Atlanta Forward readers responded to this week’s columns on the first day of Obamacare. Here are some select comments:
MrLiberty: If our country couldn't afford doctors, hospitals and insurance, why do we think we can afford doctors, hospitals, insurance and a huge government bureaucracy to "manage" it? The problem is government intervention into the marketplace of medical care and the damage it has done. Get government out, and real solutions will flow in.
An observer: I tried four times throughout the day to log on and buy insurance. Gave up in frustration. Website could not set up an account for me. Never got to see the insurance choices or their costs. Will now wait a month to let them work on the problems. I had hopes for the feds, but they did not do a good job for all the time they had.
USC-69: There appears to be some interest in acquiring health insurance. Maybe the tea party was wrong after all.
Ahmir Haddad: The best thing about Obamacare is that it's reduced health insurance prices even outside of the exchanges. I'm 24, and two years out of college. And I just bought the equivalent of a "Silver" plan on the Obamacare exchange direct from an insurance company, without going through the exchange. And it's $72 less a month than it would be if I had bought it through the exchange — because I'm not having to pay a little extra to help pay for all the old people out there. Luv it!
Sawb: Sort of fitting that on the day Obamacare rolls out, the government shuts down for lack of funds. When we look at Europe with the continued collapse of their bloated social programs, it is difficult to understand why anyone could think that what failed there will somehow work here. While health care reform was badly needed, I fear we are headed in the wrong direction and will ultimately end up in worse shape. When I hear the appalling stories related to the Veterans Administration, I fail to see how anyone could think the same government officials who can't manage that process can somehow do better on a larger scale. There are much simpler options that could have provided health care for all Americans including low-income families, but our hyperpartisan political environment led by King Obama has given us this mess. When will America wake up and elect some moderate, open-minded leaders that will put all this bickering aside and take care of the people's business?
Monica C. Jones: Obamacare and health reform are a reality. Despite the threats and vicious commentary, our president kept his promise. Now, our Washington principals, in a vindictive spirit, have shut down salaries for working families (and voters, by the way); have shut down badly needed jobs; have shut down important federal programs, and have shut down well-deserved resources — but they have not shut down their own paychecks. How interesting.
