Tag: Trumpcare

How To Fight The Republicans Who Voted For ‘Trumpcare’

The following article by Tim Marcin of Newsweek was posted on the National Memo website May 5, 2017:

Lots of liberals, and even some conservatives, are upset that House Republicans passed Thursday a health care bill that hadn’t been vetted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for its cost or effects, such as the loss of coverage for millions of Americans, as the CBO estimated for a prior version of the legislation. The GOP was apparently ready for it’s Obamacare replacement and ready for it now—but opponents also were ready to fight back.

Causing particular anger is the provision in the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—often dubbed Trumpcare—that undermines protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions. States would be able to apply for waivers to allow insurers to charge higher premiums for those with pre-existing conditions. It has been estimated some 27 percent of people on the individual market suffer from things that could be considered pre-existing conditions—which under Obamacare included having cancer or being the victim of sexual assault. Continue reading “How To Fight The Republicans Who Voted For ‘Trumpcare’”

Republicans Get Their Health Bill. But It May Cost Them.

For some context on this, Rep. Erik Paulsen voted for this bill even though it was unscored by the Congressional Budget Office, went through hidden negotiations and, from what we’ve been able to see so far, he hadn’t read.  The bill passed by 2 votes.  Minnesota’s 3 Republican members of Congress voted for this bill.  Erik Paulsen is one of those members of Congress.

The following article by Jennifer Steinhauer was posted on the New York Times website May 4, 2017:

Paul D. Ryan, speaker of the House, before the vote on Thursday. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — In voting to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, House Republicans finally made progress on a key Trump administration goal and on a campaign promise that they have made for the better part of a decade — but at a potentially steep price.

After failing to get the votes for an original replacement measure in March, Speaker Paul D. Ryan worked tirelessly to do what his predecessor, John A. Boehner, could not, bringing together his most conservative members and their moderate colleagues behind a piece of legislation laden with political peril. Continue reading “Republicans Get Their Health Bill. But It May Cost Them.”

U.S. House health care bill is a big step backward for those with preexisting conditions

The following commentary by the Editorial Board was posted on the Star Tribune website May 4, 2017:

The final total on the vote on the Republicans health care bill was displayed at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Relieved Republicans muscled their health care bill through the House, taking their biggest step toward dismantling the Obama health care overhaul since Donald Trump took office. HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP

Today, Bethany Gladhill’s daughter Beatrix is an active 9-year-old who enjoys dance and school. But right after she was born, Beatrix was diagnosed with a heart valve anomaly. After a family job loss, which meant no more employee health benefits, Gladhill soon found that she couldn’t add baby Beatrix to the new health plan she and her husband purchased on the individual market.

Their infant had a “preexisting condition,” their health insurance broker told them. The St. Paul couple, who continue to work as consultants, were stunned. Said Gladhill: “It’s the honest inability as a parent to believe that nobody cares enough about your newborn to cover them with insurance and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Eventually, the family did get coverage for Beatrix through Minnesota’s old “high-risk pool” insurance program, but at a cost — they had to buy a separate plan for her with higher premiums, a narrow medical provider network and two annual deductibles totaling around $10,000. After President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act passed, the couple could finally buy a family plan, one with the same clinics, one set of bills and a deductible of $4,000. “The costs went down by half. It was huge,” Gladhill said. Continue reading “U.S. House health care bill is a big step backward for those with preexisting conditions”

Make No Mistake …

The following article was posted on the Trumpaccountable website May 4, 2017:

For all of the talk about Obamacare imploding or falling apart, the way President Trump and House Republicans chose to “fix” health care was to give a very large tax break to a very few Americans and deprive an estimated 24 million Americans of insurance.

There were other solutions to this particular problem and 217 House Republicans and the entire Trump administration chose the solution that privileges the wealthy over those that need the most help and support in this country.

All 217 members who voted for Trumpcare will be up for election in 2018 and it is noteworthy that they have chosen to side with Trump over their constituents and the American people. They will be answerable to the charges of hypocrisy on display throughout this process.

View the post here.

This is not the health-care bill that Trump promised

The following article by Phillip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website May 4, 2017:

It was one thing for Donald Trump to pledge on the campaign trail that his plan for health care would assure that every American had coverage. He did so repeatedly, including during a town hall event in February 2016 at which he said his promise to “take care” of everyone might sound as if he was talking about a single-payer system, but he wasn’t. “That’s not single-payer,” he said. “That’s not anything. That’s just human decency.”

It was another thing, though, for Trump to make similar claims after the election. Before the election, it was anything goes in a way that most politicians would avoid. Afterward, one might expect Trump to zero in on his preferences a bit more narrowly, to scrape away the rhetoric and describe, instead, what it was that he wanted to see. Continue reading “This is not the health-care bill that Trump promised”

What a Trumpcare Nightmare: Just About Everyone With Health Care Is Going to Pay More, Get Less and Face Chaos

The following article by Steven Rosenfeld was posted on the AlterNet website May 4, 2017:

The good news is that the reception in the Senate is decidedly cold.

The final total on the vote on the Republicans health care bill was displayed at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Relieved Republicans muscled their health care bill through the House, taking their biggest step toward dismantling the Obama health care overhaul since Donald Trump took office. HOUSE TELEVISION VIA AP

The buzz hadn’t even worn off the Republican fratboys chugging beers to celebrate the House’s passage of its latest Obamacare repeal before the political hangover started surfacing.

While this motley crew was drinking Bud Light before trekking to the White House to bask in President Trump’s winner’s circle, the Washington Post’s editorial page—no bastion of liberalism—trashed the flock as lying hacks. House Republicans “betrayed” Americans by promising they would “maintain access to health insurance for people with preexisting medical conditions, and then on Thursday press[ed] a bill through the House that would eliminate those guarantees,” the Post said. Continue reading “What a Trumpcare Nightmare: Just About Everyone With Health Care Is Going to Pay More, Get Less and Face Chaos”

Math Guy Paulsen Votes FOR the AHCA

Second vote on a major bill affecting large numbers of people in the country he says he represents — without having any idea of the social or monetary impact of the bill

Yes, Mr. Invisible did it. He cast his vote in favor of damaging coverage for millions of people nation-wide — hundreds of thousands in his home district. All without knowing how deep the impact will be on these people.

Remember this, folks.  He isn’t a moderate.  He’s never been one, but has hidden in plain site as one for years. Don’t return this person to office in 2018.  He doesn’t care about you, he only cares about getting enough money to keep himself in office. It will be interesting to watch how his large donations come in moving forward. We think we know.  (He had no time to meet with his constituents in a public town hall, but did have time to meet with organizations that are made up of businesses and executives who’ve given him big bucks.)

We’ll have to watch what happens with coverage changes (it WILL trickle down to those with employer coverage from what we’ve read and will impact any child in special education with a massive funding cut).

 

House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat

The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the American Progress website May 2, 2017:

Republican members of Congress watch as they and their fellow members vote for House Speaker on the first day of the new congressional session in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The latest amendment to the House Republicans’ bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, singles out people with pre-existing health conditions. The amendment to the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, would allow insurance companies in the small-group and individual markets to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions if they experience a gap in coverage. People with severe health conditions would face premiums so high that they would be priced out of the market.

Amid accusations of breaking promises on pre-existing conditions, the Trump administration has suggested that states could create high-risk pools under the AHCA, a plan that itself has come under harsh criticism from groups such as the American Medical Association and AARP. Recent history shows that high-risk pools are not a solution to stabilizing insurance markets, particularly when underfunded. Continue reading “House Health Care Plan Is Not Enough to Keep High-Risk Pools Afloat”

Trumpcare is so awful that House Republicans are building an escape hatch for themselves

The following article by Alan Pyke was posted on the Think Progress website April 26, 2017:

GOP lawmakers, staff quietly exempt themselves from Trumpcare hardships

Top of the Ticket, David Horsey, Los Angeles Times

Leading Republicans have insisted their efforts to repeal Obamacare and replace it with legislation predicted to knock tens of millions of Americans off of their insurance are based in sincere policy principles, not politics.

That claim died Tuesday night, when House Republicans introduced an amendment ensuring that members of Congress and their staff would be exempt from the consequences of any health insurance law the party manages to pass. Continue reading “Trumpcare is so awful that House Republicans are building an escape hatch for themselves”

Even in Trump’s base, his path forward on health care is awfully unpopular

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website April 25, 2017:

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump’s proposal on health care was nebulously perfect. Obamacare — that is, the Affordable Care Act — would be gone, he told his cheering supporters, replaced by something cheaper, better and more expansive that wouldn’t be burdened by the hated word “Obama.”

When it came time to deliver on that promise, very early in his administration, the bill that was offered up was somewhat distant from that target. The American Health Care Act would actually see fewer people covered by a decade from now, independent analysis indicated, and costs would drop largely because those with the most expensive plans would stop getting coverage. Trump halfheartedly championed the bill even though it wasn’t his creation. When it collapsed, the exhalation from the White House was nearly audible. Continue reading “Even in Trump’s base, his path forward on health care is awfully unpopular”