Regarding Insurance

Just saw someone on twitter bemoan the GOP because his individual plan insurance sucks, and it’s the republican party’s fault, because they defunded Obamacare. He then said he’d block anybody who says they’d even vote for a republican.

I just have to shake my head. Obamacare was, and is, a huge mess. There’s plenty of blame to go around for that. The original plan was unsustainable. It increased demand for insurance and insurance-covered procedures by the individual mandate, and the provisions making it so everybody has to pay the same price. It did nothing to increase the supply of providers of said medical care or promote the creation of new insurance providers. DEmand went way, way up, and supply stayed the same. My premiums more than doubled within two years of Obamacare’s implementation, and my coverage got worse (I’m also on an individual plan.)

That’s kind of aside, though. The thing I’m shaking my head about is his general attitude. He flat refuses to even engage with anyone who believes differently that he does politically. I’m not a republican, but I do have differing political views. In no way do I want people to be sick or injured and have to go without care because they cannot pay. I believe that the government getting so involved makes everything around healthcare much more expensive, and it prevents good solutions from coming to market.

And because I differ in opinion, this fellow would be unwilling to engage with me ever again. Not that we engage at all now. This vilifying of the “other” makes solutions impossible. both sides do this, and it makes the situation worse. I don’t blame him for this, it’s just a sad state of affairs in today’s world, and it’s sad to see someone I used to respect become such an unthinking, angry mess who worships a political party above all else.