As we ramp up for another election cycle with health care reform inevitably at the forefront (see birth control debate, etc.), it's interesting to head into this one with a little bit more information about what the Affordable Care Act is actually doing. And in keeping with the theme of Republicans speaking out against big government while returning home with heaps of benefits, recent analysis shows that the districts poised to gain the most from the ACA are red ones.
Last week, three top officials from the Kaiser Family Foundation presented an analysis in Politico showing which Congressional districts benefits the most from the Affordable Care Act. Of the 233 districts whose increase in insurance rates will exceed the national average, 142 are Republican, and only 91 represented by Democrats.
Take Louis Gohmert, for example, who claimed on the Alex Jones conspiracy theory hour that health care reform would "absolutely kill seniors" by "putting them on lists and forcing them to die early." Turns out his district is one of the 233 that stands to benefit beyond the national average. Or Jeb Hensarling, who called health reform a "cruel Ponzi scheme." His district does pretty well too. The list goes on.
It's not surprising that red states have some of the highest uninsured rates, and thus stand to gain the most from a law that helps insure more people. But it does serve as a reminder of how bizarre it is that so many Republicans continually speak out against health reform on principle while it so overwhelmingly benefits the people that they actually represent. |
