Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Apologies to Donald Trump or (Damn the facts! Full repeal ahead!)

Can't believe I'm saying that or that I doubted him.

President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid.

Really? Tell me more.

Trump declined to reveal specifics in the telephone interview late Saturday with The Washington Post.

Well, maybe he'll tweet'em later. Let's here a little more from Jeff Jeans who had such a horrific experience with ACA. 

He was diagnosed with a “very curable cancer” and told that, if left untreated, he had perhaps six weeks to live. Only because of an early Affordable Care Act program that offered coverage to people with preexisting medical problems, Jeans said, “I am standing here today alive.”

Certainly not as horrific as brave, brave Sir Paul Ryan was hoping for. 

The speaker's smile vanished. His brow furrowed.

How sad for Paul Ryan that Jeff Jeans did not die because of Obamacare. 

Ryan went for the human touch. “First, I am glad you are standing here,” he replied. “I mean really. Seriously. Hey. No really.”

Hey. No, really. 

But Jeans interrupted him: “I want to thank President Obama from the bottom of my heart, because I would be dead if it weren't for him.”

Well, that town hall went well. I hope Elise has one soon. Unfortunately I haven't had a life threatening illness I can go and share. Well maybe someone has. Love your letter and you, Abigail. 

Of course, a few deaths here and there aren't going to stand in Ryan's way. I thought it was Obama and the death panels that were going to lead to that. 

Republicans lit the fuse on Obamacare last Friday, approving the first step of the "reconciliation" procedure they can use to gut much of the law over even unified Democratic objections. Many Republicans are nervous. They should be: Millions of people's lives are on the line, and the GOP has just set the country down a perilous path without a clear map showing where it will end up.

They're nervous! 

 "We have to step in before things get even worse," he said. "This is nothing short of a rescue mission." Ryan's words mirrored those of President-elect Donald Trump, who insisted at a Wednesday news conference that the law is "imploding as we sit," and who is urging Congress to pass both a repeal of Obamacare and a replacement within weeks.

And that's why he's brave, brave Sir Paul. Brave with other's lives anyway. 

"Misleading" would be a generous way to describe this spin. In fact, the Affordable Care Act has pushed the uninsured rate to historic lows; enrollment has held up this year; Obamacare markets are working well in a variety of states; in places where markets have been shakier, federal subsidies shield consumers from premium volatility; and the ACA Medicaid expansion continues to cover millions of people without trouble - save for that caused by Republicans who blocked the expansion in some states. If the ACA implodes in 2017, it will be due to presidential maladministration or Congress rushing through a sloppy repeal.

Damn the facts! Full repeal ahead!

What issues the law has should be addressed through minor renovations. Republicans could strengthen provisions that encourage people to buy insurance or tighten rules that discourage people from signing up only when they are sick, for example. On top of an improved health-care system, the GOP could most likely get some Democratic votes for this approach.

My advice to Republicans, not that any are going to see it, is to call it the Affordable Care Act. Stop the Obama care nonsense. Admit that you're amending it not repealing it since a lot of features are being retained. But then, amend doesn't sell as well with the Tea Party crowd. And that's hard when you're talking about rescue missions and implosions. The alternative is it becomes Trumpcare and every Jeff Jeans that dies is on the heads of the GOP. 

Doing so would be significantly better than acting on the GOP's more sweeping, previously proposed alternative plans, which aim to lower costs but would undermine the insurance pool, pushing out some of the neediest people in the process. In general, they would provide inadequate aid to help people buy insurance, encourage deductibles to rise, cut the benefits insurers must provide and enable insurers to discriminate more against the old and the sick. 

Yeah, doing that. 

Just want to link to this bit of BS, since we're running long here.

“If you look at those families that have employer-based insurance, their premiums have increased by more than $4,300.”

Kevin McCarthy: Liar, idiot or asshole? Why choose just one? Debunk at delink.

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