I am one of the millions, at least indirectly.
Whenever someone comes online to complain that Obamacare (yes, I think that term is a badge of honor) didn't go far enough, all I can think is, well, it went pretty far for millions of people. My neighbor's life and the life of his daughter were transformed. My wife's life and our life possibilities were transformed. Barack Obama had a direct and, what I hope would be -- lasting impact on two families I know, mine and my neighbor's. And in a rare reality, I can look at the law and specifically point to the direct benefits it has brought to these people. I also know that there are millions and millions of people for whom this is true. Our lives are better.
And now, I'm scared it's all going to be taken away.
The last few days, I have been listening to the arcania coming from the Supreme Court -- does the individual mandate stand apart from the tax penalty that will enforce it, is Obamacare trying to regulate the market for health insurance or for health care services -- and all I can think is, what the hell has happened to this country?
It is always possible to slice the steak so thinly that you could pretty much decide whatever you want. Desegregation, Miranda warnings, right to counsel, abortion rights -- people seem to believe that these were drop-kick impossible to argue against cases. It was, however, very possible to get out that carving knife and slice the topics into these thin, definitional backflips for the single reason of deciding the case the other way. The fact that it would damage society, however, did play a role in whether the court would decide the cases on constitutional principles, or delve deeply to find "principle-i-ness" that could be used to rationalize a particular decision.
I see the "principle-i-ness" train coming, one where the conservative justices decide to overrule democracy and take the world into their own hands out of arrogance or pure political power. Kind of like Citizen's United, where companies became people. The consequences of that power play is obvious in this election. But in this case, the decision literally will mean the difference between life and death for so many.
My neighbor's daughter just had her first birthday. She was born severely disabled. Her medical care costs many, many thousands of dollars a year. Her parents have paid for their health insurance for decades and have never had any major illness, but now they are tapping into their insurance. Without Obamacare, their child would not have qualified for insurance, and in fact, the family may well have been dropped. She has a vicious and dreadful pre-existing condition and would have been rejected. Now, she has care.
My neighbor still isn't sure what the SC ruling might mean. If they strike down the entire law, could the insurance company turn around and throw his daughter off of the rolls? Could the family be dropped? He talks about this every time I see him. He fears that Republican political gamesmanship is going to kill his daughter.
"How can these people talk about the sanctity of life and then want my infant daughter to die?" he asked me recently. "They don't care about anything but hurting Obama, and they are willing to kill thousands of people to do it."
My neighbor has been a life-long Republican. No more. He plans to vote a straight Democratic ticket next fall. He no longer wants to support people he sees as heartless.
The experience for my family is not as severe as this, but it is important. My wife has epilepsy. When she was in her 20s, she could obtain insurance -- preexisting condition and all. But without insurance, she was unable to pay for her medication; without her medication, she would die. So, she took a job with group care, slept on a friend's floor, ate nothing but ramen noodles and Kraft Mac & Cheese, and poured all of her salary into her meds for 9 months, until the time blocking payment for preexisting conditions ran out.
However, for years, she was trapped. She has wanted to take other jobs, but couldn't -- once she changed jobs, the preexisting condition clause would strike again, her meds are really expensive now, and we have three kids so can't just go back to ramen noodles. My job had group insurance, but events occurred that required me to take another job with a place that was too small to offer group care. I was then listed on my wife's insurance. If she switches jobs, not only will she not have insurance for her condition, but the whole family will probably be denied.
So, I had to start paying for unnecessary secondary insurance, simply because we want my wife to have the ability to change jobs if she wants to. Without the pre-existing condition changes under Obamacare, either she can join my insurance or take insurance with another company, without being forced to choose between her medicine and her children.
The constitution is not a suicide pact. The Supreme Court should not be out there making the lives of real people significantly worse over arcane steak-cutting. Government is about helping the country -- we have some of the worst infant mortality and general mortality rates of any industrialized country, and Obama is trying to fix that.
But the GOP and their conservative hacks on the SC don't care. This is why they have trotted out lie after lie -- death panels, government takeover of health care, impinge on "freedom," not be allowed to choose a doctor -- to whip up the ignorant into fighting against what is one of the only great things the government has done for them in decades.
But the GOP wants the White House. dammit, and denying people access to care is one way to win some political points with the foolish, kowtow to their masters in the insurance industry and then, they hope, get in power so that they can start slashing the tax rates for their friends in the 1%
And they are willing to kill untold thousands to get it.