to wonder what Barack Obama has done whilst in office to help the lives of Americans?

[ChoochiWoo]

I appreciate as a Brit I know little about American politics, but Im wondered what policies, postive changes to American lives i.e improved the health system etc.... Its just every time I see him on TV hes fannyarsing with the likes of Beyonce and getting in selfie related gaffes!! AIBU to wonder ?

In fairness to Obama when he first came to power he was seen as this great beacon of hope for change, he was going to change everything overnight and the world was going to be a better place - in truth no one man gets to change anything unless they are a dictator.
I am not American but from what I understand the Obama care that has been achieved is a much watered down version of what he wanted and the Republicans shoot down most things he tries to implement.

I think to an outsider like me he looks like he has failed to achieve but then is that because the bar was set far to high from the start?

Thank you for starting this thread OP. It's something I have been pondering for a long time as I could never understand the vitriol that many Americans seem to have against him.

I too thought that Obamacare was just a really good thing but didn't really understand enough to appreciate it fully. It's good to hear different viewpoints.

As a family we have spent a fair bit of time in the States on holiday and love our visits there. Due to my DH's job we also have the opportunity to live and work out there (with Greencards) but have always turned the offer down.

The Healthcare is one issue. Education is another. If push came to shove, we would just about manage California (as it is more liberal than other states we have experienced.)

For some reason, Obama follows my business on Twitter and I have absolutely no idea why (misses point of thread)

I do really like America though, always have and most of the Americans that we meet and spend time with are genuinely lovely

I actually moved to the US for the education MurielWoods. It's very varied throughout the US, but where I live we have very high achieving state schools with class sizes of 14-22 and over 95% of high schoolers going on to college. Everyone who lives in catchment gets a place at the school.

I'm on Obamacare, and it's amazing to know finally that my insurance can never be taken away or denied.

California would be pretty low on my list of states to live in though, and I'm about as liberal as they get :-)

Police escort was set up by the hospital as our son had breathing issues. It meant we could quickly get to the other hospital where our insurance was accepted. Police escort was there to put the lights on so we didn't have to stop at traffic lights. Hospital is about 4 miles away but with all the stop signs and slow traffic lights it can take anywhere from 15-25mins at night. With the pot hole fixing that is done at night it can easily take 45mins. Police escort got us there in 10mins. Ambulance wasnt an option as they won't move you between hospitals.

Technically the hospital didn't refuse care. They refused our insurance so we could have to pay out of network. For our insurance out of network is 100% on us for the first $10K. Estimated cost of the visit was $3-5k. With us moving to the other hospital the cost was $500 through the insurance. This is exactly why obamacare sucks. Coverage for all.... Yeah right!

Did you not read my post? It explained exactly why the Affordable Care Act made it illegal for the hospital to try to refuse your insurance and charge you more for your son's care.

Print it out, and next time they try to do that to you point out that they are breaking the law.

lertgush - for us it was more an issue with timing for our children's education. They were all at the critical stage of embarking on GCSE's or A Levels and we knew that they would have nothing to gain from the American system and everything to lose from the UK one if we moved.

Having said that, lots of schools in the area of California that we looked at seemed pretty rubbish.

Which state are you in now?

Instead of whining about obamacare why not vote for politicians who will introduce universal health care so that people are protected whichever hospital they use?

Yes - timing is definitely an issue with education. We moved when ours were young but I wouldn't want to move at the GCSE stage.

The Californian education system invests very little in schools - they have almost the lowest spending per student and the largest classroom sizes. We also looked at and rejected Florida for similar reasons. I'm in Maine but even within a state you'll find the education varies.

He isn't popular amongst middle America who is getting whacked to pay for social care.

They seem to prefer more of a right wing, dog eat dog government.

Completely OT, but Lertgush I'm so jealous!! I love Maine! I can't express how much I love Maine! We used to rent a house in Biddeford Pool every summer and I went to college in Maine!

I'm so jealous of you!

mildly, that's an extraordinary response!

I haven't expressed a liking for either Obama or Clinton or their policies, such as they are. I only stated (based on information from someone who actually knows them both) that they are apparently genuinely bloody clever. How do you get from that to me being happy and relaxed about people being killed? I'm really scratching my head here!

Americans do not want any type of universal health care as they are rugged individuals who would rather cut off their noses to spite their faces than help their neighbours.

Creighton that is untrue and insulting.

I don't think we can generalise so firmly about 318.9 million people.

I take your point, MonstrousRatbag. My husband berated me for saying that Donald Rumsfeld seemed charming and hot, I can't help myself I know it's sick in a movie we watched recently (Known Unknowns) despite the fact I have said more than once that he's a war criminal who will certainly burn in hell.

I take your point, MonstrousRatbag. My husband berated me for saying that Donald Rumsfeld seemed charming and hot, I can't help myself I know it's sick in a movie we watched recently (Known Unknowns) despite the fact I have said more than once that he's a war criminal who will certainly burn in hell.

Lert - they acted within the law. The hospital is out of network with the cost of $3-5k for care not covered by our insurance. If we paid cash cost would have been the same. By moving to a hospital that was in network the copay was $500 with the remaining bill paid by insurance. Bill came to $2700 of which we paid $500. Bill at the non insured hospital just to be dealt with was neigotiated down to $150. Out of network costs are 100% on us until we have spent $10k. After that the insurance covers 50%.

Quite frankly the coverage we have today is awful compared to what we had before obamacare came in. I got married in 2008 and my health insurance back then cost me $50 a month through my employer with copays of $10 for scripts and doctor visits with $20 for specialist visits. DH had similar copays. Now we spend $150 a month on DHs medication which is then reimbursed through the expat insurance. Americans in his office don't have he expat insurance and are paying these costs themselves. It's a huge burden, far far greater than before. Many average families are forgoing healthcare because they can't afford these costs.

I would love a universal system and thought they should have looked at first improving the veterans healthcare system and using that as a platform for providing coverage for the uninsured. Also don't understand why they didn't look into the state running a not for profit health insurance scheme.

If Obama had been smart he would have had Hilary Clinton reform healthcare. Instead his ego got the better of him. I though she did a great job with reforming maternity care.

I repeat what I posted earlier from the Department of Labor website about hospitals attempting to charge out-of-network costs for ER treatment. Perhaps you could show me the law that contradicts this?

Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) section 2719A generally provides, among other things, that if a group health plan or health insurance coverage provides any benefits for emergency services in an emergency department of a hospital, the plan or issuer must cover emergency services without regard to whether a particular health care provider is an in-network provider with respect to the services, and generally cannot impose any copayment or coinsurance that is greater than what would be imposed if services were provided in network

The hospital admin were the ones to tell us we are not covered. I had been working until 2am and having slept for 45mins I wasn't in best shape myself. Good to know now but I run the risk of insurance not covering it by saying an emergency room visit was not required. Normally to cover ourselves we call the GP first and let them tell us to go to the ER. We didn't this time and as DS wasn't given any medicine just saline in a nebulizer you run the risk of nothing being covered.

Also, in 2008 I would have paid $20 for any ER visit. Today that same visit is $500. Hardly affordable for an average family.

cheerfulyank, why else have americans not created a universal healthcare system? why do people have to have contact with hospital administration rather than just medical staff?

Because most Americans have at least a slight, niggling distrust of the government to do right by the people.

As a for instance, I would feel deeply uncomfortable with the government insisting on vaccinations, or outlawing homeschooling. Even though my children are fully vaccinated and go (or will go) to public school. I don't feel the government can make those decisions. And I support the ACA, but I understand people who are upset over the fines. They feel that they don't want insurance and shouldn't be forced to buy it.

I have lived in the Midwest for my entire life, though, and have grown up knowing astounding generosity towards those who need it. It is our culture to care deeply for our neighbors and I resent any implications otherwise.

Supermum I think a great many things should be run by Hillary! :)

Cheerful - DH jokes that Obama did a great job of making Hilary look great as a way to rub it in to America! Stumbling block for me was her standing by her DH after the Monica lewinsky incident.

I thought it was a huge statement as to the weakness of obamas team that he brought Condy rice to Saudi for the Kings funeral. The only other person he could have brought was Hilary.

Obamacare - absolute bullshit.

There are pro's, I'm not gunna lie, but the negatives?...

If you don't have private health insurance you are penalised in your taxes. This doesn't mean you get free government health insurance, it's a penalty for not paying for something you can't afford.

So you pay for the cheapest health insurance you can to avoid the tax penalty but it has shitty co-pay, co-insurance, deductible or out-of-pocket max because, you know, at least the hospital/facility/doctor is getting paid. In the meantime, you still struggle to pay what's left as "your responsibility".

So now you have insurance, great, but you can't use it because you can't afford "your responsibility" portion.

Also, those of us who already healthcare just had their premium's jump up about 50% as well as deductibles/OOP max and co-pays go up. So now we STILL can't afford to see a doc all the time, you need to really make sure you're sick.

Not to mention, the "cheap" health insurance that you got from the health insurance market that gave you a discount is now also charging you a fee through your taxes as well, leaving you with almost no return.

And there are some people except from the tax penalty, from memory it's politicians.

Yeah, Obamacare is bullshit. Anyone who thinks it's great doesn't realise the negative affect it's had on the vast majority, or are trying to find a way to claim it's NOT Obamacare's fault.

At least I have free pap's.