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Here is a video about different perspectives.

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Same Situation, Different Perspective: Where they come from

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Social awareness is the ability to comprehend and appropriately react to both broad problems of society and interpersonal struggles.

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The White House reports that

President Biden to Sign Executive Orders Strengthening Americans’ Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care.

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President Biden is looking

to shore up Affordable Care Act after Trump assault on health law.

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This story is part of "America in Transition," a series of in-depth reports on key parts of Donald Trump's legacy, Joe Biden's plans for change and what's at stake for all Americans. It airs weekly on ABC News Live Prime at 7 p.m. ET.
A decade after famously heralding Obamacare as a "big f---ing deal," Joe Biden is preparing an ambitious rescue mission for the landmark health law that Donald Trump spent four years trying to tear down.

Health care advocates familiar with Biden's plans expect steps to shore up the Affordable Care Act will be included in the COVID relief bills that are the new administration's first legislative priority.

A sweeping $1.9 trillion proposal Biden unveiled Thursday includes increased premium tax credits for those purchasing health insurance on the ACA marketplace and a cap on premiums for eligible Americans at no more than 8.5% of their income.

The Biden team says the provisions would reduce premiums for more than 10 million and boost insurance enrollment nationwide.

Millions of Americans who lost employer-based health coverage in the recession have turned to the ACA since the pandemic began. Millions more still have no insurance at all.

"This is the first recession where the ACA is in place as a safety net for people who find themselves unemployed and without health insurance," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

"We've seen an increase in people coming to the ACA exchanges as they lose their jobs. We've also seen big increases in Medicaid, which is part of that ACA safety net," Levitt told ABC News Live.

Unable to fully repeal the law, President Donald Trump has led an administrative assault on key provisions, gutting outreach programs to boost enrollment, cutting incentives for participating insurers and expanding waivers for states to opt-out of coverage requirements.

Trump also joined a coalition of 20 Republican-led states late last year asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law, in the middle of a pandemic, even without an alternative in place. A ruling is expected this spring.

"I think the odds that they're going to strike it down are low. That's based on close analysis of the briefing in the case. But a low chance is not a zero chance," said Nicholas Bagley, a professor and expert in health law at the University of Michigan Law School.

Democratic control of Congress and the White House all but ensures the law can survive in some form, regardless of how the court rules.

The president-elect has proposed a massive expansion of ACA coverage, including more financial help for people buying plans on HealthCare.gov; wider access to Medicaid; and creation of a so-called public option health plan that any American could buy into.

Biden has said his top priority is confronting the coronavirus pandemic and recession, vowing 100 million vaccine doses distributed in his first 100 days along with billions of dollars in fresh economic stimulus. More generous marketplace subsidies and resources to bolster ACA enrollment are potential steps that could be included in the legislation, sources said.

Amanda Bowen of Goffstown, New Hampshire, a type 1 diabetic, divorced mother of two and Medicaid recipient, said bolstering the ACA after years of neglect is a matter of life or death for her.

"Without that, I wouldn't be here today. There is no way I could afford it. There's no way," she said of the prescription insulin she needs to survive.

On the very day Biden was declared winner of the 2020 election in November, Bowen's health care financial crisis took a turn. She was hit by a car while riding her bike and just days after that got hit with COVID-19.

"The driver that hit me was uninsured, so that brings a whole other thing that I have to try to figure out financially," Bowen told ABC News Live. "I've gotten a bill from the ambulance. It was $1,200 for the not-even-a-mile-long drive to the hospital."

The divorced mother of two makes less than $1,300 a month as a freelance designer.

"Income cannot limitate (sic) health care. And that's where I'm stuck now," she said.

Millions of Americans feel stuck in a health system in crisis with preventive care and elective surgeries sidelined by the virus, drug prices soaring, and vaccination and testing programs faltering nationwide.

"I'm absolutely convinced that, in 100 days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better," Biden said in a speech on his health plan late last year.

Christine Callahan of Ohio, a political independent, said she is encouraged by discussion of an insurance option not tied to employment.

"The Republicans in Congress said for years, 'we're gonna have a better plan. We'll put a better plan in place when we're in power.' And then they were in power, and they have done nothing to replace, to improve the ACA," Callahan said.

Her 13-year-old son Andrew, who has an undiagnosed genetic condition, requires $7,000 a month in medical care. She says she believes a public option could be a big step forward.

"I'd love to be in the days where I could raise chickens in my backyard and go to the doctor and exchange a chicken for our health care. We are so far past that that there is there is no option to do this on your own unless you are, you know, in that one percent," she said.

Creation of a public option health plan is not among Biden's first legislative priorities and does face strong opposition from Republicans and some moderates; but, it is considered potentially achievable in his first term.

"A public option is interesting because that has definitely become the more moderate option within the Democratic Party. That does seem like it has a chance to pass the Senate," said Nathaniel Rakich, an elections analyst with FiveThirtyEight. "It's going to come down to some of these more moderate senators like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine."

But first, sources close to Biden said the new president will use executive authority to roll back key parts of Trump's health care legacy: restoring protections for transgender people in health care; limiting exemptions to contraceptive coverage for women; and, curbing waivers for states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

Not all of the regulatory changes will be quick or easy, including a move to reverse Trump's effective ban on Title X taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood.

"When you want to get rid of a rule, you've got to go through a pretty cumbersome -- they call it notice and comment process," said Bagley. "That process will often take more than a year, so for the big-ticket regulations -- sometimes it's gonna take a little bit of time."

Bowen said, despite political upheaval and a health system in crisis, she's optimistic about the months ahead.

"I think we'll see within the next year or so that we will have traction towards universal health care by starting with Medicaid expansion, making that available to the general public," she said. "Whether or not (Congress and the president) will, that's something else altogether, but they will have the ability to do this now."

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Joe Biden to shore up Affordable Care Act after Trump assault on health law

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This story is part of "America in Transition," a series of in-depth reports on key parts of Donald Trump's legacy, Joe Biden's plans for change and what's at stake for all Americans. It airs weekly on ABC News Live Prime at 7 p.m. ET.

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When will President Biden

ask the Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare?

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when will biden ask the supreme court to uphold obamacare?  - cnnpolitics

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When will Biden ask the Supreme Court to uphold Obamacare?

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President Joe Biden has been in office for less than two weeks, but a looming question is when, not whether, his Justice Department will change the federal government's position before the Supreme Court on the Affordable Care Act.

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President Biden’s Healthcare Agenda In 2021 is Shoring Up The Affordable Care Act

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President Joe Biden signs executive actions in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, ... [+]
© 2021 Bloomberg Finance LP

On Thursday, January 28th, President Biden signed an executive order that will direct the federal government to open a special enrollment period from February 15 to May 15 for Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges that serve 36 states. This measure is designed to boost coverage for people who are uninsured. Several of the 14 states which manage their own marketplaces had already reopened enrollment.

It's unclear how meaningful the measure will turn out to be. Last year, when a number of states ran an extra enrollment period, numbers of new sign-ups were fairly modest.

However, the executive order does tie into what will presumably be the focus of the Biden Administration early on; shoring up the ACA.

For those hoping for a radical overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system - Medicare for All, for example - they're not going to be that enthusiastic about the Biden Administration's proposals. Nevertheless, instrumental changes to public programs, including the ACA, Medicare, and public health, are in the offing.

With the Democrats in (narrow) control of the House and Senate, Biden may be able to pursue key items contained in his healthcare agenda. The key pillars of Biden's healthcare roadmap include:

Fortifying the ACA, which includes augmenting the law with a public option;

Expanding ACA for lower-income Americans in non-Medicaid expansion states;

Introducing legislation on Medicare for More;

Revitalizing public health.

Here, the common theme is improving people's access to health insurance. In a survey conducted in 2019, nearly 75% of the approximately 30 million uninsured cited the high cost of health insurance as the main barrier to obtaining coverage. This problem has been further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of an economic implosion in 2020, the number of uninsured has risen. The Commonwealth Fund estimated that as many as 15 million people may have lost employer-sponsored health coverage. Some will have found alternate coverage through another job, Medicaid, a state insurance exchange, or the federal ACA marketplace.

Notably, a second item in the executive order on establishing a special open enrollment period is the resumption of federal funding for advertising and outreach. The Trump Administration had cut such funding. With increased advertising more unemployed people will likely seek alternate coverage on the federal ACA exchange.

However, what Biden has proposed but cannot do by way of executive order is reinforce the ACA. For example, during the campaign Biden proposed a cap on marketplace premiums at 8.5% at all income levels. This could be a game-changer in terms of spurring enrollment. Yet, it would have to go through a legislative process. Likewise, Congress would have to pass proposals to increase the size of premium tax credits, eliminate the 400% of federal poverty level cap on tax credit eligibility, and reduce deductibles and co-payments for subsidized beneficiaries.

It's probable that Biden will want to bring back the penalty attached to the ACA's individual mandate, requiring people to have health insurance, reversing its elimination as part of the December 2017 Tax Cut legislation. Biden has said he would like to reinstate the penalty for not being covered. While he might do this through issuing an executive order, alternatively Congress could amend the legislation to reinsert the penalty into the existing ACA law.

During the campaign, the Biden team emphasized what it perceived as the need to strengthen the ACA with a public option. Here, Americans would have a choice of signing up for a "Medicare-like" plan or maintaining their private coverage. Anyone without insurance could be automatically enrolled. The public option could serve as an affordable option for individuals who are unable to obtain private coverage or aren't satisfied with their current insurance. Details haven't yet emerged on the costs of adding a public option, how much such plans would reimburse hospitals and healthcare providers, and whether hospitals and physicians would be required to accept all patients with public option coverage.

At the same time, Biden has proposed a substantial expansion to ACA, specifically adding approximately five million people living in the 14 states that decided not to expand Medicaid. These are mostly individuals who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid, but too little to afford their own insurance.

And then there's Biden's Medicare for More proposal, which aims to expand Medicare by lowering the age of eligibility to 60. It's estimated that approximately 20 million more Americans would be eligible for Medicare. Enrolling in Medicare between the ages of 60 and 64 would be voluntary. Employers would be prohibited from dropping newly Medicare-eligible persons from their plans. Premium and cost-sharing subsidies would be offered to lower-income beneficiaries.

Ideally, adding relatively healthy, younger people to Medicare's risk pool would reduce per capita costs in the Medicare program. Correspondingly, removing some middle-aged adults from marketplace risk pools could make health insurance more affordable for younger adults.

As a backdrop to changes that are hoped to yield more equitable access to healthcare coverage, the Biden Administration has also made it clear it will prioritize public health. This is partly in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, as part of the recovery plan unveiled by then President-elect Biden in mid-January, 100,000 public health workers would do vaccine outreach. But, more importantly, the Administration is aiming for improved sustainability of public health moving forward; a revitalization of a neglected area of healthcare.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused U.S. life expectancy to plummet by 1.3 years in 2020. And, the long-term trend for life expectancy in the U.S. has been dismal for quite some time.

The Biden Administration looks to improve pandemic preparedness, and at the same time ameliorate socioeconomic determinants of health, such as nutrition, education, housing, and certain social supports.

All these healthcare reforms won't be cheap. The total cost of Biden's proposal is estimated to be $750 billion over the next 10 years, which would be paid for by repealing tax cuts for the wealthy and raising the top income tax rate to its previous level of 39.6%. With a newly austere Republican Party, costs could prove to be a major stumbling block. Even a number of conservative Democrats may balk at the price tag.

It remains to be seen how much the Biden Administration is willing to forge a compromise to reach a deal. Regardless, revamping the healthcare system - ACA and public health, in particular - will be a priority of the new Administration in 2021.

... Read More

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Biden's Healthcare Agenda In 2021: Shoring Up The Affordable Care Act

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For those hoping for a radical overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system - Medicare for All, for example - there's not going to be much enthusiasm about the Biden Administration's proposals. But, instrumental changes to public programs, including the ACA, Medicare, and public health are in the offing.

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President Biden

signs order to reopen Obamacare in 2 weeks.

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President Joe Biden signed a package of health care-related executive orders on Thursday that, among other initiatives, will reopen HealthCare.gov for a special, three-month enrollment period starting on Feb. 15.

That means Americans without health insurance have a chance to check out their state's health insurance marketplace options offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, outside the normal Nov. 1 through Dec. 15 period. This can offer many Americans, particularly those who have dealt with unemployment amid the Covid-19 pandemic, another chance to get insurance. About 28.9 million nonelderly Americans were uninsured in 2019, the latest data available.

Although losing job-based health insurance qualifies you for a special enrollment period (even if you quit or get fired), it's only available for about 60 days, and many people don't sign up in time. It's estimated that about 7.7 million workers lost their employer-sponsored health insurance due to the pandemic as of June 2020, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Including dependents, about 14.6 million people were affected.

The latest special enrollment period also presents a chance for those on a Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) health insurance plan to find a cheaper option. While employers cover about 82% of the plan costs for individuals and 71% for families, those on COBRA carry the total cost themselves, plus a 2% administrative fee.

Meanwhile, the national average premium for a silver level, or benchmark, marketplace plan in 2021 is $452 a month, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That does not include any subsidies that can be applied to lower the cost, which about 85% of Americans are eligible to receive.

Although a marketplace plan may be less expensive than COBRA, it still may not be cheap. Consumers should go in with realistic expectations. If you're making $20,000, you may be able to get pretty cheap insurance since the savings you may be eligible for are based on your income. But if you're single and making $40,000, it's going to cost more - at least a few hundred dollars, says Carolyn McClanahan, a Florida-based financial planner and physician.

Yet going without health insurance, even if you're generally healthy, can be a big gamble. "The problem is, if you don't have insurance, you might be able to piece together some care through free clinics. But generally, you're not going to get great care," McClanahan says.

For those interested in the special enrollment period starting in about two weeks, here's a rundown on where to start and what to consider before enrolling.

If you're not sure where to start, check out HealthCare.gov in the coming weeks. Biden's executive order directs federal agencies to re-examine any policies that could make it more difficult for people to enroll in Medicaid or the HealthCare.gov insurance plans.

"From what I saw... they're going to start ramping up all the resources for people," McClanahan says. It looks like the Biden administration is going to put a huge amount of funding toward hiring people to provide assistance and to educate the public, she adds.

In order to promote the special enrollment period and provide more information, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will participate in a paid advertising campaign, as well as "direct outreach" to consumers that will be available in English, Spanish and other languages, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Consumers will be able to apply for new coverage or update an existing application through HealthCare.gov, the Marketplace call center or direct enrollment channels such as state-based marketplaces.

Before signing up for any plan, it's crucial to understand what your annual income is - the exact amount, not a ballpark. How much you make directly impacts whether or not you're eligible for subsidies to reduce the cost of your insurance.

Too often, people don't know exactly how much they'll make in a year. But if they apply and qualify for a subsidy and then end up making more, they'll owe some of that subsidy back, McClanahan says.

There are two types of subsidies: a premium tax credit and cost-sharing subsidies. The tax credit is available to those who buy a marketplace plan and earn a household income between 100% and 400% of the poverty level. In most states, the federal poverty level was $12,760 for an individual last year, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Those who qualify for the tax credit pay up to just under 10% of their income toward a silver plan. The federal government covers the rest, either on a monthly basis or as a lump sum tax credit. These credits can be applied to any level of plan: bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

But the way the tax credit is currently calculated, if you hit one dollar over 400% of the poverty level, you lose the entire credit, so it's important to know exactly where you stand before you enroll.

In addition to the tax credit, some consumers may also qualify for a cost-sharing subsidies. These are only available to those who make between 100% and 250% of the poverty level and sign up for a silver level plan. To help determine how much you may pay and what subsidies you may be eligible for, Kaiser has a helpful calculator.

"There are a large number of people who qualify for subsidies and don't know it and can get really cheap health insurance," McClanahan says. In 2018, 50% of the uninsured population qualified for Medicaid or subsidies and didn't know it or didn't sign up, according to research published last year. That was about 15 million people then and McClanahan says she believes that number is even greater today.

Depending on your situation and where you live, you may qualify for Medicaid. This is a program that provides health coverage for low-income families and children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities.

In some states, Medicaid is available for all adults under a certain income threshold. To see if you qualify, HealthCare.gov has a calculator where you can plug in your home state, family size and income level.

"People who have zero income for the year are not going to qualify for subsidies because normally they would be put on Medicaid," McClanahan says.

In general, it's worth spending the time to really understand your health insurance options and sign up for a plan, McClanahan says. "Even if you have to pay a couple hundred bucks, it's a lot cheaper than having an emergency and not really having any resources to get the care," she says.
Check out: 66% of Americans fear they won't be able to afford health care this year
Don't miss: Here are the 5 best personal loans of December 2020

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Biden signs order to reopen Obamacare in 2 weeks-here's what you need to know

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President Joe Biden signed a package of health care-related executive orders on Thursday that, among other initiatives, will reopen HealthCare.gov for a special, three-month enrollment period starting on Feb. 15. That means Americans without health insurance have a chance to check out their state's health insurance marketplace options offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, outside the normal Nov.

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Sen. Ted Cruz scrambles the stats of Obamacare.

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Senators examining Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court heard a wildly inaccurate statement from one of their own Wednesday about how much health insurance premiums have risen since the inception of " Obamacare "

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas scrambled the statistics on premium costs and took an errant swing at insurance company profits as he inveighed against the "catastrophic failure of Obamacare."

Republicans are on defense over the Affordable Care Act - or Obamacare - because the Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the 2010 law in its entirety. Obamacare provides coverage to more than 20 million people and protects those with preexisting medical conditions from being denied an individual policy, or charged more.

From the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Barrett's nomination:

CRUZ: "Obamacare has doubled the profits of the big health insurance companies, doubled them. Obamacare has been great corporate welfare for giant health insurance companies at the same time, according to the Kaiser foundation, premiums - average families' premiums - have risen more than - have risen $7,967 per year on average. That is catastrophic that millions of Americans can't afford health care. It is a catastrophic failure of Obamacare."

THE FACTS: No, family premiums for health insurance have not risen by $7,967 per year, as Cruz asserted. Nowhere close.

That figure comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation but it captures the increase over 11 years - 2009 to 2020 - not per year, as Cruz put it. In addition, the figure applies to the cost of premiums for employer-provided coverage, not for Obamacare or for health insurance overall. Employer coverage is in a totally different health insurance bucket from Obamacare.

Kaiser's Larry Levitt says the cost of employer coverage wasn't much affected by the ACA and "the increase in premiums is largely due to changes in underlying health care costs over this period."

Obamacare premiums for a standard "silver" individual plan purchased by a hypothetical 40-year-old went up from an average of $273 a month nationally in 2014, to $462 this year.

Levitt said there's not a clear equivalent for a family premium in the ACA marketplaces; what a family pays is the sum of each member's individual premiums.

Cruz's take on insurer profits also missed the mark.

Some major insurers lost money for a time selling Obamacare coverage, and several companies exited the health law's markets. The ACA actually has a provision that in effect limits insurer profits, requiring consumer rebates if companies spent less than 80% of the money they collected from premiums on health care bills and quality improvement.

EDITOR'S NOTE - A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apnews.com/APFactCheck

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck

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AP FACT CHECK: Sen. Cruz scrambles the stats on Obamacare

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Senators examining Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court heard a wildly inaccurate statement from one of their own Wednesday about how much health insurance premiums have risen since the inception of " Obamacare " Republican Sen.

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The Supreme Court is deciding the future of Obamacare as conservatives lead majority.

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When the Supreme Court weighs the fate of " Obamacare " arguments will revolve around arcane points of law like severability - whether the justices can surgically snip out part of the law and leave the rest.

But what's at stake has real-world consequences for just about every American, as well as the health care industry, a major source of jobs and tax revenues. Whether the Affordable Care Act stays, goes, or is significantly changed, will affect the way life is lived in the U.S.

The argument against the law from the Trump administration and conservative states is that the 10-year-old statute was rendered unconstitutional in its entirety when Congress dialed down to zero a penalty on those remaining uninsured. The court has shifted solidly to the political right under President Donald Trump Here's a look at some of what's at stake if the opponents of the law prevail:

COVID-19 A NEW PRE-EXISTING CONDITION

Before the ACA, insurers could turn a person down for an individual policy, or charge them more, based on their medical history. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about 54 million working-age adults have health issues that would have made them "uninsurable" before former President Barack Obama's signature law.

Tens of millions more have issues that could have led to higher premiums. Female gender was one, as insurers routinely charged women more.

COVID-19 would become America's newest pre-existing condition, for more than 10 million people who have tested positive so far.

Under the ACA, a coronavirus case cannot be used to deny someone coverage or charge them more. If Obamacare is gone, that becomes a real question.

Trump promised to always protect people with preexisting conditions, but never said how he'd do it.

COVERAGE FOR MORE THAN 20 MILLION

The ACA's two main programs for covering uninsured people would be wiped out if the law is overturned, leaving more than 20 million people uninsured unless a divided Congress can put a new safety net in place.

About 12 million low-income people are covered through the health law's Medicaid expansion, now available in most states. Most of them are adults working in jobs that don't pay all that much, and don't come with health insurance. Some have lost jobs in businesses like hotels, restaurants, and movie theaters, which continue to struggle because of the pandemic.

Another group, more than 11 million people, has private coverage purchased through taxpayer-subsidized private markets such as HealthCare.gov

That's also in jeopardy.

Most American women now pay nothing out of their own pockets for birth control. That's covered as a preventive service, free of charge to the patient, under the ACA.

Many other services, from colonoscopies to flu shots, are also free.

If people again face copays for routine preventive care, that may discourage some to go for tests shown to detect diseases like cancer at early stages when they are easier to treat.

"Obamacare" took the first major steps to close Medicare's unpopular "doughnut hole," a coverage gap that used to leave seniors on the hook for hundreds of dollars in prescriptions drug costs. Congress later accelerated the timetable.

Repealing the ACA would mean the return of the coverage gap, sure to infuriate older voters, many of whom say their medications still cost too much.

That's just one of many potential consequences to Medicare. The ACA slowed payments to hospitals and insurers to extend the life of the Medicare trust fund.

One of the earliest benefits to take effect after the passage of "Obamacare" was a requirement that insurers allow young adults to stay on a parent's plan until they turned 26.

That provided a longer economic runway for millions of young adults, who back then were struggling with the lingering effects of the Great Recession. Nowadays it's the consequences of the coronavirus economy.

Before the ACA's coverage extension, insurers routinely cut off young adults upon graduation.

"Obamacare" raised taxes on upper income individuals to help finance its coverage expansion.

If the entire law is repealed, that would deliver a tax cut to well-to-do people, many of whom have escaped the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic because stock market investors have continued to do well.

Passing the 900-page-plus ACA was a political challenge that took more than a year at a time when Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers in Congress.

Putting together a replacement under a divided government would be the ultimate political puzzle. Neither Democrats nor Republicans agree even within their own ranks what that should look like.

President-elect Joe Biden would build on the ACA by improving it and adding a new public health insurance option. But party liberals want a government-run system for all Americans, including the 160 million covered through employer plans.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, want to scale back the government's support for health care. They would make deep cuts to Medicaid financing, and leave the ACA's insurance markets as a state option. Protections for people with pre-existing conditions could be eroded under new rules.

Trump once famously said, "nobody knew health care could be so complicated." That was in 2017, when he and a Republican-controlled Congress harbored hopes they could "repeal and replace" the ACA.

It didn't happen then because Republicans could never agree on what a replacement would look like.

Fast forward to 2020. Health care has only gotten more complicated.

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Supreme Court to decide future of Obamacare

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When the Supreme Court weighs the fate of " Obamacare " arguments will revolve around arcane points of law like severability - whether the justices can surgically snip out part of the law and leave the rest.

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Ms. Barret

duels with Democrats on Obamacare, abortion, guns, and more in second day of SCOTUS hearings.

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"I want to begin by making two very important points, and they have to do with the [2010 health care law known as Obamacare] and with any election dispute that may or may not arise," she said during an exchange with Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois.

"I have had no conversation with the president or any of his staff on how I might rule in that case."

Mr Trump has vowed on numerous occasions over the last several years that he would only appoint judicial nominees who would roll back Obamacare and Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 decision guaranteeing women's abortion rights.

Ms Barrett answered questions in 30-minute rounds from senators on the Judiciary Committee on Day Two of her confirmation hearings after Mr Trump nominated her last month to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the progressive icon who died of cancer after serving for 27 years on the high court.

Ms Barrett would be Mr Trump's third selection to serve on the Supreme Court. If she is confirmed, the nine-justice court would have a 6-3 conservative majority.

A Notre Dame Law School professor who has served on the US Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals since 2017, Ms Barrett defended herself as a constitutional "originalist" and largely declined to openly speculate on how she would rule in cases pertaining to hot-button political issues such as Obamacare, abortion rights, gun control and gay marriage.

When asked by California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein if she agreed with Justice Scalia, for whom she clerked, that Roe v Wade was wrongly decided, Ms Barrett invoked liberal Justice Elena Kagan's answers during her 2010 hearings that "the canons of judicial conduct would prohibit" her from expressing a view.

"If I express a view on a precedent one way or another ... it signals to litigants that I may tilt one way or another on a pending case," Ms Barrett said. "I can't pre-commit and say, yes, I'm going in with some agenda."

Ms Barrett added: "I don't have any agenda."

That answer set the tone for the rest of the day as Democrats tried to explain to viewers watching the hearing at home why they believe Ms Barrett would undercut progressive policy goals such as Obamacare and abortion rights.

Meanwhile, Republicans on the panel mostly lobbed softball questions to Ms Barrett about her constitutional originalism and applauded her for being a devout Catholic who has promised not to let her personal beliefs interfere with her legal decisions.

An 'illegitimate' hearing

The way Senate Democrats see it, they shouldn't even be having the hearings based on the Republican argument from 2016 that it's too close to a presidential election to fill a Supreme Court seat.

Millions of Americans have already cast early ballots they have argued, and the Senate should wait until the next president is seated to confirm a replacement for Justice Ginsburg.

Rifling through bullet-point cardboard slides on an easel on his desk, the Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse called out the hypocrisy of Republicans refusing to hold hearings for Barack Obama's Supreme Court appointee in 2016, Merrick Garland, because it was an election year and, as Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley said at the time, "the American people shouldn't be denied a voice."

Mr Obama nominated Mr Garland seven months before the 2016 election. Mr Trump, on the other hand, nominated Ms Barrett, whom Republicans are determined to confirm this year, seven weeks before the 2020 election.

"When you find hypocrisy in the daylight, look for power in the shadows," Mr Whitehouse said, before diving into a 30-minute presentation on how a quarter of a billion dollars in conservative dark money has helped Republicans reshape the federal judiciary during Mr Trump's presidency.

Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, who as recently as the fall of 2018 vowed Republicans would not seat a Supreme Court nominee during the 2020 election season, has said he is fulfilling his "constitutional" duty by following through with Ms Barrett's confirmation hearings.

A 2020 election conflict of interest

Ms Barrett repeatedly resisted Democratic pleas for her to commit to recusing herself from any Supreme Court decisions with a bearing on the 2020 election, as Mr Trump has made clear he plans to challenge the validity of the election results if he loses, based on an unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud.

A raft of statements by Republicans and the president have created the appearance of a conflict of interest around Ms Barrett's potential decision on any election disputes, Democrats have said.

"I think [the election] will end up in the Supreme Court," Mr Trump told reporters in September.

"I think it's very important that we have nine justices, and I think the system is going to go very quickly," Mr Trump said.

Mr Blumenthal and several other Democrats - most notably Senator Chris Coons of Delaware - have made the distinction this week that Ms Barrett, herself, has not done anything wrong.

"It's not anything you've done," Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said.

"They have indelibly put at issue your integrity through their statements. The president has said he's putting you on the court as a ninth justice so you can decide the election. He's been very clear and transparent," Mr Blumenthal said.

"It would be a dagger at the heart of the court and our democracy if this election is decided by the court instead of the voters."

Roe v Wade not a 'super precedent'

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota was one of the few senators on Tuesday to coax out comments from Ms Barrett that provide indications about how she views the Roe v Wade decision.

The 1973 Supreme Court abortion ruling does not meet the criteria of a "super precedent" and therefore is not settled law, she told Ms Klobuchar, signalling she believes a future court could theoretically overturn it.

"Roe is not a super precedent because calls for its over-ruling have never ceased," Ms Barrett said.

But, the judge clarified, that does not mean she would personally issue a decision overruling it.

"It just means that it doesn't fall on the small handful of cases like Marbury v Madison and Brown v. [The Board of Education] that no one questions anymore," Ms Barrett said, referring to the landmark court cases establishing the principle of judicial review and that racial segregation is unconstitutional.

Obamacare front and centre

Democrats continued to hammer Ms Barrett on Tuesday on her past statements pitting her against previous Supreme Court decisions upholding key Obamacare provisions.

While Republicans have argued the 2010 health care law does not pertain to Ms Barrett's Supreme Court nomination process, Democrats have said Republican statements and efforts to gut the law through the courts have made it the central topic.

On one of his slides, Mr Whitehouse presented a direct quote from the Republican party platform from 2016 and 2020 that read: "A Republican president will appoint judges ... who will reverse the long line of activist decisions - including Roe, Obergefell, & the Obamacare cases."

Roe v Wade is the landmark Supreme Court decision from 1973 that enshrined abortion rights for American women.

Obergefell v Hodges is the court's 2015 decision that guaranteed same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry in all 50 states.

The Supreme Court has ruled on several cases with implications on key provisions from the 2010 health care law commonly known as Obamacare.

Mr Whitehouse and other Democratic senators pointed to several other comments by the president promising to appoint federal judges - including Supreme Court justices - who would roll back Obamacare policies.

"That is the president's statement. So when we react to that, don't act as if we're making this stuff up. This is what President Trump said. This is what your party platform says: 'Reverse the Obamacare cases,'" Mr Whitehouse said.

Mr Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is in a closely contested re-election battle this November against Democratic state party Chairman Jaime Harrison, used his opening remarks on Tuesday to push back against Obamacare.

"All of you want to impose Obamacare in South Carolina - we don't want it," Mr Graham said. "We want South Carolina-care, not Obamacare."

The senator briefly sketched a plan for a state-by-state "block grant" for health care.

"And we would require pre-existing conditions to be covered as part of the block grant," Mr Graham said.

A return to decorum

While Ms Barrett spent the day parrying Democratic assaults on her legal record and the circumstances of her nomination, the hearing room never came close to erupting into the sort of partisan furore that marked the confirmation hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

"[I have] just one observation," Mr Graham said on Tuesday afternoon during a brief break between questions.

"Not one time has a senator and the judge talked over each other," commending senators on both sides of the aisle for asking "a lot of good questions."

Mr Graham added: "I hope the American people understand that this is the way it should be."

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Amy Coney Barrett duels with Democrats on Obamacare, abortion, guns, and more

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"I want to begin by making two very important points, and they have to do with the [2010 health care law known as Obamacare] and with any election dispute that may or may not arise," she said during an exchange with Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois.

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Whole Foods' CEO, says Americans would not need healthcare if they lived healthier lifestyles.

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News World Americas

Supermarket boss suggests people make better food choices to avoid medical intervention

Leer en Español

John Mackey, who heads the organic supermarket brand, said the "best solution" to healthcare was to alter how people ate and lived.

He went on to say that healthcare would not be needed if people were healthier, in an interview with Freakonomics Radio that was broadcast on 4 November, and was first reported on Monday by CNBC.

"I mean, honestly, we talk about health care. The best solution is not to need health care," Mr Mackey said. "The best solution is to change the way people eat, the way they live, the lifestyle, and diet.

"There's no reason why people shouldn't be healthy and have a longer health span. A bunch of drugs is not going to solve the problem."

Watch more

Mr Mackey, who as Whole Foods CEO removed healthcare coverage for the supermarket's part-time employees in 2019, said most Americans made "bad" health choices.

"71 per cent of Americans are overweight and 42.5 per cent are obese. Clearly, we're making bad choices in the way we eat," he said. "It's not a sustainable path. And so, I'm calling it out."

Mr Mackey has made similar remarks in the past, arguing in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in 2009 that "the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement".

The column, which was titled 'The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare ', said there should be "less government control and more individual empowerment" over health.

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The Trump administration has worked to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and around 15 million Americans have lost employer-based health insurance during the coronavirus pandemic.

The ACA, also known as Obamacare, has provided more than 8 million Americans with state-based support during the pandemic.

American social media users criticised Mr Mackey's remarks, with one person writing: "I've shopped at Whole Foods for over 10 years and have maintained a healthy diet during that time.

"I can confirm that while it helps me avoid allergens, it has not cured my progressive lung disease.

"Organic produce is not a substitute for supplemental oxygen."

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1/1 Whole Foods CEO says healthcare not needed if Americans improved diet

Whole Foods CEO says healthcare not needed if Americans improved diet

A Whole Foods supermarket in California

REUTERS

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Whole Foods CEO says Americans wouldn't need healthcare if they ate better

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News World Americas Supermarket boss suggests people make better food choices to avoid medical intervention Leer en Español John Mackey, who heads the organic supermarket brand, said the "best solution" to healthcare was to alter how people ate and lived.

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President Biden, is looking to reopen the Obamacare enrollment from Feb. 15 to May 15 amid COVID-19 Pandemic.