Well, he printed it after all. [View all]

The editor/publisher of our wide-ranging local weekly, I mean. The letter I thought might've finally ticked him off too much because he'd sent me a first-ever email requesting verification of an obvious matter. That was crystal clear, but in hindsight I wish I'd simplified my sentences a bit more for the general readers. When I get going, my love for compound sentences can run away with me. Never met a compound sentence I didn't like.

Anyway, before I share the text of my letter which did make this week's edition, I'll say this: At the library this afternoon, where I go to read the papers once a month or so, I came across one of the editor's editorials about economomics, and it brought home to me quite sharply how even this man has no earthly idea of the difference between micro- and macro-economics. I gave up trying to explain the difference to people who don't believe there is a difference. It's just all plain old economics, usually from a piggy bank perspective.

But here's my latest letter on the ACA; sorry I can't claim it's my best, but as I said, I was fired up:
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About the ACA - You know I had to say something sooner or later, so here it comes. No more waiting for the shoe to drop.

First, remember that the admittedly botched rollout and the ACA itself are actually two different things.

The company entrusted to design the healthcare.gov website turns out to have contributed heavily to GOP finances in the past. Also a denial of service tool has been widely distributed by right wing social media and certain websites best left unnamed at this point. This is not internet rumor; look for yourself on the DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) website if you don't believe me. This DOS tool supposedly carries no viruses or malware but allows users to overwhelm a tarteted website with illegally expanded requests for service from one individual. And there are many participants. Sadly this has become a frequent tactic of unscrupulous operators.

Somehow - surprise, surprise! - at least three different major insurers are either under federal scrutiny and/or private lawsuits for their part in the mess. They've exploited the grandfather clause meant to allow people to keep their current plans if they like them, by either lying outright to their customers or slyly changing those plans to make sure they wouldn't pass the new regulations. This alone should remind us why the insurance industry in general needed tighter regulation in the first place.

(I want to stress that I'm not pointing fingers at any of our local insurance agents who provide a valuable service and are likely a good cut above some elsewhere. I particularly respect and trust my own insurance agent, both as a professional and a person.)

So the healthcare.gov website was designed and 'verified as ready' by a company with suspiciously close ties to the worst enemies of Obamacare and the President himself. It has suffered heavy assault by those employing the Denial of Service tool - I know the name and where it can be found, but I'm not about to publicize that location! Perhaps worst of all, certain major insurance giants have stirred the pot even more by changing grandfathered plans beyond compliance, outright lying to customers to push them into much costlier alternatives, and even sending out scary cancellation notices to current customers when they had no legal right to do so. And of course they're fighting President Obama's effort to fix that with an extra year's extension on cancelled plans - they claim it can't be done! Well, they had no trouble changing things to rook people, and they can certainly roll back their illegal activities too! In fact, they'd jolly well better if they want any chance to stay out of court.

Now on to the ACA itself. Before telling President Obama you want to keep your old JUNK policy, think about this: Why cling to something the insurance company can jack up the price on as much as they want, whenever they want? How has that been working for people so far? Dr. Phil would ask. Why let fear of change or even hatred of President Obama himself cause you to choose something the insurance company can cancel anytime they want to, typically when you need it most? If you get sick and need to be hospitalized, history's proved you have a high chance of having to declare bankruptcy even though you're "insured, baby!"

Why turn your nose up at the ACA when there's a marketplace full of ACA-compliant policies that prevent the above disasters from happening while they also provide free preventive care, lower co-pays, the possibility of receiving tax subsidies, and many other benefits? Is your resentment of a Democrat actually achieving legislation based on Romney-Care in Massachusetts which was borrowed directly from a Heritage Foundation plan going to cause you to cut off your nose to spite your face?

Oh, right. At the moment there are enrollment difficulties at healthcare.gov, which are seeing improvement but maybe not quick enough to suit everyone's needs. By now you know I have a suggestion for that also. There's an excellent, well-established and long-vetted website called valuepenguin.com which can help you compare ACA plans. You might still need to sign up directly with the company/plan of your choice, and/or sign up some place other than healthcare.gov for subsidies you might be due, not to mention seeing to your own IRS tax credits. More steps but currently better working software. For now. Most people can still do better with the recently reworked healthcare.gov website.

But regardless of which path you choose, there's no reason to panic. The worst problems with the ACA website are not with ACA itself or even the federal website, but rather insurance industry perfidy plus misperceptions and outright lies peddled by the media such as Faux News and sadly, even CBS now that it's being run by a Faux alumni. Let's not leave out continuous GOP obstructionism either - that's what the government shutdown was about, and it continues even now; for instance with Darryl Issa's letters to major technology giants demanding to know if they were among those offering to help fix the federal website bugs and strengthen it against massive Denial of Service attacks. Intimidation plain and simple.

I'll close with a nod of respect and appreciation, however, to the growing number of Republican leaders who realize they've been so grieveously on the wrong side of history but are now trying to make amends by doing such wonderful things as requesting federal exchanges for their own states, etc. You know who they are; some of the ones the Tea Party screams are traitors!
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Between us on DU, I have my serious doubts as to the true motives of the Republicans I mentioned. I still wouldn't suggest turning our backs on them for one second. Hell will freeze over before I can ever trust another Republican about anything.