by Jack
Before anyone starts to rag on the GOP healthcare plan, let me remind you that Obamacare was on course for a complete financial collapse. Why, you may wonder? Because. . . the costs were far more than the income from your premiums and government subsidies. It’s that simple. Too little money in, too much money out.
This is why, major health insurance companies were dropping out of Obamacare. It wasn’t because they were making too much money! This is why some people were getting a health insurance card, but they could not get actual health care. The cost overruns of Obamacare was unsustainable.
Okay, so now this Genie (universal healthcare) is out of the bottle and there’s no going back. People believe they can’t exist without universal healthcare. Now, it falls onto the GOP (the adults) to make it possible and by that I mean to make it affordable.
But, people don’t want to pay high premiums, regardless of their pre-existing conditions or age. They want the government (aka the taxpayer) to pick up the tab. Well folks, that just isn’t going to happen under the new GOP bill. Voting democrat won’t fix it either (we were just there), this is about basic math. It’s about what you put in and what you take out. Politics won’t change that! And don’t give me that garbage about how wonderful Europe has it and why can’t we have socialized medicine? They have it because they pay about 3X the income tax you do!
The American Health Care Act does a number of things.
- It ends Obamacare’s mandate that most Americans buy health insurance or face a penalty. It would, however, allow insurers to charge people more if they have a gap in coverage.
- It would end new enrollment in Medicaid expansion on Dec. 31, 2019 for states that expanded the government health care program for the poor. Georgia is one of 19 states that chose not to expand.
- It would also fundamentally change how the federal government pays states for Medicaid. Instead of paying states a certain percentage of all of their Medicaid costs, it would allow states to opt for “block grants” that are lump sum payments and give them more flexibility in who the program would cover. Experts say such a move would almost certainly reduce enrollment and cut services.
- An amendment added to the bill after it failed to garner enough Republican support in March, would allow states to opt out of two key Obamacare provisions. It would let insurers charge sicker people higher premiums. Right now, they can’t. It would also let states opt out of Obamacare’s mandate that insurers cover certain “essential” health benefits, such as maternity care and mental health treatment.
- It would offer tax credits, like Obamacare does, but those credits would be based on people’s age rather than income. This would benefit younger, higher-income Americans and mean less financial help for poorer, older individuals.
- It would also offer tax credits to higher-income Americans who currently make too much to qualify for financial help under Obamacare.
- It would allow insurers to charge older Americans even higher premiums because of their age. Right now, they can charge older people up to three times more than younger consumers. The bill would let them charge up to five times more.
- It would continue the popular Obamacare rule that allows parents to keep kids on their insurance until age 26.
- It would provide states with a “Patient and State Stability Fund” they could use to help cover sicker, more expensive patients. Under this, states could set up high-risk pools to cover expensive patients but traditionally high-risk pools have been too expensive for states to operate.
- It would cut roughly $880 billion in taxes — mostly for wealthy Americans — instituted under Obamacare.
The Atlantic calls the new GOP bill, “…single-payer for dummies: It has all of the logic of the government stepping in to make sure everyone has health-care coverage, with none of the efficiencies that should create.”
“US citizens with the most serious forms of cancer could have to pay up to 35 times more for health insurance under a proposed amendment to Donald Trump’s new healthcare bill, analysts have claimed.” Independent, UK
For some pre-existing conditions the premiums will be so high, you might as well not have any coverage. Sorry, but this is the way it works out. This means some people will go broke and will be forced on to welfare and state run health insurance. It does not mean they will not get healthcare, despite what the left says.
What would be the impact on the budget deficit?
The latest version of the House GOP bill scored by the CBO would have reduced the budget deficit by $150 billion over 10 years, relative to current law. Again, the CBO will not issue a score on today’s bill before the vote, but it’s likely the fiscal impact of this latest proposal will be similar to that of earlier versions.
As you can see, this bill is going to cost you plenty. You wanted Universal Healthcare, then you have to pay the actual costs, including the high costs for millions of really sick people.
You can’t pretend those costs don’t exist! You can’t push them down the road adding to our deficit; this bill says you have to pay now. It’s expensive to insure millions of really sick people and this bill, while not perfect, intends for you to pay your share of the high risk healthcare pools, so the really sick can be insured to the same level of care as your family. What’s that? You thought government money would pay for them? Ha. Government has no money and it creates no money, it all comes from you – period. There is no free lunch.
Now pony up.
This bill passed by a vote of 217 to 213. All 193 Democrats voting opposed the bill; they were joined by 20 Republicans voting “no.” This bill is step one in the process. It now goes to the Senate where it will change once again.
What has transpired under Obama, including the ACA, to make this bill necessary?
1. Democrats lied when they said citizens could keep their healthcare if they liked it.
2. Democrats lied when they said you could keep your doctor.
3. Democrats lied when they said the ACA would save the average family $2700 a year.
4. Democrats lied when they told us Oamacare would not add significantly to the debt.
5. Democrats were devious when they back-loaded taxes to get a favorable CBO report for the ACA prior to passing it.
6. Democrats bragged their policies would create jobs – but poor employment records make buying insurance, or paying a fine, a heavy burden that has only exacerbated healthcare concerns.
A 2015 article in The Weekly Standard, “$7.5 Trillion in Debt Added Under Obama,” includes indications, with links, that the above and more is true:
7. Obamacare is in a death spiral
8. Too few healthy/young Americans bought insurance (as planned in the ACA)
9. High premiums and deductibles locked many Americans out of the healthcare system causing many to put off treatment
10 Insurance companies can’t sustain coverage under heavy losses – ongoing government bail outs would bust budgets and add to our debt problems – companies are pulling out
11. Regulations interfere with the doctor patient relationship
12. High taxes contribute to the sluggish economy and lousy jobs
13. Designed-in lack of competition drives up costs and eliminates choices
14. Blunted access to actual care through high premiums and deductibles may have contributed to the spike in premature deaths in America.
15. Numbers using emergency rooms as doctor visits did not change under the ACA as promised
16. Fewer doctors and hospitals are available to ObamaCare recipients
17. Some ObamaCare plans offer no in-network doctors that specialize in crucial services – endocrinology, rheumatology and psychiatry being the most commonly excluded specialties.
18. Doctors have retired rather than attempt to practice under the weight of Draconian regulations.
19. Looming Doctor shortages exacerbated by progressive policies, including Obamacare.
The Atlantic and the Independent (UK) articles represent a fairly negative take on the bill passed today, typical of a progressive point of view. It can certainly cause depression if you let it.
I’m a conservative but I’m also a realist. As things stand in this nation today there is no way that I can expect my most favored conditions will be met. It’s best for me to accept the things that represent an improvement even if they don’t meet my wishes and desires. I recommend balancing the left’s take with a reading of the Speakers take on The American Health Care Act which he says, delivers on Trumps promises.
Democrats in Congress and their performance activists in the streets are lying about what the bill contains and how it will play out in our lives. It’s the usual script, the law will hurt children and old people and take money from the poor to give to the rich. They are desperate. They are angry. They are afraid. Today they have lost the opportunity to impose a single payer system as Obamacare crumbles. Today Americans might begin to get some relief from all of the above negatives of the last eight years and find out that the Republicans can deliver a better product, including better jobs. Soon more Americans will be able to consider their insurance choices and decide on a plan that works for them. Soon Americans might actually be able to use the healthcare they choose and finally get the care they need. Soon doctors will have more time with patients and spend less time filling out paperwork. Soon Americans will begin to prosper again.
It’s anything but perfect but it is a move in the right direction. (Reminder: It took the left more than 70 years to deliver Obamacare)
What is Obamacare? exactly what is t?
And no sorry the GOP had not passed the next bill to undermine the ACA. Little Marco got a major bill passed to undermine the subsidies in 2014 and that helped raise the rates, but they had not made the ACA on the brink of collapse til this bill.
You print propaganda – explain what ACA is cause you have not got it right once. You repeat talking points you hear.
You read this bill? Funny cause it was not read before the vote as there was no time. It was Paul Ryan who said they should never vote on a bill no one has has time to read.
Who pays for your healthcare Tina? Are you expecting taxpayers to pay for something unavailable to themselves? Old people’s rates are the ones that go up. I know you will be responsible and pay those rates right?
It is time these old people stop getting a free ride.
You have no clue but it will be good. by 2020 after enough people die – single payer will be understood and fought for
Now Let’s rise the drug rates again. Those CEO’s need a raise.
They cut medicaid to pay for tax cuts in the next bill to come. This is another transfer of wealth. You should be very happy. Inequality takes another huge step and then you can blame Obama for the results of the people sinking into death panels.
Did you know acne is a preexisting condition? LOL
Told you before…I participate in the medical care program for the elderly that was FORCED UPON ME by a government answering to socialists like YOU!!!
As a business owner I was required to track, report and pay the taxes for this plan (Medicare) for all of my employees, including myself over the last thirty years. In addition to the employee portion I was required to pay the business side. Over my lifetime I have paid, and paid dearly, for the care I now receive. Actually I paid for the care my parents generation received and the cost was on an upward scale for all of those years.
Had I, and my fellow citizens, been allowed to save and invest that money instead, I’d be looking at a very sizable fund from which to pay my medical bills. I’d also be enjoying reasonable costs for the basics in healthcare and I’d be carrying catastrophic insurance for very the expensive problems that often occur in old age.
That choice was denied me. So until it changes, you can go pound sand.
And don’t kid yourself…if things don’t change you will accept this plan for yourself too when the time comes…because you will have been forced to pay in advance! (Think of the poor slob that dies at age 66.
In addition to the Medicare expenditure, I paid for health insurance for my employees over that thirty years. Government intrusion pushed the cost for that insurance through the roof too…a double whammy! Living in California, I experienced the sharp rise in premiums that occurred when coverage for things my employees didn’t use or care to have were forced into the insurance plans.
If you share my disdain for Medicare, the answer is not single-payer and even greater government control. Single payer makes the government a monopoly that has the power to charge as much as it likes, force higher taxes, and deny services. Single payer government monopoly is also basically unaccountable for errors…just ask today’s veterans! A single payer government monopoly would cause an even bigger debt crisis. There is no way to get around that.
To fix this broken mess and stop forcing the next generations to pay for their parents old age care, to end the economy robbing scourge of debt, the answer is to get the government out of the management of healthcare almost entirely.
One idea, easily translated to legislation, doesn’t end Medicare, but it does drive costs down for everyone and puts the patient in charge. See here. It would stop the hidden aspect of fees and force open competition that puts the patient (the customer) in charge. The debt reduction would be immediate and give every citizen a bump in his standard of living.
Note: Social Security will start declining as Baby Boomers pass on…but it won’t be long until Millenials, a group larger than the boomers, will once again increase demand.
Dewey you are not interested in discussing real solutions to our healthcare system.
You are only interested in pushing one system, single payer. You do this out of ignorance, in complete defiance of projected outcomes or known factors born out through historical references and experience. That makes you nothing more than NOISE…and an annoying noise at that.
Tina
Yes that is my choice
You fail to recognize why our healthcare system is a mess
It is a for wall street profit system.
It is against the law for the gov to negotiate drug prices for medicare but ok for Wall Street Ins companies?
Drugs are manufactured for profit not to heal or save lives in many many cases.
We have Prescription drug commercials on TV? Where the life threatening disclosures are often more words than the ads?
We have drugs prescribed by doctors that cause more harm?
We can not order the same drugs we pay extreme prices for from Canada?
The law states profits for investors comes before anything else when a Company is traded.
SO if you want to have a real discussion then we discuss the laws, why Big Pharma Drug prices are inhumane and why the US For Profit system is one of the most un-affordable in the world with less care.
We also need to add the donations to the elected from both parties and their obligations to these donors over the care for our citizens.
Yes I am not in for any more of this Healthcare rip off…
No one says the for profits insurance can not exist but people want a Choice for medicare for all. What’s wrong if some of us elect to pay a tax for it?……..
others see we get better options for healthcare?
Tina How Much do you pay for your healthcare? Oh yea you are on the exact system we want to be on right?
?
I say people who do not pay for their healthcare have no stake in the conversation, they need to step aside
Also Tina The platform I support has outlined nothing but solutions while Koch Tea Party politicians lied about having any plan.
So I fully support my platform. Solutions are easy and documented.
What I can not tolerate is the base of people on medicare and collecting social security pulling up the ladder behind them
I can have more respect if they stop using the system while railing it
Again the solutions are in print.