Politics –
Obamacare Lite Sparks
Republican Civil War
After months of promises that a much better health care plan for America was on the way, the GOP has finally introduced their version of the new Affordable Care Act. So, why is it being called ‘Obamacare Lite?’
Politics
For years, the Republican Party has been hell-bent on dismantling former President Obama’s health care initiative that assured medical coverage for all Americans. So, when Donald Trump entered The White House, they saw an opening to finally eliminate the ACA affectionately known as Obamacare. Too bad they had no clue how incredibly bad their idea was.
In their 2009 inauguration day pledge to perpetually ruin and just say NO! to any and everything Barack Obama ever attempted to accomplish, congressional Republicans were always against Obamacare simply because it came from Barack Obama. The original health care proposal presented by Mr. Obama was a good one, however, Republicans nit-picked it apart and intentionally made a mess of it for the sole political purpose of being able to later say “I told you so” and claim that Obamacare was never good for America.
Then, after a record 52 attempts to tear down Obamacare, Republicans danced in the streets when Donald Trump made it to Washington and made it possible to get rid of Obamacare for good. They finally got their wish — except nobody thought far enough in advance to figure out what to do next.
If Republicans were going to eliminate Obamacare and effectively throw millions of Americans off the health care rolls, they needed to provide a damn good replacement plan that was 100 times better than Obamacare ever was. Regrettably, they did not!
While Republican voters across the country were eagerly shouting such popular slogans as “Build That Wall” and “Lock Her Up,” congressional Republicans were also shouting a slogan of their own: “Tear It (Obamacare) Down.” The only problem is, without a viable plan ready to replace it their slogan was about as smart as someone burning down their current home before figuring out where they would live next.
Days after the Trump inauguration, GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan giddily appeared before the press with news that Obamacare’s days were numbered. However, when asked about the GOP’s specific plans to replace it, he stumbled and stammered to provide a clear explanation, mostly because there was no plan.
Then, last week, Republicans finally gave America the plan they’ve (supposedly) been waiting for. Introducing The American Health Care Act, AKA Obamacare Lite.
Yes, the anxiously awaited Republican replacement plan was almost immediately dubbed Obamacare Lite simply because it is unbelievably similar to the plan Mr. Obama had all along. Subsidies are still in place for lower-income Americans, mandates still exist for all Americans to retain some sort of medical coverage, and those with pre-existing conditions must still be accepted by insurance companies.
SEE COMPARISONS BETWEEN OBAMACARE AND THE NEW GOP PLAN
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Politics
Well, the similarities between the 2 plans have been just too much for some Republicans to bear.
Loyal partisan and far-right Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas is known as a fierce red-state critic of anything related to Barack Obama’s presidency. However, even he recognizes how Obamacare has benefitted the citizens of his state and how rushed and poorly constructed the new Republican plan is for America.
In a surprise public detachment late last week, Cotton said the House should “start over” in its process.
“House health-care bill can’t pass Senate [without] major changes. To my friends in House: pause, start over. Get it right, don’t get it fast,” Cotton wrote from his political Twitter account.
“GOP shouldn’t act like Dems did in O’care. No excuse to release bill Mon night, start voting Wed. With no budget estimate!” he continued. “What matters in long run is better, more affordable health care for Americans, NOT House leaders’ arbitrary legislative calendar.”
Interestingly, at least 7 other GOP senators joined Cotton in publicly expressing skepticism, if not outright opposition to the hastily designed Obamacare Lite plan. They were joined on Thursday by the chief medical officer of the federal government’s Medicaid program, as well as Health and Human Services Department career official, Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, who each went public in their rebuke of the Obamacare Lite plan crafted by Republicans and backed by their boss, Donald Trump.
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Despite political messaging from others at HHS, I align with the experts from @aafp @AmerAcadPeds @AmerMedicalAssn in opposition to #AHCA— Andrey Ostrovsky, MD (@AndreyOstrovsky) March 9, 2017
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As it stands, the GOP’s new Obamacare Lite plan is basically a current day redux of former President Obama’s original plan — without Mr. Obama’s name or credit connected to it. So, why is this new plan a good idea, especially after Republicans mucked with the original health care initiative only to basically come right back to it in 2017?
Is Obamacare Lite what America has been waiting for? Do Republicans need to go back to the drawing board and redesign health care for America? Or, should the GOP stop playing politics with our health and simply return to the original Obamacare?
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The only problem is, without a viable plan ready to replace it their slogan was about as smart as someone burning down their current home before figuring out where they would live next.
DJ this line said it all right here. The Repubs are so jealous of Obama's popularity they had to ruin his signature program. No matter they didn't have anything to replace it, they still rushed something out just to make it look like they had a plan all along. The whole thing is awful and they are about to put a lot of people in a health crisis. Something tells me we will end up back with Obamacare instead of this lite BS Repubs put out.
Well I must admit, I find it all quite amusing watching this whole thing play out with Repubs.
So instead of Trump delivering a plan that provides "better insurance at lower premiums and lower deductibles" as he had promised during his entire campaign, he supports Paul Ryan's plan which in actuality is nothing more than Obamacare with a few minor changes which will have devastating effects on millions of (mostly) poor and working-class Older White Trump voters. While also giving a massive "$275 BILLION dollar tax break" to the top 4.4% of wealthiest Americans.
Source- Politifact http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statement…
DJ:
Is Obamacare Lite what America has been waiting for? Do Republicans need to go back to the drawing board and redesign health care for America? Or, should the GOP stop playing politics with our health and simply return to the original Obamacare? […]
Trump voters are fine with whatever he does. They voted for him knowing full well he's full of sh*t so let them live with that decision.
As for the rest of America, it would be in Our best interest for Repubs and Dems to set aside partisan politics and work together to make Obamacare better.
"Struggling White Voters Who Helped Elect Trump Are Headed for Some Serious Pain"
A lot of low-income voters believed Trump when he promised to make America great. They’re in for a rude awakening.
Excerpt:
Donald Trump ran on a series of impossible promises, but enough people believed he could deliver on them that he won the Electoral College. His supporters are in for what might be the rudest awakening in recent political history.
Trump’s not going to make coal cheaper than natural gas and bring back a bunch of mining jobs. He might be able to negotiate some new riders for NAFTA, but they’ll be guided by the same corporate lobbyists who effectively wrote it in the first place, and won’t do anything to bring back jobs that have been sent overseas. There will be no 35 percent tariff on imports from Mexico or China.
The exit polls show that Trump beat Clinton among affluent voters, and Americans up and down the economic ladder responded to his dog whistles, or at least voted for their party despite the bigotry displayed by its nominee.
But Trump made huge gains over Mitt Romney among those making $30,000 or less, and benefited from a major urban-rural divide. And it’s the rural poor who put him over the top in key swing states who are going to be hit especially hard by the coming bait and switch. […] – Joshua Holland, writer at The Nation
News: Dow Jones
"GOP Health Plan Would Hit Rural Areas Hard"
Poor, older Americans would see largest increase in insurance-coverage costs, analysis shows
Excerpts:
The House Republican effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act could hit many rural areas particularly hard, according to a new analysis, sharply increasing the cost for some residents buying their own insurance.
In extreme cases, the amount a consumer might owe for a plan could exceed that person's annual income. In Nebraska's Chase County, a 62-year-old currently earning about $18,000 a year could pay nearly $20,000 annually to get health-insurance coverage under the House GOP plan — compared with about $760 a year that person would owe toward premiums under the ACA, an analysis by Oliver Wyman showed.
The consulting firm, a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos. is the first to project what consumers could actually have to pay to get health plans under the House's blueprint. The analysis looked at the cost of a benchmark insurance plan at the "silver" level under both setups.
Among people who currently have ACA benchmark plans, Oliver Wyman found those who are older and have lower incomes would generally see their costs for similar coverage increase the most under the House bill. Some with higher wages, and certain younger consumers, would likely do better financially under the new regime. Both urban and rural 35-year-olds making about $54,000 a year, for instance, could on average save roughly $3,000 annually, the analysis showed.
Of the 100 counties where 62-year-olds earning around $36,000 would see the biggest jump in annual costs, 97 were rural. "It is disproportionately affecting the rural," said Dianna Welch, an actuary at Oliver Wyman.
The dynamic may present a political challenge for Republicans, because many rural regions strongly supported President Donald Trump.
A Wall Street Journal analysis of Oliver Wyman's data shows that 62-year-olds currently earning about $18,000 a year would see a bump in annual premiums of more than $10,000 in 41% of counties won by Mr. Trump last November, and in 28% of counties won by Hillary Clinton. […] Morning Star Independent Investment Research
H/T: Wall Street Journal
AOL News:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its highly-anticipated analysis of the new legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare on Monday afternoon, including findings that the law will leave millions more people uninsured compared to the current health care law.
The CBO report finds that under the American Health Care Act, which repeals the Affordable Care Act signed into law by former President Barack Obama, 14 million more people would be uninsured than under current law by 2018.