= new reply since forum marked as read
comments. He has to walk a fine line. He can be clearer and a bit more assertive on some points, but he can't ATTACK them. You're right. However, we in the grassroots can shine some light and apply some pressure on them, and we can counter right wing spin from the grassroots. You are right that the shitty corporate media has their narrative and it is tough to fight back, but an effort can be made, and the counter-narrative as Bernie Sanders puts it so well is that these are already unstable JUNK plans that need to be fixed and we can also clarify the grandfather clause point and that insurance companies knowingly sold JUNK plans they KNEW wouldn't meet standards.
Also, it is fun to hammer back at right wingers at work, etc. on this when they call Obama a liar and all that crap. You can say things like, "Well, all the Democrats and Independents I've met understood what Obama meant and they understand what a grandfather clause is. Why are the Republicans so slow on the uptake? Do you need a block of instruction from me on what a grandfather clause is?"
It's fun. 
...This statement is only true if the industry is competitive & non-monopolistic, with transparent pricing.
These essentials absolutely do not exist in current American medicine, and has been getting exponentially worse over the last 20-30 years.
The medical industry not only has opaque, discriminatory pricing, in which there is a fantasy "regular price" that is regularly 300-400% higher than the very profitable price charged to some insurance companies (and sometimes 600-700% higher), but it is often impossible for people to find out in advance whether or not a given service will be covered by insurance, or if they will later be held responsible, not to mention what the price they will be charged. (Frequently nobody the patient speaks to has any idea the answers to these questions, and often nobody in the hospital or other facility has that information.)
Individuals are often totally unable to "comparison shop" because of these realities.
When Republicans talk of patients making decisions to purchase healthcare like they do purchasing groceries, they ignore the realities that confront a healthcare "purchaser".
To use the analogy of a grocery store: It is as if one entered a grocery store, and instead of having the option to push your own cart and pick out items that have clearly marked prices, one instead was first ordered to sign a blanket authorization for a company representative to pick out what groceries you "need", along with a promise that you will be financially responsible for the charges incurred, after they are sent to your insurance company, but that you will not be told in advance whether or not your insurance company will in fact pay for the food, and you will not be told what price you will be charged for the food (which is not marked with prices), and if you are charged, you may be charged a price which may be up to 700% higher that others are charged (even though the lower price is also profitable). And if you try to find out these prices in advance are told they are proprietary trade secrets.
This discriminatory, opaque pricing structure within healthcare has been produced by the health insurance industry.
The health insurance industry IS the problem, not the solution.
They have created a wall of opacity and monopoly, which they use to maximize their profits.
Without a free, non-monopolistic market, transparent, non-discriminatory pricing, and an informed populace able to make informed purchases, the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith capitalism will not produce "prices coming down".
