Just how long do you think it will take the dunderheads, and yes, that includes POTUS, to figure out that government has no business regulating, operating, dictating guidelines in healthcare or insurance. The latest proposed “fix” to the disastrous Obamacare is probably as big a “cluster” as the original “Affordable Care Act.” The latest regurgitation is nothing less than a massive “pass the buck” by a bunch of cowards who are more concerned with maintaining their place on the beltway gravy train than actually solving the problems, they promised to solve.
First, before we go farther, let’s remember congress had no problem sending a repeal bill to Barack Obama. Yep, they passed it in both the House and Senate. Imagine that.
The Hill chronicles the veto.
Obama noted that congressional Republicans have attempted to roll back the law more than 50 times, to no avail.… The veto was the eighth of Obama’s presidency and the sixth since last year, when Republicans took over both chambers of Congress.Even though Obama long threatened to veto the measure, Republicans touted the vote as an important step toward reversing the Affordable Care Act if the party wins the White House in November.
So, the party DID win the White House, and, …. they’ve got nothing! Nothing that is, except a socialized medicine plan, that covers everybody, that costs too much and can’t provide services that people need.
Here’s the best summary, in Newsweek, I’ve seen of just what this supposed “repeal and replace” actually is. WARNING! It isn’t pretty, and I would even say, it’s painful. One thing it definitely isn’t is a repeal.
The first, and most egregious is the pass the buck–cop out MacArther Amendment. It sends responsibility back to the states, to determine if they want a waiver for former ACA rules. And OF COURSE THEY DO! WHY NOT JUST REPEAL THE DAMNED THING? … Maybe because they don’t want to take responsibility for a repeal.
What are the main differences between the new bill and the prior iteration?
They added a provision, the so-called MacArthur Amendment, to give states the option to waive some of the rules that existed in the Affordable Care Act [ACA] and which were not waived in the original version of the American Health Care Act [AHCA].What rules would states be allowed to waive?
The rules surrounding essential benefits, community ratings and age bands.
And there’s this… Isn’t this how insurance worked before Obamacare?
The new law changes the distribution of money among those channels, compared to the approach taken in the ACA. The new law, and its modification, requires that more money be paid by people who get sick—if states get the waivers—because the plans might not be as generous.
As you read on, you’ll notice the new bill does not address buying insurance across state lines. It does not effectively create competition to drive down costs, maybe because it is still involving the government too, too much in making regulations for insurance and healthcare.
Americans who waited for hours to vote for Trump, because he promised a repeal, and replace, of Obamacare, by creating competition, driving down costs, and giving the people control of their health.
Congress, and Trump, are invested in “CONTROL” and they cannot see that there is no way to “take care” of everyone. Letting go of regulation and allowing the free market to drive consumer choices isn’t even under consideration. This is none of what Trump promised during the campaign. And it’s not what should supported by voters.
Rand Paul won over a lot people when he led the descent against the first attempt to eradicate Obamacare, but he has now crawled into bed with establishment Republicans to acquiesce to government controlled healthcare.
Politico notes he’s got a problem with subsidies, but no mention of creating competition, or getting out of the regulation business. Very slick.
“The Freedom Caucus has done a good job of trying to make the bill less bad,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), one of the lead Senate agitators against the House health care push, said Wednesday. “For me, it’s a big stumbling block still that there’s taxpayer money that’s being given to insurance companies, and I am just not in favor of taxpayer money going to insurance companies.”
And then there’s the mother of all betrayal. The Trump we all stood in line to vote for, in November, including myself, crawled into bed with Paul Ryan to support the first round of (if you could call it that) repeals.
Is anybody out there, let down, just a little bit, that Trump isn’t using his political capital to knock the knees out from establishment Republicans, like Ryan? Instead, he’s crawled into bed with the establishment and is trying to sell America a very defective repeal, if not a repurposed Obamacare.
America finally figured out that socialism, communism and establishment politicians are not the way they want to go. They came out in a revolutionary force, to defeat the Clinton machine. They placed a lot of faith in the yankee doodle coming from the Trump campaign. And in his first 100 days, he has stopped some bleeding and turned some wayward ships. Impressive, by any standards.
But everything hinges on healthcare and releasing it from government control. Tax reform can’t happen unless healthcare is fixed. It’s too tied to the IRS, and dependent on tax revenue to keep it afloat, and Trump knows it.
The best thing that could happen to drive a real repeal is to go after the establishment Republicans blocking a people friendly agenda. Trump could help that along but he doesn’t seem to have the political will to do so.
With any kind of luck this new bill will go the way of the last one. If America really want to see a repeal, and anything that drives an unregulated insurance and healthcare industry, one driven by the free market, you’ve got to speak up, and not just let the powers inside the beltway sweet talk you into yet another government boondoggle, at your expense.
The establishment GOP and Trump are not working in the best interests of Americans, on a major campaign deal breaker, and that may be for a variety of reasons. It would be a shame to roll over and let business as usual resume, after we (American voters) just overthrew one of the strongest political machines in American history. Perhaps a gentle reminder is in order.
Just incase there are enough people actually reading this post, and just incase the same fire in the belly that drove you to stand in a voting line for more than an hour to support Trump in November is still burning within you, perhaps you will do the smallest things to make your voices heard. Here’s the switchboard link to the House, and here’s the switchboard to the Senate. Tell them you’ll accept nothing less than a full repeal, as promised, and replacements that get the government out of healthcare.
And by the way, share this post, and help spread the word.
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