Thanks to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, affordable healthcare in America is available to the poor, the disabled, the chronically ill and the elderly.
Thanks to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Americans with pre-existing conditions can get health insurance.
Thanks to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden...I have health insurance.
But now...Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress want to take it away from me just so the nation's wealthy can buy bigger houses...more expensive cars...new boats...and other luxury items.
Don't jump down my throat so quickly. I realize that the GOP Senate bill - revealed on Thursday, June 22nd, 2017 - doesn't permit insurance companies to deny coverage to those of us with pre-existing conditions...or to jack up the prices because of health problems. On the other hand, though...Republican lawmakers won't make it "an absolute" for people with pre-existing conditions to be able to obtain health insurance. Although insurance companies won't be given a green light to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, the GOP senators' legislation would allow state governments the flexibility to waive the Affordable Care Act's so-called "essential health benefits" - a list of ten coverage categories that every insurance plan needs. The Republican senators' measure would also give states a pathway that would put the screws to people with pre-existing conditions. By the Senate giving the states carte blanche, insurance companies would likely entice healthy people to purchase less expensive policies that don't cover as much...which would mean that Americans with pre-existing conditions would have a tough time to find a plan that is affordable and that would cover necessary treatments.
As for those essential health benefits...the Republicans believe states should have the right to take those EHBs and chop them up in to little pieces then throw them in to the trash so that premiums for the rich can be reduced. By doing so, the costs of policies for the middle-class and poor will skyrocket...and deductibles will soar in to the stratosphere for everyone, but the wealthy. Such essential health benefits that a state could eliminate include maternity care, mental health treatment, emergency services and prescription drugs, to name only a few. Premiums, therefore, would cost less for the rich and/or healthy, but the plans would cover less. So the sick and disabled...and the poor and the aging...would be out in the cold...unable to buy insurance that fit their budgets. Furthermore, insurance companies could impose annual or even lifetime limits on items that are not considered essential health benefits. The Affordable Care Act had done away with those limits.
But there is hope that the Senate measure will not pass and that President Obama's signature legislation - more commonly known as "Obamacare" - will remain the law of the land forever. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his Republican cronies haven't pulled the plug on their bill yet, but the GOP did trip the circuit breaker on Tuesday, June 27th and, therefore, delayed the vote on the measure. The Republicans' efforts to "repeal and replace Obamacare" are on hold until at least after Congress' 4th of July recess. And unless McConnell can convince a total of 49 of the other 51 Republican senators to join him and jump on his bandwagon, their Better Care Reconciliation Act will go off the cliff and crash on impact.
The fact of the matter is...the Senate's legislation has nothing to do with improving anyone's health. The measure is purely a political ploy to generate revenue so that massive tax reductions would be provided to moneymakers in the top 2-percent of the country, who now pay more in taxes to help America's neediest receive subsidies and tax credits so that they can afford healthcare. Those Affordable Care Act subsidies would be drastically cut under the Republicans' plan, thus providing less money for fewer people. And those who would still qualify for subsidies would still pay much higher premiums than they do now. No matter what President Obama did...Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell want to undo. And they don't give a damn that the most vulnerable Americans would suffer.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office - on Monday, June 26th - determined that the Senate Republicans' healthcare plan would leave 22-million more Americans uninsured by 2026...including 15-million by 2018. That means, over the next eight years, 49-million people in our country wouldn't have insurance. The House of Representatives bill would equate to 51-million Americans who would be excluded from health insurance by 2026.
Although the Congressional Budget Office says the GOP Senate plan would reduce the nation's deficit by 321-billion dollars by 2026...the CBO blames the savings on deep Medicaid cuts...which is something Donald Trump insisted - during the presidential campaign - would never happen. Therefore, it's time to remind you of Trump's own words.
On September 7th, 2015, Trump told CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley - in a 60 Minutes interview - "Everybody's got to be covered. I am going to take care of everybody."
In a February 2016 interview with Fox News...Trump told Sean Hannity..."I'm not gonna have, if I'm President, people dying in the the street because they can't afford (a) health plan. I'm not going to allow people to die on the sidewalks of the streets. I'm not gonna let it happen."
And on January 25th, 2017 - sitting down with ABC News anchor David Muir - Trump echoed much of what he had promised in the past. "What my plan is...is that I want to take care of everybody. I'm not going to leave the lower 20-percent that can't afford insurance."
Medicaid covers about 70-million Americans. According to The Kaiser Family Foundation, 20-percent of all Americans...39-percent of all children...49-percent of all births...and 64-percent of all nursing home residents...are covered by Medicaid. But yet...the GOP wants to slash nearly 800-billion dollars - that's almost one-trillion dollars - from Medicaid. How do Republicans not realize that Medicaid is vital to such a vast amount of people? In addition to the Medicaid cuts, the GOP bill would axe federal funding for Planned Parenthood...which would affect many millions of women throughout the United States. It's no wonder Republicans wanted to keep their bill a secret until the proverbial cat was out of the bag.
Why do so many people - who are more fortunate than others - not want to help people living in poverty...children - and adults - who are sick with lifelong diseases... and anyone who desperately needs Medicaid merely to survive?
Let me be clear here. Not all Americans in that top 2-percent are selfish. I would never make such a suggestion. There are a great many people who fit in that financial bracket who are not only philanthropic and charitable, but who are willing to pay more in taxes so that healthcare remains a right for all, not a privilege for few.
I truly believe that most Republicans have no clue how tens of millions of Americans live. And now, it's apparent that they not only don't want to know...but they don't care. On June 22nd, dozens of people - many of them ill or disabled...and some with oxygen tanks and/or in wheelchairs - were arrested after they protested against the GOP bill. In a disgraceful and shameful act by Capitol Hill officials, police carried out the demonstrators - kicking and screaming - from outside Senator McConnell's office. I certainly hope voters will remember that day when they go to the polls for the mid-term elections in 2018 and the next presidential election in 2020. But just in case they don't...if the Democratic Party - and all Democratic candidates - are smart... before election day, they will refresh voters' memories of the reprehensible behavior by the powers-that-be on Capitol Hill...and note that McConnell's office could have stopped the police from such horrid action. Democrats should flood the airwaves with television ads that show physically impaired Americans being hauled away in such a disgraceful manner as if they were bags of garbage.
If a combined House and Senate healthcare bill ever were to pass for Donald Trump to sign in to law, a tremendous amount of Americans would - in the not too distant future - be tossed out on to the streets...and hundreds-of-thousands of people...if not millions...will die. To anyone who cast their ballots last year to elect Donald Trump as President...is this what you voted for?
The Republican legislation would give each of the 400 wealthiest families in the country a 7-million dollar tax cut every year. The bill would provide 500-billion dollars in tax cuts to the top 2-percent of America's earners. Republicans nationwide - and those on Capitol Hill - who support such a measure...are cruel and heartless. As Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts stated - June 22nd - on the Senate floor..."These cuts are blood money. People will die."
In my May 5th, 2017 column, I called the House Republican healthcare bill "a recipe for death." I wrote that if their piece of legislation became law, Donald Trump...certain Members of Congress...and anyone else who supports the measure... would someday be guilty of murder. Now...the GOP senators who back their bill...will deserve the same accusation.
Neither the Senate or House healthcare bill should ever become law. Such measures are vindictive viciousness by immoral monsters who are willing to pass legislation that would eventually take people to their graves.
"Obamacare" has saved millions of lives. "Trumpcare" would put millions to death.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of
GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
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Now, please express your personal opinions by following the instructions above. And thank you for reading The Controversy.
First let me say people weren’t dying in the street before Obamacare (ACA) and they won’t if it is repealed so stop the lies. The thing you neglect to say is that the ACA is failing, you now have 1400 counties with only one insurer and close to 50 counties that do not have any insures in the exchange that leaves 35,000 people without any insurance. They have no choice to have no insurance yet under the ACA they will have to pay the tax penalty for not having something they can’t buy. It is estimated that over 500,000 people or more will not have any insurance coverage available to them on the exchanges within 12-18 months. With millions more having their rates go up 10, 20, 50 percent or more (Oklahoma with an estimated rate increase of 76% for 2017) with deductibles of $5000 to $10000 and high co-pays. The ACA is dying and if not replaced more people will be without any coverage then would be on if the Senate bill passes. You could tax the top 1% an extra 10% or more and you still could not keep Obamacare solvent. The problem in my opinion is not the cost of insurance but the cost of healthcare and the way Americans use it. It should be illegal for a hospital to charge an unissued person $1000 a night for a bed yet only $150 a night to an insured person. Charge the uninsured $20,000 for a surgery yet charge an insured person only $2500 for the same surgery, yes I know on paper they charge both patients the same but they accept the lower amount from the insurance company as full payment. We need tort reform doctors shouldn’t be sued for 10’s of thousands of dollars because someone didn’t like their scare after a lifesaving surgery, millions of dollars because of an act of God during a surgery that went bad. Doctors aren’t perfect they aren’t God and medicine is far from a perfect science. Doctors that are negligent should be held responsible but that is a small percentage of the lawsuits. The same with drug companies if they put something on the market that the FDA approves and they weren’t negligent why should they be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in punitive damages, isn’t that what the FDA should prevent. Maybe they should pay for the loss or extra care required but if the followed the rules and weren’t negligent there should be NO PUNITIVE DAMAGES! People also have to take responsibility, because you sneeze twice or have a small pain don’t go running to the doctor an expect someone else to pay for it. If we bring down the cost of healthcare insurance rates will come down too. I’m not saying the GOP replacement plan as it stands is the best thing but something needs to be done or there won’t be an ACA or anything else in a few short years if not sooner. Stop with the people dying in the streets America and the GOP and President are better than that and you know it!
ReplyDeleteI obviously cannot agree with you. People WILL die. And no...the Republicans in Congress and the man who sits behind The Oval Office desk are not "better than that." So I don't "know it." My column states facts about the GOP Senate bill...and no matter how anyone wants to spin it, the fact of the matter is...if 49-million Americans are not getting health insurance...people will die. Yes it's true that the Affordable Care Act needs work. It's needs to be improved. But "repairing Obamacare" is what is necessary...not "repealing and replacing" it. The only reason that Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress want to "repeal and replace" is to bash President Obama's legacy. As I wrote in my column, "No matter what President Obama did...Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell want to undo. And they don't give a damn that the most vulnerable Americans would suffer." I just hope that the Senate and House Republicans will one day realize that they cannot stand behind Donald Trump and his vulgar mouth and his vile tweets. They can criticize him one day, but as long as they continue working with him and praising him the next day...nothing will ever get done on Capitol Hill. Trump has crossed the line too many times over the last two years and unfortunately enough voters didn't care about the venom that spewed from his mouth. But more and more have abandoned Trump's side. His approval ratings are lower than any President who has been in office 5 months. As those ratings continue to sink deeper and deeper, Trump will end up getting nothing out of Congress as the public screams out against him. Let us remember...Senators and Congressmen want to keep their jobs...and, at this rate...they won't. GBD
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