Being a fan of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, I saw this clip last year, where they sent out a camera crew to Hollywood Boulevard to conduct an experiment on the community's opinion on Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act. As Jimmy mentioned in the clip, Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act are the exact same thing. The purpose of the experiment was to determine how informed the public is on the subject of the Affordable Care Act. This video was my inspiration for the idea of our group project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx2scvIFGjE
The video is very funny and entertaining. It also indicates that the general public is not very informed about the Affordable Care Act at all, despite their strong opinions. We can see in the video that a large majority of the people stated that they agree more with the Affordable Care Act and that it is the "better" option. One man even said that it is "more American."
It is very interesting to see what their responses are when asked about why they disagree with Obamacare.
-"there's a lot of holes in it"
-"to force people to pay something and doctors to make something, limiting their ability to do their job, that's kind of anti-American"
-"I just don't agree with the whole Obamacare policy thing that's going on"
-"I don't like anything that has to be forced for everybody to buy"
-One womyn was asked if she thinks Obamacare will lead to gun prohibition, she responded, "yes."
I think that when the general public is not informed about certain topics, they lean towards a certain side based on the names of the topics; whichever name that sounds "more" right and interesting. Even though this can possibly be an issue of naming of the health care program, it does not hide the fact that the general public does not know that they are the same. How can a program that is developed to serve Americans be "anti-American?" Or, is the name "Obamacare" what actually sounds "anti-American" to him? I actually found it quite funny that the womyn responded "yes" to the question about Obamacare leading to gun prohibition. What could be a potential relationship that she saw between the two? I cannot see the relationship yet and actually think that it was just a random question to test her. Another thing that stood out to me was the fact that this video was taken at the Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. Generally speaking, I would assume that these members of the public are from a pretty well off background, since Hollywood Boulevard is an affluent part of LA. It is also a tourist attraction; in order to be a tourist and travel, one must also have the financial capabilities to do so. This brings up the question that, if the middle and upper middle income class do not know about the Affordable Care Act, how much does the lower middle class knows? Have they heard of the Affordable Care Act? Do they know what it offers and what their options are?
I just watched this a few days ago!! Firstly, I think this is a great idea. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is often referred to colloquially as "Obamacare". Although many news sources and politicians may use this term frequently, it brings with it a sort of political polarization and connotation that causes the LA residents in this video to side towards PPACA rather than "Obamacare". In my deCal, we try to always use the term "ACA" when we are talking about the healthcare reform. The fact that these typical Americans did not know they meant the same thing is evidence enough that people are confused by the healthcare reform. The media is definitely not making it easy either. So what to do? Well there are these really cute 10 minute videos from the Kaiser Family Foundation that really explain what the reform entails. The first one is from 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Ilc5xK2_E) and the second one is getting ready for the implementation of 2014 changes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZkk6ueZt-U). They are super useful in understanding what the basics are (for example: Covered California is a market exchange for health insurance, not an actual federal insurance program like Medi-Cal).
ReplyDeleteI think that this dialogue fleshes out two problems. It shows that the politics and governance in American policy is often out of our hands. Sure, pundits who have been following the reform on NPR might know quite a bit, but the average American worker probably has no idea about the nuances and debates about PPACA. Is this really representative or democratic? Who knows?! Additionally, it shows that not just low-income Americans are "ignorant" and need to be taught something about healthcare. In our group work activity with Katz's 6 types of poverty problems, a lot of our solutions rested in the "People" category - where we would have to impart important essential knowledge on the poor and underserved (nutrition, rights, etc.) But my problem with this is: why are we focusing so much of our energy on educating the poor when the person next to us in the library at Cal might not even know how to apply for health insurance? Maybe, as Ananya Roy would say, the poor through their lived experience have something to teach us.
Peace,
Rona
First of all, I am a huge late night shows junkie! This clip was really hilarious and yet in all seriousness, it demonstrates an ignorance by some of the general public of current health issues, especially in something as so influential to the lives of many Americans as Obamacare or The Affordable Care Act. This can be contributed to a failure on the side of policy makers and government institutions in the clarity of Obmamacare and/or a failure on the side of the citizens who may lack initiative to educate themselves and be up-to-date with current health-related topics.
ReplyDeleteI am also critical of the video in representing the entire public’s understanding of Obamacare/The Affordable Care Act. Who knows whether this clip had cut out those people who did know that Obamacare and The Affordable Care Act is the same thing. It may not have been seen as funny if they were included. Also, since the interviews were conducted in one spot and in a nice area, those interviewed may not be the ones like younger adults and lower-income people that are most impacted by Obamacare. Therefore, those displayed in the video may have less initiative to knowing the details of Obamacare. Nevertheless, the video does demonstrate that there is a lack of awareness of huge issues that may span beyond just health care reform.
-Cassandra
I watched this clip during the fall, and I felt that it accurately portrayed the gap between the knowledge of the general public and the "educated." Honestly, if I did not take Public Health 150D: Health Policy and Management, I would have no idea about the details and the main objective of the ACA. To me, the ACA/Obamacare is something that is necessary for the progression of the United States. Recently, there was a post on Reddit about an appendectomy costing a man more than $5,000. People from other countries then commented on the post, saying that such a cost was unheard of. With the ACA, less people will have to pay outrageous costs for medical care, something that should be a right for everyone. I admit that the ACA is not perfect; however, it is a step towards progress, especially since many are uninsured. Despite that, The Kaiser Family Foundation reported in April 30 that 42% of Americans had no idea what the ACA was, even though it was already being implemented at that time. The Obama administration’s flaw was the inability to convey the aspects of the ACA. As a result, many Americans still do not know about the expansion of Medicaid, or the health exchange programs, such as CoveredCA. How could Obamacare have better conveyed the ACA to the public?
ReplyDeleteObamacare also brings a political connotation with it. Interestingly, the ACA was originally thought of by the Heritage Foundation, a heavily Republic organization. It was then implemented in the state of Massachusetts by Mitt Romney. Therefore, the Obama administration basically took the existing Republican concept and implanted nationwide. However, politics got in the way, as many Republicans are against “Obamacare” because of its ties to Obama, even though it was originally Republican. The negative press from the Republicans has caused Americans to think negatively of Obamacare. Such thoughts were seen when many in the video said, “People should not be forced to buy insurance.”
-Janine Myint