It must be kept in mind that this is mostly about the signing up of those who want to be insured. The real problem comes when the entire Obamacare system won't be able to handle the deluge of patients that will seek care.
Of course, Paul Krugman is spreading the absurd idea that Obamacare has moved beyond failure. In a post titled, Obamacare Fails to Fail, he writes:
I also have the sense that people in the GOP are still working with a completely wrong narrative — namely, that Obamacare is failing, and that these are desperate ploys to save a sinking ship. The reality is quite different: enrollments have clearly surged in the final month. Charles Gaba is now projecting 6.4 million through the exchanges, and many more directly purchased from insurers.File this quote away. We are still in pre-game lineup introductions. The game hasn't even started yet. Let's check back in about three years and check this quote, when there are long waits for treatment, death panel decisions blocking treatments and cost explosions. Then, we can talk success or failure.
What is the holdup?
ReplyDeleteMarch 29, 2014
There was a key hearing with FDA Commissioner Hamburg on Thursday, March 27th, before the U.S. Appropriations Committee – the Committee that funds the FDA.
Click here to watch the full hearing.
During the hearing, Congressman Sanford Bishop (D-GA) asked FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg: “In the weeks worth of data found by researchers and scientists [studying eteplirsen], there is not an issue of efficacy, and scientists say they have never seen results like this. These kids face certain death, and the longer they wait the more muscle movement they lose…. [W]hat is the holdup? And when can I tell my constituents they are going to have Eteplirsen approval?”
Commissioner Hamburg’s response: “This is an important arena, especially in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and there are advances in science if we can really develop the drug for the underlying mechanism of disease….we are taking this seriously and looking at it closely.”
Commissioner Hamburg, if the FDA was really taking this seriously, you would have granted Accelerated Approval for Eteplirsen long ago…The time is NOW.
100,000 people have signed our petition to President Obama asking that the FDA do its job and advance safe + effective treatments for Duchenne. The FDA still has not acted.
http://theracetoyes.org/2014/03/141/
broken is an understatement....
"long waits for treatment, death panel decisions blocking treatments and cost explosions" can all be solved with a government bailout. Further, any bailout will be [ahem] proof that medical care should not be provided by firms operated for profit.
ReplyDeleteI'm so looking forward to this fascist healthcare system to collapse on itself
ReplyDelete