03-07-2017, 09:23 PM
Health Care Reform??
What a mess. For 8 years, the Republicans have been crying about the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.
However, they appear to have done little to nothing in terms of finding a better way to ensure that as many Americans as possible have access to affordable healthcare during all those years, despite having stomped their feet about repealing and replacing it ad naseum and attracting votes from Republicans based on that promise.
So, they've thrown something together in attempt to appease the base. It's called the American Health Care Act. It gets rid of the individual and business mandates to purchase health care coverage or pay a penalty, which some refer to as an 'entitlement tax'. It also cuts federal medicare and medicaid funding for seniors, the disabled, and the poor, but gives states $100 billion to come up with state programs to cover those demographics. And, it increases the amount individuals can contribute to health savings account.
Some conservative Republicans who don't have their heads up their assess and their noses in President Trump's crotch aren't going for it. While subsidies would be repealed in the new bill, they would be replaced by monthly tax credits. The credits, worth between $2,000 and $14,000 a year, could be used by low-and-middle-income families who don’t get work- or government-sponsored insurance to buy state-certified plans.
The credits would be based on age and family size, unlike the income-based version under ObamaCare. Conservatives have objected that that feature simply swaps one entitlement program for another; another entitlement the government cannot afford, they say (we still haven't been told exactly how it's to be paid for).
Senator Rand Paul and other fiscally conservative elected officials have labeled the proposal "Obamacare Lite". And, they point out, they've seen no evidence that the plan would lower health care costs and premiums -- without lower costs, the replacement for Obamacare would be a failure.
Not coincidentally at all, in my opinion, none of the changes that could leave millions uninsured again, including those with pre-existing conditions (the new bill says insurers can't turn them down, but doesn't mandate "affordable" like Obamacare does) would go into effect until after mid-term Congressional elections in 2018. The halt to medicare and medicaid wouldn't take effect until after the presidential election of 2020.
Talk about delaying what was promised to be "repealed and replaced immediately!" and displaying little confidence in voter satisfaction with the new plan.
This is important shit for millions of Americans. I hope the Republicans can find a way to come up with something that actually benefits the American people, not just the wealthy and insurance company profits. Accessible/affordable health care for all should not be a partisan issue, in my view.
Oh, and the American Health Care Act bill throws in a nice little rider -- it defunds Planned Parenthood for a year.
This sloppy bill deserves to fail. I hope it does.
Ref:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/...-bill.html
What a mess. For 8 years, the Republicans have been crying about the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare.
However, they appear to have done little to nothing in terms of finding a better way to ensure that as many Americans as possible have access to affordable healthcare during all those years, despite having stomped their feet about repealing and replacing it ad naseum and attracting votes from Republicans based on that promise.
So, they've thrown something together in attempt to appease the base. It's called the American Health Care Act. It gets rid of the individual and business mandates to purchase health care coverage or pay a penalty, which some refer to as an 'entitlement tax'. It also cuts federal medicare and medicaid funding for seniors, the disabled, and the poor, but gives states $100 billion to come up with state programs to cover those demographics. And, it increases the amount individuals can contribute to health savings account.
Some conservative Republicans who don't have their heads up their assess and their noses in President Trump's crotch aren't going for it. While subsidies would be repealed in the new bill, they would be replaced by monthly tax credits. The credits, worth between $2,000 and $14,000 a year, could be used by low-and-middle-income families who don’t get work- or government-sponsored insurance to buy state-certified plans.
The credits would be based on age and family size, unlike the income-based version under ObamaCare. Conservatives have objected that that feature simply swaps one entitlement program for another; another entitlement the government cannot afford, they say (we still haven't been told exactly how it's to be paid for).
Senator Rand Paul and other fiscally conservative elected officials have labeled the proposal "Obamacare Lite". And, they point out, they've seen no evidence that the plan would lower health care costs and premiums -- without lower costs, the replacement for Obamacare would be a failure.
Not coincidentally at all, in my opinion, none of the changes that could leave millions uninsured again, including those with pre-existing conditions (the new bill says insurers can't turn them down, but doesn't mandate "affordable" like Obamacare does) would go into effect until after mid-term Congressional elections in 2018. The halt to medicare and medicaid wouldn't take effect until after the presidential election of 2020.
Talk about delaying what was promised to be "repealed and replaced immediately!" and displaying little confidence in voter satisfaction with the new plan.
This is important shit for millions of Americans. I hope the Republicans can find a way to come up with something that actually benefits the American people, not just the wealthy and insurance company profits. Accessible/affordable health care for all should not be a partisan issue, in my view.
Oh, and the American Health Care Act bill throws in a nice little rider -- it defunds Planned Parenthood for a year.
This sloppy bill deserves to fail. I hope it does.
Ref:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/...-bill.html