John Kline (R-MN-02) as Chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee has a poll question concerning if the Affordable Care Act should be repealed. It is an unscientific poll but surely Mr. Kline believes that it will support his often stated beliefs :
The vast majority of the public does not support this government takeover of health care and Congress must continue its efforts to repeal it.
As I listen to families and small businesses in Minnesota and across the country, rising costs continues to be their top health care concern. President Obama should stop defending a fatally flawed scheme and start working with Republicans on step-by-step solutions that will expand access to more affordable health care.
Well, one unscientific poll deserves another … and the source is an online poll through the Eagan Patch …. asking a simple question :
Supreme Court Ruling: Right or Wrong?
The court was correct in upholding Obamacare
The court overlooked significant Constitutional issues with the Affordable Care Act.
With 53% of the vote (647 participants) said the ruling was correct while 572 disagreed.
OK, so Chairman Kline’s assertion that a “vast majority” opposed ObamaCare is not the same as was the ruling correct … but it should raise a concern.
Nationally, Gallop just reported poll results to the question :
Preferences for What Congress Should Do Next on Healthcare Reform
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled the healthcare law constitutional, would you like Congress to do –
1.) Keep the law in place and pass further legislation to expand the government’s role in healthcare beyond what the law current does
2.) Keep the law in place and take no further action on healthcare
3.) Keep the law in place but repeal parts of it
4.) Repeal the law entirely.
The results show that Chairman Kline’s preferred Repeal garnered 31% of the nationwide respondents (of that 68% were self-identified as Republicans) … thus a “vast majority” does not agree with his assessment … although a majority of Republicans do.
Thus the question …
Does John Kline Represent national Republicans or Minnesota’s Second District ?
Conversely, Mike Obermueller, the DFL-endorsed candidate for the Second District offered his own assessment of the ruling :
“While I’ve been in support of the parts of the law such as eliminating coverage denials for preexisting conditions, making it illegal to charge women more for health care, allowing children up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ health insurance and expanding coverage for seniors, I hope today will allow Washington to put an end to the political games and focus on fixing the things that don’t work.
We have to do more to lower costs of health insurance, reduce the overall cost to taxpayers, and reduce unfair regulation for Minnesota small businesses. If I’m elected, you can count on me to continue fighting for better access to affordable and reliable health care in this country.”
Mike Obermueller’s stance reflects the views of the other respondents in the Gallop poll … it’s time to end the uncertainty … end the political games … make it work and that’s seems to be the assessment from Fairview Health Services, which operates an Eagan clinic and many other clinics and hospitals in the Twin Cities. Fairview Health Services released a statement saying they were happy a decision has been made.
“Overall, we are pleased that the Supreme Court has released their decision because now we know the context in which we move forward,” the statement read. “Fairview remains committed to transforming care and payment systems to improve care, improve patient experience and reduce the total cost of care. For us, it is all about creating greater value for those we serve.”
John Kline wants to revert to the old ways where insurance companies dictated the rules – rescinding policies and rejecting applicants for pre-existing conditions … Mike Obermueller wants to move forward implementing a better healthcare system while recognizing that healthcare is just one of the issues that needs to be addressed.
On July 11th, the House will take another meaningless vote to Repeal the Affordable Care Act (after already voting to repeal or defund various aspects 30 times this term) … on November 6th, voters will have a chance to elect someone that wants to “end the political games” and listen to his Second District constituents.
