Over the past few days, my little corner of nerd and advocacy world has been having a long collective de-stressing breath that most of us had not realized we had been holding in for four years and three months. The Affordable Care Act has survived. In some ways, the individual market components of the ACA are now closer to the House Democrats vision in Spring 2009 than how it was operationalized by the Obama Administration in Winter 2017. Silverloading has done weird things! That was not a likely outcome of a Republican trifecta.
I want to pull back something from May 2017:
In a previous thread, a troll was FIRST!! with the advice to “Just quit, we lost this fight in November”
I reject that.
We aren’t going to win often but we get to choose how to lose. We can roll over without trying to defend our values and our morals or we can fight as hard as we can to either get a policy win or inflict significant political costs on Republicans to increase the probability of future policy wins by either putting the fear of losing their seats into them which constrains future opportunity space or flipping those seats in 2018.
More subtly, we tell stories to ourselves. I want those stories that I tell to myself about me to be true. Defending and improving the ACA is one of those stories that I tell myself. The ACA benefits 2009 me far more than it benefits the 2017 me. It is a gut check. Am I full of shit or do I actually believe in what I think I believe in.
We did that.
We got policy wins. We got political wins.
There is still need to moot a farcical suit that is currently at the Supreme Court.
But the ACA is likely to be around in 2022. It is likely to get a highly needed update and corrections revisit by Congress.
That is not what I would have put any money on four years ago today.
zhena gogolia
Eugene Goodman is the sergeant at arms for the ceremony.
OzarkHillbilly
Thank you.
zhena gogolia
Kamala in gorgeous purple! Regal!
Cheryl Rofer
tim
We can fix the Family Glitch now please?
Nobody in particular
What really chaps my hide is that the people who criticize it – in its current form – forget that it was the GOP that wouldn’t let it pass with a public option. There are many things about any political parties I detest but this is another case of the GOP making sure any Dem president’s legacy is sabotaged.
If the people like it…
Oh no, we can’t have that!
Almost Retired
Add the survival of the ACA to the list of sighs of relief I am emitting today (I’m practically hyperventilating).
hells littlest angel
The Affordable Care Act: a big fucking deal, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
zhena gogolia
Lindsay fucking Graham
Cheryl Rofer
I was going to make chocolate chip cookies but I can’t tear myself away from the Marine Band and the announcements of arrivals.
CSpan on YouTube
Spanky
Eighty minutes
fake irishman
As a fellow of the members of that Health Policy nerd and advocacy world, I agree this has been a long strange trip, almost none of which I had on my bingo card four years ago.
StringOnAStick
Four years ago my husband’s plan for us to retire 2 years early looked impossible because we feared the ACA was toast, and we couldn’t retire without it because of pre existing conditions. Thanks to how hard people and politicians worked to save it, we are on an ACA plan and retired, living in a new state in a home we can age in place in and living our best lives in grateful happiness.
David Anderson
@tim: Probably.
Another Scott
I believe that you and Charles Gaba and all of your colleagues that kept us informed about the ACA and how to get the most out of it and how to protect it and make it better played a very large roll in it still being here today. And your detailed, formal comments on ACA rule-making.
You walked the talk.
You are a gentleman, a citizen, and a scholar.
Sincerely – Thank you for all you do.
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
Cruz had the nerve to show up
zhena gogolia
@Another Scott:
Seconded.
fake irishman
@zhena gogolia: My two-year-old adores purple. She’ll love this when I tell here.
zhena gogolia
Hillary’s in purple too!
Cheryl Rofer
Here’s the new football
fake irishman
@tim: Yeah, if nothing else, it seems like the odds of this being slipped into a appropriations bill have gone up immensely.
zhena gogolia
Laura’s in mouse gray.
zhena gogolia
MICHELLE IS A VISION OF LOVELINESS
Mary G
Thanks to John McCain and his lovely thumb. I was sitting at my desk and started screaming so loud I scared my cats. Also thanks to the lame duck for pissing John McCain off. Also, too, the people who learned that having health care insurance is better than not and that no one had to have a death panel for Grandma. Such a big fucking deal.
Another Scott
@Another Scott:
rollrole.(sigh)
Hehe.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Is Al Gore there? Cheney? I heard Quayle’ name mentioned
Only six USSC Justices? Breyer, Thomas and Alito not in the line
L85NJGT
11 states still to accept Medicaid expansion?
L85NJGT
Hillary’s hair looks great!
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’d like to think Thomas and Alito are answering the questions of FBI agents this afternoon.
zhena gogolia
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Haven’t seen Gore or Cheney. Quayle, Dubya, Clinton, Obama, and you’re right about the USSC.
Brachiator
Yep. Definitely something to celebrate.
With respect to the Supreme Court, I see that Biden has chosen Elizabeth Prelogar to be acting Solicitor General. Well qualified. She worked for Mueller, clerked for Merrick Garland, RBG and Kagan. I think she has argued seven cases before the Court.
Baud
Sotomayor will swear in Harris.
BruceFromOhio
@StringOnAStick: I aspire to this.
PAM Dirac
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I heard Cheney turned down the invitation on advice of his physician.
L85NJGT
Gore was on NBC, said he’d vote for conviction.
zhena gogolia
Here comes Mike and Mother.
Baud
Less than 1 hour to go.
zhena gogolia
Ella Emhoff looks so cute in a plaid coat with seemingly amber beads as epaulets.
ETA: Sorry to be doing this, but there’s no Inauguration thread!
Matt McIrvin
@David Anderson: A bill to fix all those little bugs in the ACA, and make the clown suit irrelevant, would be fantastic. Do you really think it’ll get through the Senate, if Manchin is unwilling to countenance killing the filibuster and the Republican minority still just want the ACA to fail?
Cheryl Rofer
Different fanfare for each former president. Classy!
satby
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Struck by how no one is talking to Amy Covid Norelation. I hope she is forever shunned by decent people everywhere.
zhena gogolia
@satby:
So glad we waited for the People to decide who should fill that seat.
David Anderson
@Matt McIrvin: there is a lot of space that can be done with administrative rule making…. but yeah, I do anticipate a lot of things can be cleaned up via reconciliation or a Christmas tree end of the year appropriations bill with 29 words here, 44 words there, 3 pages here….
O. Felix Culpa
So glad to see real America on the stage! Michelle looks like a queen. I love seeing the women wearing color and pearls.
zhena gogolia
@O. Felix Culpa:
Michelle’s belt buckle alone should win an award.
lee
My idea for a quick bipartisan bill is to raise the age to stay on your parents insurance to 30.
Yeah it’s not M4A, but is one of the popular pieces of ObamaCare and it will help out a lot of the unemployed right now.
Cheryl Rofer
zhena gogolia
Here comes Kamala!!!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@O. Felix Culpa: she seemed to be in a long conversation with somebody in a military uniform, and I’m just kinda curious about who that is
Cheryl Rofer
LOTS of Secret Service
Baud
Second G!
O. Felix Culpa
KAMALA!!!
Benw
Terrorist fist jabs from Kamala to Barack!
Baud
Goodman!
Spanky
Cold day to be blowing a horn.
zhena gogolia
@Spanky:
And those horns look tricky too.
Matt McIrvin
@David Anderson: Imagine… actual functional legislation to make things work better. I’m sure there will be another round of moaning about it not being Medicare for All. But it could ensure coverage for a lot of people.
Just making the people who fell into the hole created by their state rejecting Medicaid expansion eligible for subsidized exchange plans… that would be a big improvement.
O. Felix Culpa
JOE!!! DR. JILL!!!
Spanky
Snow squall blowing through. Cumulus has been scudding all day.
fake irishman
“My leader and I entered on that hidden path to return to the bright world; and, without taking care for rest at all,
up we climbed, he first and I second, until I saw the beautiful things the heavens carry, through a round opening.
And thence we came forth to look again at the stars.”
(Dante seemed appropriate for today. Also, there’s a huge mountain he and Virgil have to climb over the next 33 cantos after these lines, which also seems right)
Repatriated
When a dog rolls over, it’s surrendering. When a cat rolls over, it’s preparing for a fight to the death — and has just brought its hind claws into play…
Baud
Snow???
Emma from FL
No inauguration thread?
Cheryl Rofer
Good to see that the high-value folk are right next to the plexiglass shields.
Spanky
I like emotional Amy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Spanky: I’ve always liked her
Baud
Thread up.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The thing that stands out to me about that time was Adam stressing from the number of people he had to talk down from suicide.
Feathers
@lee: I had a friend saying they wanted to be able to put their parents on their insurance.
David – would that be a possible ask?
SectionH
I know this is beyond late BUT this is a TY to David for all of the information. And my own Happy: I called my firend (that’s deliberate) to see how she’s surviving her breast cancer surgery. She answered the phone with “WE DID IT.” She lives in Tennessee btw. And yeah, she’s doing well. Hope everywhere.
PaulB
Because the ACA survived, I was able to retire in December, giving my slot to someone younger and hungrier. Had Biden not been elected, had Democrats not retained the House, I’d have had to wait another few years until Medicare became available.
Given my circumstances, there is simply no way for me to get private insurance without the ACA, much less have an opportunity to get something affordable.
There are those who call me...tim... (Still posh)
@David Anderson: okay. Last I heard on this subject, Senator Franken had a fix simmering in committee. Yes, Franken. That’s how long.