re: Personal Stories of ACA in WV, powerful article

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It's not about what I think... It's what the data shows. A whole lot of people simply don't know.

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It's not that they don't know. They don't think about it. Especially young people think that they can basically do whatever they want and eat whatever they want and be fine. They only need to start watching what they eat when they're over 30, but that's just not always the case. You can know that something is bad for you but just not realize or appreciate the consequences.

Most American families don't watch what they eat. They may not necessarily consume large quantities of friend foods or eat fast foods every single night, but the average American family isn't counting calories or making sure they get their adequate servings of fruits/vegetables every day.

The real problem is the American diet is so far removed from what is actually healthy. We are inundated with advertisements for products that are terrible for our bodies, and we have to pay so much more money for organic foods which are actually good for us.

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When these people show up at emergency rooms without the ability to pay, the bill will go to all of us. So you may want to talk to your wallet again.

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I just talked to it again, it is still unaffected.

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A whole lot of people simply don't know.

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I find that hard to believe. Who doesn't know cigs are bad? Who doesn't know food makes you fat?

Just because people buy stuff that's bad for them, or eat too much doesn't mean they don't understand what's going on.

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Or maybe they can innovate and make a profit in other ways. I read that bottled water is now the largest profit center for these companies. They will be ok.

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Sure they can, but it's not the government's job to orchestrate change simply because they want to play big brother.

If a guy wants to buy a can of Pepsi, why should he be taxed through the nose because another guy buying a can of Pepsi is too fat?

After the huge increase in premiums and deductibles I've experienced over the last few years thanks to Obamacare, I couldn't care less about "feel good" stories related to poor people getting health insurance and access to treatment.

Obamacare doesn't care about ME. It cares about THEM. I shell out close to $600 every month for health insurance I don't want, with a $6,000 deductible I will never scratch in any given year. I'm one of many who is paying premiums to subsidize OTHERS.

In short, if they die, (theoretically) I'll be better off. That's one less person I have to pay for. Terrible attitude? Yes. I agree. But it's the truth. I can't feel good about paying a lot more for the same shitty coverage that someone else gets, for less (or, for free).

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The true problem is these poor people that are unhealthy got that way on the tax payer dime. Food stamps needs to be reformed big time. The tax payer feeds little Susie from birth. When little Susie becomes big Susie the tax payers again are on the hook for her healthcare cost. So Susie is fed from cradle to grave and her healthcare is paid for from cradle to grave. The taxpayer is one the hook for about a quarter million just on Susie. Oh and by the way Susie had 3 kids and the cycle just keeps on going.

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I've often wondered, and this isn't sprecifically directed at you, but just a general thought....

Surely most everyone here that is on a group plan through their employer has someone in their office that is unhealthy. They stink up the breakroom with their Hungry Man microwaved dinner, stink up the exit doors smoking several times a day, keep the vending machine guy in business with their 5 Coke a day habit, etc. Those people are factored into your health insurance premiums, and probably have a more direct impact on your wallet than someone on Medicaid does.


Though I do agree welfare reform is needed.

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I do hate govt. over regulating industries.

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The EPA excludes most mine tailings from the production of coal:

20 Mineral Processing Wastes Covered by the Mining Waste Exclusion:

Slag from primary copper processing
Slag from primary lead processing
Red and brown muds from bauxite refining
Phosphogypsum from phosphoric acid production
Slag from elemental phosphorous production
Gasifier ash from coal gasification
Process wastewater from coal gasification
Calcium sulfate wastewater treatment plant sludge from primary copper processing
Slag tailings from primary copper processing
Flurogypsum from hydrofluoric acid production
Process wastewater from hydrofluoric acid production
Air pollution control dust/sludge from iron blast furnaces
Iron blast furnace slag
Treated residue from roasting/leaching of chrome ore
Process wastewater from primary magnesium processing by the anhydrous process
Process wastewater from phosphoric acid production
Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace air pollution control dust/sludge from carbon steel production
Basic oxygen furnace and open hearth furnace slag from carbon steel production
Chloride process waste solids from titanium tetrachloride production
Slag from primary zinc processing

Sometimes regulations work:

in 1989, the U.S. Congress passed a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act. Title IV of these amendments established the Acid Rain Program, a cap and trade system designed to control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Title IV called for a total reduction of about 10 million tons of SO2 emissions from power plants. It was implemented in two phases. Phase I began in 1995, and limited sulfur dioxide emissions from 110 of the largest power plants to a combined total of 8.7 million tons of sulfur dioxide. One power plant in New England (Merrimack) was in Phase I. Four other plants (Newington, Mount Tom, Brayton Point, and Salem Harbor) were added under other provisions of the program. Phase II began in 2000, and affects most of the power plants in the country.

During the 1990s, research continued. On March 10, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). This rule provides states with a solution to the problem of power plant pollution that drifts from one state to another. CAIR will permanently cap emissions of SO2 and NOx in the eastern United States. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2 emissions in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia by over 70% and NOx emissions by over 60% from 2003 levels.[28]

Overall, the program's cap and trade program has been successful in achieving its goals. Since the 1990s, SO2 emissions have dropped 40%, and according to the Pacific Research Institute, acid rain levels have dropped 65% since 1976.[29][30] Conventional regulation was used in the European Union, which saw a decrease of over 70% in SO2 emissions during the same time period.[31]

In 2007, total SO2 emissions were 8.9 million tons, achieving the program's long-term goal ahead of the 2010 statutory deadline.[32]

In 2007 the EPA estimated that by 2010, the overall costs of complying with the program for businesses and consumers would be $1 billion to $2 billion a year, only one fourth of what was originally predicted.[29] Forbes says: In 2010, by which time the cap and trade system had been augmented by the George W. Bush administration’s Clean Air Interstate Rule, SO2 emissions had fallen to 5.1 million tons. [33]

- wiki

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I think though that you are focusing only on those who abuse the system. Not everyone has diabetes because they bought Oreo cookies with their food stamps.

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No doubt we have generation after generation of families in this country that just live off the government. We have to make them struggle a little to want to make a better life for themselves. When they get food, shelter, and healthcare paid for then there isn't a lot of incentive to improve your life. Make food stamps bare essentials only. Medicaid shouldn't be paying for Sharron's 4 kids Addys every month because she's a shitty parent.

Funny you should mention WV. Let me share with you the other side of that coin ...

LINK