Obama health care law upheld.

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

No I believe this will suck for nurses. Hospitals will get less and less (already happening) for care provided, and therefore that means nursing jobs will still be hard to come by. Maybe there will be nursing job growth in areas outside the hospital, but I don't see hospitals hiring more nurses. Which sucks, because frankly, even to get a job in an outpatient setting, hospital experience is required.[/quote']
Absolutely. The majority of our pts are Medicaid or no insurance. Our hospital is already run on a shoestring. We barely scrape by.
The new policies will allow more people to get health care. A good thing for them. Less money to cover that expense. Bad for hospitals and nurses.
I refuse to watch the news today. Does anybody tell the truth anymore?

WannaBNursey, ADN, ASN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

BBC. I don't even bother with the American 24 hour news channels anymore.

MorganB · Jun 28, 2012

I think this is a major victory for the country. I of course know it poses many challenges, but the bottom line is, everyone has the right to recieve care. That being said I think it will challenge nurses and doctors alike to do more education, and focus more or prevention.

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Jun 28, 2012

YES!!! Thank you Mr. Obama and thank you Chief Justice Roberts. I think this ruling is the right thing to do for all Americans. Is one step to create a more humane and socialized health care in the United States. We can't let hospitals become profit centers led by greed instead of humane care. Hospitals don't like this ruling because they will now have to be more transparent and act more in the lines of the social "non profit status" that were given to them allowing them not to pay taxes. This non profit status was created in the 50 -60's as an incentive for hospitals which at the time had difficulties. Times have changed and now hospitals are managed like profit centers where patients are numbers and statistics to be manipulated with one objective only: to provide unlimited profits to it's CEO's and shareholders. Many hospitals are using sub-standard equipment and low quality medical aids; trying to cut pay from nurses in order to maximize their profits just as if they were in the business of making tires or selling potato ships. If this ruling goes forward we should see some changes as millions of Americans will be included in health care and nurses will play the larger part on this being hired again. Nurses unlike rich people spend their money benefiting the economy everywhere. This will revolutionize the health industry creating tens of thousands of jobs. Why is this bad? This will mean more competition and therefor a lowering of prices for everyone. This is only bad for those who want to create concentration of wealth and an exclusive economic atmosphere where a few participate and the many are unemployed.

Despareux · Jun 28, 2012

Not really sure how I feel about this health care law. So far, all the pros and cons are mostly theoretical and people are very concerned, at least that's how I would summarize the current situation.

malamud69, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

How can that be??? If there is more money available then there will be more to provide quality care. Don't you see that because the people at the top are so greedy is why you operate on a shoestring budget...its not because they have to they want to keep their pockets full. This is direct control by the corporate health insurance machine. How can you not see that???

Tragically Hip · Jun 28, 2012

I have PCIP insurance in Florida, the "high risk" pool that's available in over half the states. It became available here as an outgrowth of the ACA. Without it, I would have no insurance. Nothing. That's what I had for the eight months preceding the time I started on PCIP.

I'm starting nursing school. Would I even be allowed into a clinic without health insurance?

That's the selfish perspective. The real issue is that not many people have any idea what the ACA contains. They tend to like what they hear when informed about it. They don't realize that it's slowly coming into force, and that most of it won't be implemented until 2014. Students in their early-to-mid 20's can now stay on their parents' plan -- a big deal.

From the politicians trashing the ACA, I have yet to hear an alternate idea. They offer nothing but the status quo, which is a slow motion train wreck. They appeal to people who already have health insurance through their employers, and claim that the ACA will force them out of their plans. It's nonsense. Companies are increasingly dropping their plans as it is, or reducing benefits while increasing deductibles and co-pays. Even with insurance, some people are left with crushing bills after a serious illness.

There are a couple of dozen of good health care systems in the idustrialized world. Most or all of them are better than the current U.S. system, by objective measures. Sometimes we just don't want to know.

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Jun 28, 2012

How can that be??? If there is more money available then there will be more to provide quality care. Don't you see that because the people at the top are so greedy is why you operate on a shoestring budget...its not because they have to they want to keep their pockets full. This is direct control by the corporate health insurance machine. How can you not see that???

Agree with you. If the trickle down effect was true, we'll be rich by now because corporations are making record profits while the rest is unemployed and suffering horrible problems with their families and children. I understand the rich people who believe in the "trickle down theory" but I cannot understand the poor of low middle class who think they are going to be part of the money one day.

Tragically Hip · Jun 28, 2012

Not really sure how I feel about this health care law. So far, all the pros and cons are mostly theoretical and people are very concerned, at least that's how I would summarize the current situation.

Not allowing insurance companies to reject you for pre-existing conditions, allowing students to remain on their parents' health plan, everyone (almost) having insurance -- those are not theoretical things. Neither are the other measures that will come into play, unless Massachusetts is a theoretical state.

It's being done now. Having had Massachusetts health insurance from 2000 to 2011, I'm not just whistling Dixie. I was part of the system as "RomneyCare" was implemented, and I saw how it worked. Health insurance is almost universal now in that state.

The individual mandate that is now in place in Massachusetts will go national. Ironically, the idea came from the Heritage Foundation. It's a conservative idea. It was advocated by conservatives before Obama introduced his plan. Suddenly it became unconstitutional poison.

I'm sick of the politics. I'm sick of seeing a democracy struggling to function because the citizenry are too ignorant and lazy to understand what is going on, and are thus easily manipulated by loud TV commercials with flashy graphics. It's a sad situation.

The ACA, the text of the entire act, can be downloaded. There are non-partisan sources of information on-line that summarize the law, explaining it in plain language. I'll be shocked if more than a small fraction of people with firm positions have much idea at all what is contained in the law. They are vulnerable to propaganda, some of which is ridiculously puerile.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

That must include the politicians, such as Nancy Pelosi, who admonished "we have to pass it, so we know whats in it.". Just guessing not many of those who did vote for it read it, before or after. 2700 pages is a bunch of reading.

mediajunkie650 · Jun 28, 2012

This is what Nancy Pelosi said, "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it away from the fog of the controversy."

It didn't work. Most people still don't know what's in the Affordable Care Act.

Here is a 10 question health reform quiz at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

See the Health Care Law & You at Health Care.gov for additional information.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jun 28, 2012

Didnt obama promise us that we would all have ample time to read and review pending laws before voting ensued? How long would it take to read and comprehend 2700 pages. And wasnt some of what became part of the law added in the dead of night behind closed doors? That whole transparency thing was a lie, too.