Lt. Gov. Kinder against Missourians getting more affordable health care now

It's rather famous now--infamous?  Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder not only has come out further against the Affordable Care Act--"Obamacare"--but he says we in the state should boycott the program:

Kinder Encourages Obamacare Boycott

(AP) – State legislators continue their fight against Obamacare. Now, Lietuenant Governor Peter Kinder is discouraging Missouri residents from signing up for health insurance under a new online marketplace.

People can start enrolling for insurance next Tuesday under several options offered by a federally run health insurance exchange. The online shopping site is a key part of Obamacare.

Kinder is among several Missouri Republicans that have fought against the federal health care law. He says Missourians should actively resist it by refusing to sign up for coverage through the insurance exchange.

We don’t know specific insurance policy options and prices here yet. That’s partly because a Missouri law prohibits state officials from taking steps to implement an insurance exchange.

Springfield's News-Leader newspaper, in their op/ed piece, got it so right Monday, I think:

OPINION: Kinder's spite hypocritical

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder has gone to great lengths to oppose the Affordable Care Act — aka, Obamacare — even to the point of filing a lawsuit challenging its implementation.

But his latest effort to undermine the law is his most insidious and distasteful move to date.

On Monday, Kinder urged Missourians to boycott the online marketplace that launches next week, saying: “I would hope there would be active resistance to this law — that people would not sign up.”
Kinder, like many of his Republican colleagues at the state and federal level, would rather turn a blind eye to the thousands of needy state residents who are unable to access or afford health insurance.

Missouri has roughly 800,000 people without health insurance. About half of those could be eligible for subsidized coverage through the online health insurance exchange, said Ryan Barker, vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health...

...Of course, Kinder is sitting comfortable while he discourages poor families and even jobless adults or others unable to get insurance.

Kinder is insured through the state plan for employees, his spokesman confirmed. For those plans, the state pays the lion’s share of the cost.

Kinder’s spiteful attempt to discourage people from accessing health care reminds us of Captain Ahab and his quest to kill the white whale. You can almost hear the echoes of Gregory Peck from the classic 1956 “Moby Dick” film:

“From hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.”


Keep in mind, too, that this column is from the very Right Wing, very Conservative and very Republican, "Red" Southwest corner of the state.

The facts are, ladies and gentlemen:

--We have the most expensive health care system in the world.

--It's the number one reason people in America go bankrupt.  40% of us, in fact.

--We get the worst physical outcomes of that health care out of the top 17 industrialized nations in the world.

--The Republicans have no alternate solution or solutions to fix it.

But they're against this Affordable Care Act.

Unconscionable.