To paraphrase Dylan: "How many lives will it take to be saved, before we can end all the lies."
There has been great news about the ACA lately, real time facts that knock down the right's arguments -- Just yesterday, the great Charles Gaba wrote about how premiums have been lowered in states that have expanded Medicaid.
Other great news, via Joan.
We know about the fact that a lot of people have insurance who didn't before, that premiums for Obamacare plans are going to be very reasonable for 2015, that people enrolled in Obamacare plans are quite happy with them, and that the people lucky enough to live in Medicaid-expansion states are particularly grateful. Insurance companies like it, too. There's a whole bunch more of them joining the exchanges for 2015. Oh, and there are 7.3 million paid-up Obamacare enrollees—a follow-through rate over 90 percent—smashing the Republican narrative that only a small portion of the people getting plans would end up paying for them.
But there are some additional powerful arguments we can make if we had answers to these questions:
How many lives have been saved thus far because of the ACA? Imagine a full page ad in a newspaper with the pictures of hundreds of people whose lives were saved by the ACA (through exchange or expanded Medicaid coverage)
How many deaths have occurred in non-Medicaid Expansion states? (I've seen data with projections of deaths because of non-expansion, but no actual data on deaths that can be traced to lack of Medicaid expansion.) Rejection of Medicaid Expansion is the political crime of the century. It should be a top issue this year in rejecting states.
We still hear "Obama said you can keep your doctor." This is mostly used supposedly to prove the President's mendacity. But the more important question is how does the ACA compare to the pre-ACA on "keeping your doctor." Have more people, fewer people or about the same had to switch doctors because of the ACA? What data confirms this?
We still hear "Obama said you can keep your insurance," and we know that people often were dropped from their policies pre-ACA. Have more people, fewer people or about the same had the insurance dropped without being able to get new insurance? What data supports this?
Obamacare has gone from "death panels" to "roll-out disaster" to "they won't sign up" to "It's working!" It has been neutralized as a campaign issue that helps Republicans, but has not yet turned the corner as a positive pitch for Democrats.
Simple, powerful answers to basic questions can achieve this.