Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   Martini Date:   6/4/2018 10:49:04 AM

Sorry it took so long to respond to this.  I am glad your anecdotal examples of people having a good experience with Obamacare but I can assure you that is just lucky happenstance.  From it's inception the news was rife with horror stories and we see every year the incredibly high premium increases for what turns out to be lousy insurance for far too many recipients.  A little research on your end will demonstrate your luck in finding some who have benefited.

I can provide you with my two examples of why its a disaster.  First my company.  Prior to Obamacare our average increases annual increases for health insurance were in the 9% range.  Painful, but tolerable.  Upon passage our increases rose to an average of 18%....that's right, it doubled. And the brokers told us the carriers increased rates in anticipation of Obamacare implementation.  Based on the recent increases they decidedly undershot what it was going to cost.   And our last year before we were forced into a very expensive PEO the proposed increase was 27% (and that was the best bid we got from the carriers that bid).  I attend meetings with other CEOs in our industry and I can assure you we are in the majority in this regard.  It has been a disaster for small businesses and since we can't compete in the labor market with the big firms without offering health insurance we don't have the option of eliminating our plan, even if we could do it legally.

Second example is also personal and that is my son's experience as a single, 27-year old free lance sound design guy on Obamacare.  He complains bitterly about being forced to pay a premium for insurance that he can never use.  Yes, if he gets pregnant, needs birth control, wants an abortion or the myriad of other coverages he doesn't need or want he may get some benefit.  But for the stuff he experiences he pays for eveything out of pocket because the deductibles are ridiculously high.  I tell him to thank his generation for voting for Democrats.

So while no doubt some Americans have benefited, it has come at a very high cost for many others and is a prime example of what happens when the govt tries to take control.  As for your Medicare, I am glad you love it.  I would too if I didn't have to pay for it.  But two little problems, the first is that it is going bankrupt and the second is that it consumes a huge percentage of our govt spending.  It needs to be reformed but given the demogougery of Democrats it will never happen.  So you enjoy it while you got it because your kids and grandkids are gonna get screwed.