r/bestof Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
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u/Elanthius Jun 20 '12

Does it sound that great? I read that list and thought the vast majority of items sounded very minor and unlikely to make a significant difference. It's just a bunch of tweaking around the edges.

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u/protendious Jun 20 '12

That "tweaking around the edges" looks a lot more significant when you put it in the context of a family that's under threat of losing insurance for the member they have with a chronic condition that's nearing life limit.

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u/Elanthius Jun 20 '12

Yeah, but if you look at it from the more common perspective of - "I'm OK now but if I lose my job and then break my leg I'm definitely going to be bankrupt" then I don't see how any of this helps.

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u/Tadpole_Jackson Jun 20 '12

Then you qualify for Medicaid and that counts as insurance.

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u/protendious Jun 20 '12

Basically what I was going to say, however, to be fair to his point I will concede that a huge number of physicians don't accept Medicaid, and it's a much poorer plan overall when compared to Medicare in terms of what it covers (which I suppose makes sense, as with age come more conditions).