Senate RepubliCare (THUBS DOWN).
That’s the verdict from the Congressional Budget Office. They say that Mitch McConnell’s Senate healthcare bill could lead to 32 million people losing their health insurance.
The Senate bill would scrap the individual mandate, offering “freedom” for many young people to forgo health insurance – thus creating an unstable insurance pool of older, sicker Americans. This would lead to health insurance companies raising premiums.
The result? Insurance plans could cost 25% more next year, then skyrocket 50% after subsidies are eliminated, and could actually double in a decade, according to the CBO.
Meanwhile Donald Trump, who during the campaign boasted of his “very good brain,” has had four shifting positions:
Position 1) He urged the Senate to Repeal and Replace
Position 2) Repeal only to start a “clean slate”, which would lead us to the healthcare fiasco we had before ObamaCare.
Position 3) Do nothing, sit back, and deliberately let ObamaCare crater. In reality, this would mean the total collapse of the American Healthcare system. Of course, Donald Trump, members of Congress and their families would have great healthcare, while millions of other people would lose their insurance.
Position 4: Trump is demanding that House and Senate members don’t go home for summer break until an awful repeal and replace bill is passed.
And, of course, the future “position 5,” Say, “screw it” and go golfing with Russians at Mara-Lago.
Trump seems to think needy Americans have become spoiled because ObamaCare gave them the opportunity to visit doctors when they’re sick. According to Trump:
“Once you get something, it’s awfully tough to take it away.” But why would lawmakers – who are supposed to protect us – deliberately try to take away our healthcare, which should be a right?
Even more bizarre, Donald Trump told the New York Times this week that he thinks people get health insurance for $12 a month. That’s a great price, especially if you get a heart attack from that greasy 15-cent hamburger you ate, at your $5 dollar front row Wrigley Field seat at a Cubs game. What bizarre universe does this out of touch president live in?
***
The essence of Repuli-Care is to perversely get as many Americans as possible uninsured. The goal is to keep insurance executives filthy rich and to save the government money.
This makes sense in the same way we could save money by eliminating jails and letting all those expensive prisoners go free and roam our streets. Or the way we could save a fortune by eliminating public schools and ensuring mass ignorance instead of education. Or eliminating food stamps and just letting the 43 million Americans who use them eat out of trashcans or starve.
The truth is, ObamaCare was an improvement over the cruel system that left people with preexisting conditions out in the cold, or drove people with illnesses to bankruptcy and destitution.
How bad were the bad old Days that Republicans want us to return to?
Pre-ObamaCare, insurance companies turned down one out of every 7 applicants with preexisting conditions. These insurance denials increased by nearly 50% between 2007 and 2009, as companies saw this as a way to rake in more money at the expense of peoples’ lives.
Still, ObamaCare has major shortcomings and is insufficient. The obvious answer is Medicare for All. However, this won’t happen until voters repeal and replace Republicans on Capitol Hill, as well as demand that Democrats listen to their base instead of greedy insurance companies.
This is your daily Reality Check with Wayne Besen.
Related Posts
Ad: Bruce Rauner is Making Us Sick Next Post:
Reality Check: Senate Plan Could Leave 32 million without Healthcare