Have you seen the Creepy Uncle Sam video spreading lies about Obamacare through scare tactics? Did it make you want to scream and yell? Yeah, me too.
If you're lucky enough to have not seen this video, it's a new ad campaign by Generation Opportunity to convince people to "opt out" of Obamacare. It follows a young female going to get an annual with her new insurance and a nurse judgmentally asks her about her signing up for Obamacare. If that isn't bad enough, once the woman is ready for her exam a creepy Uncle Sam comes in and... you get to the picture. Basically it's as unsubtle as you can be about not wanting the government in your exam room.
This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, Obamacare is not about the government coming into your exam room or getting in-between you and your doctor. Doctors aren't suddenly going to be working for the government, and the government isn't going to be telling you what tests or procedures you can and cannot get. If anything, Obamacare has enacted provisions to make more preventative and routine tests covered by insurance.
And more importantly, you don't "sign up for Obamacare." You sign up for health insurance. Not just any health insurance, but private health insurance, mostly through insurance carriers most people already use. This is the main component of Obamacare: increasing access to health insurance. Obamacare is HELPING people get insurance by providing cheaper options, offering subsidies and expanding Medicaid coverage. BIG DIFFERENCE. Last time I checked, being able to have health insurance is a good thing.
If that isn't bad enough, the fact that they made this ad focus on the annual exam is so twisted. They are deliberately playing into the confusion surrounding forced restrictions on women's health to make it seem like Obamacare is the one mandating all these impositions. It's actually pretty ironic as Ilyse Hogue, President of NARAL sums up perfectly, "This ad is brought to you by the same people who force Uncle Sam between our legs when it comes to reproductive health. It's un-American to mandate forced ultrasounds, restrict abortion care, and deny contraception coverage while trying to trick students into forgoing Obamacare, which will help them get preventative care and end gender discrimination in insurance coverage."
Listen, I know Obamacare isn't perfect. Health insurance is still going to be expensive, and mandating health insurance is going to feel like a burden for some people and businesses. But the truth of the matter is that our healthcare system is broken. We spend far more on healthcare costs than any other developed country and we are embedded in an employer based health insurance system that makes our health benefits tied to market successes, while also leaving out large segments of the population who work part time, don't work, are retired, students or self-employed. For the time being, Obamacare is the best option we have to start trying to fix our broken system.
It is time for health care in the United States to be seen as a human right, and not a privilege. In 2012, 84 million people in the United States were uninsured or underinsured. How can we call the United States one of the greatest nations on Earth, if we fail to provide a basic human right to so many of our citizens? The fact that starting January 1st, 2014 millions of people will be able to access health insurance and then go to the doctor and access necessary health care is amazing. So Creepy Uncle Sam, you may have your scare tactics but that doesn't deter my excitement and optimism for Obamacare. I cannot wait to celebrate the day someone tells me that it's their first time at the clinic because they now have health insurance thanks to Obamacare. What a wonderful thing!
If you're lucky enough to have not seen this video, it's a new ad campaign by Generation Opportunity to convince people to "opt out" of Obamacare. It follows a young female going to get an annual with her new insurance and a nurse judgmentally asks her about her signing up for Obamacare. If that isn't bad enough, once the woman is ready for her exam a creepy Uncle Sam comes in and... you get to the picture. Basically it's as unsubtle as you can be about not wanting the government in your exam room.
This is wrong on so many levels. First of all, Obamacare is not about the government coming into your exam room or getting in-between you and your doctor. Doctors aren't suddenly going to be working for the government, and the government isn't going to be telling you what tests or procedures you can and cannot get. If anything, Obamacare has enacted provisions to make more preventative and routine tests covered by insurance.
And more importantly, you don't "sign up for Obamacare." You sign up for health insurance. Not just any health insurance, but private health insurance, mostly through insurance carriers most people already use. This is the main component of Obamacare: increasing access to health insurance. Obamacare is HELPING people get insurance by providing cheaper options, offering subsidies and expanding Medicaid coverage. BIG DIFFERENCE. Last time I checked, being able to have health insurance is a good thing.
If that isn't bad enough, the fact that they made this ad focus on the annual exam is so twisted. They are deliberately playing into the confusion surrounding forced restrictions on women's health to make it seem like Obamacare is the one mandating all these impositions. It's actually pretty ironic as Ilyse Hogue, President of NARAL sums up perfectly, "This ad is brought to you by the same people who force Uncle Sam between our legs when it comes to reproductive health. It's un-American to mandate forced ultrasounds, restrict abortion care, and deny contraception coverage while trying to trick students into forgoing Obamacare, which will help them get preventative care and end gender discrimination in insurance coverage."
Listen, I know Obamacare isn't perfect. Health insurance is still going to be expensive, and mandating health insurance is going to feel like a burden for some people and businesses. But the truth of the matter is that our healthcare system is broken. We spend far more on healthcare costs than any other developed country and we are embedded in an employer based health insurance system that makes our health benefits tied to market successes, while also leaving out large segments of the population who work part time, don't work, are retired, students or self-employed. For the time being, Obamacare is the best option we have to start trying to fix our broken system.
It is time for health care in the United States to be seen as a human right, and not a privilege. In 2012, 84 million people in the United States were uninsured or underinsured. How can we call the United States one of the greatest nations on Earth, if we fail to provide a basic human right to so many of our citizens? The fact that starting January 1st, 2014 millions of people will be able to access health insurance and then go to the doctor and access necessary health care is amazing. So Creepy Uncle Sam, you may have your scare tactics but that doesn't deter my excitement and optimism for Obamacare. I cannot wait to celebrate the day someone tells me that it's their first time at the clinic because they now have health insurance thanks to Obamacare. What a wonderful thing!
