There are a bunch of knots for the GOP Congress to untangle as they work toward repealing, replacing or reforming the Affordable Care Act. Among them: How to deal with the Medicaid expansion that helped low-income Americans get health insurance (at least in states that accepted the Medicaid dollars from Washington); whether to continue the subsidies that helped middle-class Americans afford health care policies on the online marketplace exchanges; whether to require Americans to purchase health insurance; and whether to continue to prohibit insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.
While the reform is being hashed out behind closed doors, the Congressional Budget Office did score the repeal proposal that Republicans had pushed in 2015. Under that proposal, Under that proposal, the number of uninsured Americans without insurance was projected to increase in the first year by 18 million and by 23 million by 2026. Also, premiums for people purchasing insurance in the online marketplace or through private insurers would increase by 20 to 25 percent, which doesn’t exactly help everyone get insurance or lower prices. So it’s little wonder that the GOP is trying to come up with a new plan, though there’s a lot of disagreement how it will work. (NY Mag’s Jonathan Chait has a pretty good rundown on the challenges here.)
More than nine out of 10 Americans believe that insurance companies should not be able to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, according to a January GS Strategies poll.
So where is U.S. Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ02), who supports repealing the Affordable Care Act, on the question? Her spokesman, Patrick Ptak, tells the Weekly:
Rep. McSally is committed to ensuring that individuals with pre-existing conditions have access to affordable coverage options and cannot be denied health insurance. She will work to ensure the House reform package includes these protections.
This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 1, 2017.
I spoke with her office this morning and encouraged them to not be pressured to a quick fix by the impatient media types hoping for failure at any level. Take your time and do it right this time. Drop the 80/20 rule which opened the door for insurance companies to over pay doctors. Armed with the Obama promise of government bailouts for insurance companies they pushed up allowable charges that Medicare has never allowed, and the doctors kept quiet. Imagine that. Obama helped the doctors steal more of our health care money. And now the insurance companies are suing the government over the Obama lies?
Take your time, listen to the problems and solve them. What a unique concept, huh?
Anytime Uncle Sam makes you purchase something or pay a fine… It can’t be good!
Who knew it could be so complicated?
It appears as though it was actually designed to fail, if you take a good long look at the total law. The promise that insurers would be bailed out was the drug that addicted them. But once again their pusher lied.
“?@%%*$! the pusher man.”
Worked for me.
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy.-Elmer T Peterson b. 1951
“Kill the wabbitt.” – Elmer Fudd b. 1937.
It is Hypocrisy that the Republicans in Congress, who have Health Coverage second to none, are NOT supportive a Universal Health Coverage in the US, i.e., NO ONE should be without Health Insurance. There should be Price Controls in place on Drug Companies and the Health Care Industry so as to ensure that they are NOT Profiteering at the expense of others!!!
Vote the Hypocrite Republicans OUT of OFFICE!!!!
Francis it appears that you have described the health care plan in Cuba. And I have to ask, why don’t the Democrats in Congress have the same plan?
Oh look they do. Can we all just act like we are Americans with common goals?
I’d just like to say this about Obamacare. First point – If the Repugnicans hadn’t sat on their hands the first time around, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Second point – the reason people are forced to buy insurance was simply that the program was designed to appeal to Repugnicans. Ask yourself, which so-called socialist would not just opt for single payer systems?
This would have been nice to hear in a town hall meetings.
In my mind, making sure they have “access” is not the same as “affordable”, so will wait to see how this plays out.
There’s an old story about how a camel is a horse designed by a committee. I have a terrible feeling that the healthcare creature the Republicans settle upon will make a camel look like a thoroughbred; however, there is one characteristic of which I am certain — its head will undoubtedly be stuck up its ass.
Remember, first of all. The ACA is the republican plan to begin with. I don’t see them replcing it, just taking out the parts the democrats added to protect the consumer. Like preexisting conditions, you can’t sell worthless insurance policies. Those are the things republicans want to remove.
Medicare is hard. Veterans’ health service is hard. Indian Health Service is hard. How much harder will it be to give us all health care? Represent all of us, McSally… not just the military.
You have listed nothing but failing government services. I want to stay away from it as long as I can.
Like I said, it is hard… but there are people smarter than us. And it has to be done at the federal level with maximum transparency. The insurance companies are there for profit, not health care, and they contribute heavily to ensure their profitability.
That sounds a lot like misplaced trust. The ACA with all of it’s transparency required insurers to comply with the 80/20 law. That caused the financial collapse while doctors and hospitals made huge profits. Look a little deeper.
“And I have to ask, why don’t the Democrats in Congress have the same plan?”
democrats and republicans both are lobbied by the health care industry against any actual universal health care because such a plan would require the government to put its people before the corporations. if you think most democrats want the same universal health service that has worked better for countries around the world, including cuba, youre dead wrong
If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. We all know how that turned out. ‘Nuff said.
11 chicken shits hit dislike and run. Not a one of you had anything to counter what I had to say. What else is new? I would dislike it too if I fell for some snake-oil salesman’s line of bullshit. Keep you doctor my ass.
I keep me doctor, you keep you doctor my ass.
You’re right you can’t. You can’t even stick to one name.