Tell that to the poor in places like Detroit, Chicago or LA or any big city. If you're born poor you are likely to stay poor unless very lucky. Being poor is a bit of a disadvantage to doing well in the current system. And if American federal government ensured just two things, they would make things alot better for people. $15 minimum wage and a tax funded health service. Hell the money saved from eliminating the free market from core parts of healthcare would save alot of money for all.

Why else does the US spend 17% of GDP on health while European countries with a NHS style system or a mixed public/ private healthcare system spend around 8 to 10% of GDP. It certaintly adds up and its nice to known I can get treatment if I needed it without worrying about the cost.  

In Spain, my country, we fight against government because they want to privatize health insurance. Here is public and free, funded by taxes, and we are proud of it. I don't understand why people in the US don't want health coverage for all. Money? I think this is very selfish. There is a lot of people who needs it. I don't care democrats or republicans. I vote in Spain and these parties don't exist. But help others is a good action in all cultures in the world. It's universal. Don't let the media manipulate you. I don't like Obama, but I think this project is good for millions of Americans. Millions.

If you are working for a company that is screwed up enough to cut your hours to avoid paying you benefits, its time to find a better company. I am in California, a state natoriously high priced for pretty much everything. When I went online and looked, for a family of five...mine, I would pay under $200/month for very good insurance with pretty low premiums. Much cheaper than some Cobra plan. Stated that opted out are going to feel the pinch a lot more than the ones who signed on. Expect premiums is those states to sky rocket due to a lack of federal funding. I think people need to quick bitching about something they havent had any experience with yet, quit listening to idiotic politicians and let everything just play out. We are becoming a country of indisusion and infighting to the point of becoming stale.

Its not about luck, its about working hard and developing skills.

That's how you get out of poverty and get opportunities.

Being born poor in the current system is a disadvantage in any part of the country and sadly people look to government for a solution to these problems. Government restrictions on labor in the forms of licenses, minimum wage and other regulatory burdens make it near impossible for those without wealthy parents and government priveleges to work their way up.

while aca does it all for cheaper?
To me this looks just like all the insurance companies are making a cash grab.

Bet we'll see record profits this year.

There are two major reasons.

1) For one, for insurance to work, it has to cost more then treatment will.  Since this law now makes it so that sick people can sign up whenever they want for healthcare.   It has to go up quite a bit.

Since someone who is middle class or just above medicaid can more or less just pay the fine, and jump on healthcare whenever they need.

Considering that health insurers never made much of a profit to begin with, this is a huge jump.

Which is basically what rich people did anyway.   

2) The ACA is subsidizing the middle and upper class so you don't have to pay more then a percentage of what you make in income for brozne and silver plans.

Meaning it's impossible to undercut in these plans because the government is going to pay for everything over anyway.

Meaning healthcare companies will max out these premiums within reason.

Actually, it's been my expericne that the ACA plans are far more expensive then non exchange plans due to the subsidies offered for ACA plans.

Which is bad news because a lot of people are ONLY using the ACA website as a source for healthcare information, because they thought it was supposed to be a comprhensive exchange that everything was on.

One of the big defense manuevers of the ACA was to scour basically every single insurer with someone who complained in a news story, to find them a cheaper rate.  (Even then, they weren't that cheap in a lot of cases.)

Something most people don't really have the time for.

To me likely means 50%+. 

This seems.... pretty decent to me quite honestly.

Now lets compare this to the UK... since it's where your from and has the things you find.

I can't find an exact equal comparison, but I can find two that are similar covering both ends... and they're on one chart.

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/03/social-mobility-income-inequality-resolution-foundation-report/

In both the 90's and 2000's, the UK had MORE poor people stuck in the lowest quintile then the United States, in the decade between 96 and 2005.  

Despite the UK's public healthcare and higher minium wage.  Considering that both ends find the same problem it's highly unlikely that 96-2005 Britian would do any better in a comparison then 1990-1999 and 2000-2009

and that's not even counting the fact that just... way more rich people choose to live in the United States then other countries, which will stretch out the quintile curve compaired to if you used something better then relative mobility.

Businesses won't have to raise prices on everything. Compare McDonald's prices from the US to, say, Australia, where cost-of-living is about the same but minimum wage is higher. Actual prices don't go up that much.

The price rises will be minimal compared to the real money in people's pockets, especially poor people who actually spend their money rather than just shunt it into some hedge fund like the rich. The net effect would be quite beneficial, but for the bitching of businesses who only see the short-term shock to their bottom lien.