The Real Threat of Obamacare Seen in Kentucky

     Today we had a GOP rep. actually making some sense on Obamacare. Jack Kingston-who is not just a Georgia U.S. rep but also a candidate in Georgia to take retiring Senator Saxby Chambliss' seat suggested that it may not be 'totally responsible' to let Obamacare fail-no matter how much gain there is to be had in it-though the GOP probably overestimates how much there is to gain anyway. 

     "Speaking to a local radio station on Monday, Kingston, who's running in the Republican primary for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss's (R-GA) seat, touted his "Small Business Fairness In ObamaCare Act" which exempts some small businesses from the part of Obamacare that requires employers to offer insurance to their employees."

     "And there's some criticism, 'Well, are you helping improve this law when you make that change? And should we be doing that?'" Kingston said referring to criticism of the bill. "A lot of conservatives say, 'Nah, let's just step back and let this thing fall to pieces on its own. But I don't think that's always the responsible thing to do."

     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-rep-kingston-suggests-it-s-not-totally-responsible-to-let-obamacare-collapse

     Paul Krugman today revealed that he successfully registered for Obamacare on https://www.healthcare.gov/.

      http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/25/soon-obamacare-will-become-benghazi/?_r=0

     This on the heels of GOP House Speaker, John Boehner's successful registering-he had prematurely claimed to have a had a 'very frustration experience.'

     http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/john-boehner-has-successfully-enrolled-in-obamacare/

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/john-boehner-enroll-obamacare_n_4319933.html

     Krugman wonders what the GOP does if the narrative of some epic failure begins to dissolve in their hands. 

     "In short, it’s looking increasingly likely that the story from here on is going to be one of steadily better news — of growing enrollment in the federal as well as state exchanges, of people discovering either that their insurance has gotten better and cheaper or that they can afford insurance for the first time. Bit by bit these stories will percolate into the news media, replacing the sob stories about cancelled policies.

And I find myself wondering what Republicans will do. Or actually, not so much. As Martin Longman noted over the weekend, Obamacare already looks like one of those Republican obsessions — like Benghazi — where the party has convinced itself that there must be a pony winning issue hidden in there somewhere, and that if only it keeps flogging the thing, long after the public has moved on, it will eventually score big."

     However, if one has any doubt whether the GOP will in this case face reality we only need to consider a recent story in Kentucky to see why this is very unlikely. Here's a story in Mitch McConnell country:

     "Despite the efforts of Kentucky's congressional delegation to stymie the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, uninsured residents in one of the state's poorer counties were pleasantly surprised to find they could now enroll in health insurance plans."

     "The Washington Post detailed some interactions between uninsured residents of Kentucky's Breathitt County, which ranks among the poorest and unhealthiest in the nation, and a worker at a local health clinic as those residents signed up for coverage on the state-based exchange, Kynect."

     "In one transaction, the health clinic worker told Ronald Hudson, a previously uninsured father of five who makes $14,000 a year before taxes, that he qualified for a medical card."

    “Well, thank God,” Hudson responded laughing, according to the Post. “I believe I’m going to be a Democrat.” 

     "Here's another exchange the Post highlighted, in which a 52-year-old disabled electrician being sued for unpaid medical bills secured coverage:

“You smoke?” Lively asked, going through a few routine questions.

“Right- and left-handed,” he quipped as she typed.

“All right,” Lively said after a while. “You are covered.”

“I’m covered?” Fletcher said. He slapped the table. He clapped twice.

“Woo-hoo! I can go to the doctor now?” he asked Lively. “I’m serious. I need to go.”

     "The success of those transactions may be attributed in part to Kynect's smooth launch and Gov. Steve Beshear's (D) decision to expand Medicaid in the state."

     http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/kentucky-uninsured-react-to-securing-health-care-coverage

     These small anecdotes are the kind of things that the Republican party has insisted for 30 years is impossible: that the government can do anything right. The real worry is not that it won't work but that it will-which should leave us a nation of Hudsons. So this is why I suspect that party as a whole isn't going to want to follow Kingston in realizing that it's not right to just put your hands in your pockets and root for it to fail-the ACA may end up helping many Americans but it won't be beneficial to the GOP which is all this party cares about: its own self-interest and nothing more.