marriage for religious reasons."

Does my Jehovah's Witness postal carrier have to deliver my medical prescriptions, or does he get an exemption for religious reasons?

How about my desire to hire Canadians: do I have to pay minimum wage if I promise not to rule over them ruthlessly?

" What does the Union do that the Government doesn't?"

Clauses protecting workers rights and working conditions.

For example, we had to negotiate "Vacations cannot be cancelled within 48 hours of onset", after management tried to cancel a cameraman's pre-paid vacation THE NIGHT BEFORE. "There's no rule against it" was the pushback.

Now there is

Ever read a Union handbook? It's nothing but a compendium of schittttty behavior by bosses. Rules about temperature? That's because some bosses thought 95 in the summer and 35 in the winter were acceptable. Specific dance floor materials? That's because some idiot made dancers do 12 hrs a day on concrete.

I'll let you guess why there's a rule about bathrooms near backstage.