Nurses laid off - Thanks to Obamacare

morte, LPN, LVN · Aug 2, 2013

Thanks, Muno, I'm not tuned into the names, but I knew it was earlier....

The EMR requirement which they claim is causing them to lay off staff is actually from the HiTECH act, not Obamacare (ACA), and was developed under the Bush administration. I find it very hard to believe that any hospital or healthcare related company doesn't know the difference between the HiTECH act and the ACA.

22gawhitacre · Aug 2, 2013

You mean the sequester that was Obama's idea? How many votes did Obama's budget get in the Senate? That's what I thought.

I am embarrassed to say that I live in NC. The bottom of the barrel theses days. The Rep gov is the one that turned down the Medicaid money and now has all but shut down the abortion facilities. It is not ACA that has gotten this state and this country in trouble. It is the seemingly never ending sequester that is still going on because Congress would rather "beat" Obama than actually rub one or two brain cells together. I ost my job as a teacher here in NC a few years ago because I was over educated. I certainly would have lost my job this year if I had stayed.
49th in the country for education, yet we have some of the top universities in the country. I guess they don't want NC students to be able to go. I guess they would rather have the (higher) out of state tuition (now they don't have to worry about these kids voting in our state anymore, either). SO messed up and it has nothing to do with Obama. The cuts made at our facility are all b/c of a rep gov and a rep state congress.

22gawhitacre · Aug 2, 2013

same time an Obama phone, union bailouts, and the long list of other freebies that democrats love to champion.

Wow, since when has a dishwasher become an entitlement? I'm technically in the "elderly" category washing dishes by hand isn't a big deal. It wasn't that long ago that no one had dishwashers and we all survived quite nicely.

monkeybug · Aug 2, 2013

So, President Obama disapproves of himself? He said he likes the term Obamacare and is fine with its use. Or did you miss that?
I am sick of the nasty, dismissive attitude people who are opposed to the ACA get around here. Posters here accused the OP of having no critical thinking skills, and then when she quoted the article where the health system openly and directly stated that ACA is part of the reason for the layoffs, all she got were more dismissive comments.
If you all are the "tolerant" crowd, I'd hate to see the mean ones.

Applause, applause!! :up: I'm sick and tired of the comments about sheep, Faux News, and thinking skills. I'm an intelligent, informed adult. I am not a registered Republican, I consider myself more of a libertarian. Most of my news intake is from NPR. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, I might turn on Fox News once every 3 weeks (and I watch CNN as much as I watch Fox). Honestly, All Things Considered and Morning Addition on NPR provide me with most of my information. And I despise and detest Obama, his grandstanding hypocritical wife ("I'm a single mom." "I've never been proud of this country.") and their friends. Eric Holder is basically a criminal, and Bill Ayers definitely is. I have very specific objections to the Affordable Care Act. But instead of respecting my right to disagree, I'm sure I would be lumped in with the rest of the sheep because I don't bow at the very mention of his name. And it's not a racial issue, I hate Joe Biden as much as I hate Obama. I think the ACA is a terrible thing, and I think it will really harm this country, and I'm not stupid or mindless just because I think this.

Mulan · Aug 2, 2013

Very few landlords around here will fix a dishwasher or a washer/dryer; they are considered non-essential items and the tenant is responsible for maint. When my dishwasher broke, I had to go without one for two months until I could afford to go buy a new one. It's called life...

Warning: off topic

I guess that depends what state you're in.

How about being responsible (as a landlord) for some idiot putting too much detergent in the dishwasher? Guess who got the bill for that service call?

Or the other idiot that thought the washing machine was making too much noise. Nothing at all wrong with the machine. Guess who got the bill for that service call?

It wasn't the tenant.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Aug 2, 2013

Right, because who would ever imagine that starting a thread about a hot button political issue could possibly lead to dissenting opinions. "Thanks to Obamacare" is a deliberately provocative way of titling the thread.
People are dismissive of all the claims that nurses are being laid off due to Obamacare because it's a claim that's obvious propaganda.
I seem to recall the job market for nurses slowing down long before Obama was in office. These layoffs would have happened anyway. Of course the company is siting Obamacare as a reason. They'd site the price of silver in France as a reason if they thought they could get away with it. They're just trying to shift the attention.

Nothing relevant to the topic, I just want to point out I meant "cite", not "site" in this post. (I'm beyond the edit threshold, I guess)

BrandonLPN, LPN · Aug 2, 2013

Applause, applause!! I'm sick and tired of the comments about sheep, Faux News, and thinking skills. I'm an intelligent, informed adult. I am not a registered Republican, I consider myself more of a libertarian. Most of my news intake is from NPR. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, I might turn on Fox News once every 3 weeks (and I watch CNN as much as I watch Fox). Honestly, All Things Considered and Morning Addition on NPR provide me with most of my information. And I despise and detest Obama, his grandstanding hypocritical wife ("I'm a single mom." "I've never been proud of this country.") and their friends. Eric Holder is basically a criminal, and Bill Ayers definitely is. I have very specific objections to the Affordable Care Act. But instead of respecting my right to disagree, I'm sure I would be lumped in with the rest of the sheep because I don't bow at the very mention of his name. And it's not a racial issue, I hate Joe Biden as much as I hate Obama. I think the ACA is a terrible thing, and I think it will really harm this country, and I'm not stupid or mindless just because I think this.

Ok, I don't particularly care about Michele Obama one way or the other, but I really, really wish people would just forget about the whole "Proud of my country, for the first time in my life" quote.

For the love of Pete, all it was was an awkward turn of a phrase. Ever make a comment and then immediately have to say, "I didn't mean that the way it came out"? We've all had those moments. Mrs Obama simply had one on the national stage. The woman was just trying to express how far the country has come in electing a black president. It just came out weird. She has clarified her self so many times. It's a non-issue.

I mean, dear lord, if we're going to hold people to the literal meanings of unintentional verbal gaffes, what to make of Sarah Palin?

If you're focusing your energy on stuff like this, I'd say you're just putty in the hands of the low brow mainstream media.

Or maybe I missed NPR's trenchant, insightful analysis of how Michele Obama hates America.

highwaygirl · Aug 2, 2013

I was a journalist for 10 years earlier in my work life, and that news article that was quoted is basically just a press release from the company. If anyone was lacking critical thinking skills it was the journalist who has their byline on the article. They really dropped the ball when it comes to the many, many followup questions that should have been asked.

That said, as someone who had the bad luck to be diagnosed with lymphoma while uninsured, I am in favor of Obamacare. One of the reasons I'm going to nursing school is because I want to support low-income and underserved populations in accessing health care. I was 26 years old when I was diagnosed in 1996. I was between jobs (I had moved from VA to NC because I got engaged) and I had made the mistake of not electing COBRA coverage when I left my job in VA. I simply could not afford the premiums.

However ... I don't think I deserved to die from cancer just because I didn't have health insurance. But I would have, if not for a county social services program that paid for my chemo and radiation treatments.

I don't want to live in the society that allows that. I refuse to believe that the United States is "that" country, and once I'm licensed I plan on advocating, lobbying, and just generally being LOUD about how critical it is that we take basic care of our citizens. Even if they're poor. Even if they're unemployed.

I don't think people deserve to die just because they don't have health insurance.

I have no idea if Obamacare is ultimately going to work, how much it will really cost, or if it will benefit citizens in the long run. But I bet people were saying these same things, and asking these same questions, when Medicare was enacted in 1965.

Sometimes, you just have to try something new. Health care in the United States doesn't work. We spend more money than other industrialized countries, but have worse outcomes. Something is wrong. I don't know if Obamacare is the fix that is going to make things right, but I think we need to give it a shot.

VICEDRN, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2013

Agree that its just scape goating the ACA. A local hospital here just went on a hiring freeze since they projected a $50 million shortfall next fiscal year due to fewer payments for chemotherapy that was billed as inpatient but reimbursed as outpatient. Well, ummm...that kind of makes sense to me. If can be done outpatient, why bill as though inpatient and the hospital is plenty wealthy enough as it is.

allnurses Guide · Aug 2, 2013

Applause, applause!! I'm sick and tired of the comments about sheep, Faux News, and thinking skills. I'm an intelligent, informed adult. I am not a registered Republican, I consider myself more of a libertarian. Most of my news intake is from NPR. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, I might turn on Fox News once every 3 weeks (and I watch CNN as much as I watch Fox). Honestly, All Things Considered and Morning Addition on NPR provide me with most of my information. And I despise and detest Obama, his grandstanding hypocritical wife ("I'm a single mom." "I've never been proud of this country.") and their friends. Eric Holder is basically a criminal, and Bill Ayers definitely is. I have very specific objections to the Affordable Care Act. But instead of respecting my right to disagree, I'm sure I would be lumped in with the rest of the sheep because I don't bow at the very mention of his name. And it's not a racial issue, I hate Joe Biden as much as I hate Obama. I think the ACA is a terrible thing, and I think it will really harm this country, and I'm not stupid or mindless just because I think this.

What are you specific objections?

anothergrumpyoldRN · Aug 2, 2013

Applause, applause!! I'm sick and tired of the comments about sheep, Faux News, and thinking skills. I'm an intelligent, informed adult. I am not a registered Republican, I consider myself more of a libertarian. Most of my news intake is from NPR. I don't listen to Rush Limbaugh, I might turn on Fox News once every 3 weeks (and I watch CNN as much as I watch Fox). Honestly, All Things Considered and Morning Addition on NPR provide me with most of my information. And I despise and detest Obama, his grandstanding hypocritical wife ("I'm a single mom." "I've never been proud of this country.") and their friends. Eric Holder is basically a criminal, and Bill Ayers definitely is. I have very specific objections to the Affordable Care Act. But instead of respecting my right to disagree, I'm sure I would be lumped in with the rest of the sheep because I don't bow at the very mention of his name. And it's not a racial issue, I hate Joe Biden as much as I hate Obama. I think the ACA is a terrible thing, and I think it will really harm this country, and I'm not stupid or mindless just because I think this.

Most of us don't really care how you educate yourself about issues unless you come spouting the poorly though out rhetoric of the parties and the party mouthpiece Fox News.

It is interesting that a well informed citizen actually "hates" our political leaders personally.

"Hate" is typically an emotional response that implies fear or a sense of injury. I wonder, have you hated other presidents?

I just spent a week with my brother from Michigan who is also, oddly, a voting republican that leans more libertarian. He is a fan of Ron but not Rand Paul. He certainly does not like this president, didn't like the last one either. He does not hate the man or the woman associated with this office...

Hate is sort of a personal touch to put on a political discussion.

Tinker88 · Aug 3, 2013

Politicians are just puppets taking orders from the big guys.