Obamacare

There's no intolerance like good conservative intolerance. On Easter Sunday, Google incurred the wrath of the conservative Twittersphere when it chose to feature on its home page a portrait of California civil rights pioneer Cesar Chavez instead of Jesus Christ. Chavez, of course, was the co-founder, with Dolores Huerta, of the United Farm Workers union. March 31, as it happens, is Cesar Chavez Day, declared in 2011 by President Obama to honor the man who did more than almost anyone else to improve the condition of migrant farmworkers in this country by leading boycotts, non-violent protests and collective bargaining.

The Washington Post's "Wonkblog" page is up Wednesday morning with a flow chart showing how to determine eligibility for government help to buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. The Post describes the chart , which was prepared by the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners and can be seen here  or at the top of this item, as "insanely complicated. " It's not. Unless, that is, the Washington Post's reporters as a species are easily confused, which is doubtful.

Bernie Morse, 65, of Century City retired last year from the aerospace industry and joined the ranks of Medicare beneficiaries. The nearly $8,000 he used to spend annually on drugs for a liver condition now will be cut almost in half. Were a private insurer to take over his Medicare coverage, Morse believes, his drug bill would once again skyrocket - only he wouldn't have his aerospace income to pay the tab. "I'd be really scared about what could happen," he said. And he has reason to be afraid.

Re "CEQA is polluted by abuse," Column, March 11 George Skelton exaggerates the faults of the California Environmental Quality Act. Before CEQA was enacted in 1970, the environment was hostage to short-term gain. This created an unhealthy situation in which growth trumped everything. As a result, California was permanently damaged. CEQA ensures that there is something left for posterity. Its benefits far outweigh its costs. Christopher Cockroft South Pasadena Instead of rehashing the lament of developers, high rollers and lobbyists who want to trash CEQA, how about noting efforts by folks such as state Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa)

Re "GOP renews effort to kill ' Obamacare ,'" March 11 The costs and limitations of America's healthcare system have made it unsustainable. President Obama's healthcare law addressed some of the issues effectively but failed to address others and included some bad features. However, the correct path is not to scuttle the law entirely. If we do that, we will remain with an unsustainable healthcare system. We cannot go back to square one because it is highly likely that we would remain there.

If it is done right, the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) may well promise uninsured Americans a lot more than cheap, reliable medical care. It can also open the door to the democratic empowerment of millions of poor people, who are often alienated from much of the nation's civic life, by strengthening the organizations that give them a voice. This year more than 30 million uninsured Americans are to begin signing up for Obamacare, but the vast majority of those eligible for either the expanded Medicaid program, or for subsidized private health insurance through state health exchanges, have no idea how to enroll.

Re "Health sign-up plan is assailed," Business, March 7 Goal: to reach the most people possible, where they are and are more likely to accept needed services. In this case, the effort is to enroll people in President Obama's healthcare expansion. Vehicle: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, which specializes in selling low-priced goods. Genius. To the unions in California objecting to this on the grounds that Wal-Mart provides inadequate benefits: Really? In this day and age of accepting the differences of others, the unions refuse to do so, even at the cost of the public's well-being.

WASHINGTON - Republicans in Congress are renewing their political assault on the nation's new healthcare law, trying to repeal President Obama's signature domestic achievement as part of the next battle over the federal budget. Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, last year's Republican vice presidential nominee, said Sunday his forthcoming budget proposal will include repeal of "Obamacare," as his party calls it. That position puts tea-party conservatives at odds with others in the GOP who want to find common ground with Obama on the nation's fiscal woes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the health law. In the Senate, conservatives will press for a vote this week to delay funding for the health law as part of a bill that must pass to keep the government running beyond March 27. "We say we get rid of 'Obamacare,' " Ryan said on "Fox News Sunday.

"What we've learned through the course of this program is that this is really not a sensible way for the healthcare system to be run. " That was Gary Cohen, director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, talking. He was specifically responding to the apparently surprising need to halt enrollments in a program designed as a temporary bridge for people with preexisting conditions who couldn't wait until the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a.