Hi all,
If any of you are able to help me out with this, I'd appreciate it. Since Obama was elected I've been able to actually talk about politics with some of my Republican friends (oxymoron?) as the dust has settled and the discussions are less heated. Some of the points they bring up about Obamacare, if true, I find hard to refute. Can someone please look below and explain to me certain "talking points" I've been hearing? And how to defend them?
1. Obamacare is forcing every company to purchase health insurance for their employees, thus making it harder for new and smaller businesses to grow. As an example, my friend only makes 60k a year in his small business. He was explaining if he wanted to add one or two employees it would no longer be an option at this stage because he'd be forced to buy health insurance for them. He said he couldn't afford to do that, so he's going to have to grow more slowly. He said other small businesses will be affected similarly...ones that were able to give people a job, but not necessarily healthcare, will have to either pay more money, reduce the employee count, or pay a penalty now.
2. More people will be wasting doctors time over small problems in places like the emergency room. If your kid had a stuffy nose before you'd remedy it yourself, but now, if healthcare is all the same anyways, why not take him or her to the ER just to be sure? Or book an appointment with the doctor? This would cause a world of problems for people with actual problems.
3. This is the one that worries me the most, because I find it the hardest to argue with. No motivation for kick ass doctors. This one I see the point of too--I know a few doctors who are furious about Obamacare. It's true, for better or worse, money is the best motivator to become great at your job. Their argument is why put onesself through hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and years of medical school if there's no "pot of gold" at the end of it? Just because you're a good person? And in addition to that, where is the motivation for current doctors to get more training and become absolute experts in their field? Those kinds of things cost money. But if you're about to see reduction in pay, there's not a lot of motivation to do it.
Thanks for your help. I promise I'm not trolling--you can check my history. I just find these points hard to argue with if they're true. I think everyone should have access to healthcare, but there must be a better way if the above is true.