While berniebros and Democrats were patting each other on the back for filing/co-sponsoring a Medicare-for-All bill in the Senate this week, the republicans were fuming with anger about trump seeming to stab them in the back on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - the Dreamers program), so much so that burning red MAGA hats was all over social media. So, as Politco puts it, "Sens. Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller and Ron Johnson on Wednesday released an Obamacare repeal bill, framing it as the last, best hope to fulfill the GOP's promise to undo the health law." That's not toward universal healthcare access - instead, it rips coverage away from millions and would destroy children's hospitals, rural hospitals, many physician and dentist practices, and throws nurses, physical/occupationa/speech/respiratory therapists out of work, and puts all of us in jeopardy as emergency rooms will be overcrowded with uninsured people seeking care, preventing others who have emergencies from getting seein in time.
We are so toast.
This Affordable Care Act repeal bill is the worst one yet. It punishes states that have expanded Medicaid (mostly with Democratic senators) by decreasing their Medicaid funding and has no provision for funding Medicaid at all after 2026. As was the case with some previous ACA repeal bills, the requirement that people with pre-existing conditions be guaranteed access to health insurance would be removed. This means medical bankruptcies will return with a vengeance, and people will die prematurely from cancers, heart disease, complications of diabetes, and strokes, as they did before ACA.
This bill has 49 votes committed in the Senate already, and has only to get to 50 by September 30. After that date, it would need 60, which it won't get. There are 52 republicans in the Senate -on the last ACA repeal bill, three voted against: John McCain (Arizona), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Susan Collins (Maine). McCain has said he is in favor of this bill but will vote how his Governor wants. Mike Lee of Utah is leaning against, but as usual, not because this bill would hurt poor people, but because it won't hurt them enough. Murkowski and Collins are leaning against because it de-funds Planned Parenthood, but it does increase Medicaid funding to their states, for a few years, so they'll have trouble resisting this time. Senate majority leader McConnell has moved the CHIP (children's health insurance program) re-authorization bill to a later week so this bill can go first. It won't get a full Congressional Budget Office score on what it will cost the country before a vote is held, most likely.
If you think you or a family member might ever need Medicaid funding for nursing home care, if you might develop a disability after a car wreck, sports accident, or stroke, or if you might need health insurance but you've already developed a medical problem like cancer, heart disease, or liver disease, you should encourage your Senators to vote again this. Also if you think you'll ever need emergency care, a children's hospital, or a job. Or, if you care about other people and think people need to be able to get necessary medical care whether or not they are rich.
You can call your Senator at 202-224-3121. You can send a fax to them free of charge by texting to RESIST 50409. You can go to your Senators' offices, call their in-state offices, write a postcard (letters are screened for anthrax etc and take a while to get there...), or show up and meet with them. Because everyone in America, except the Koch brothers, the Mercers, and a few other billionaires like them, will be hurt by this legislation. Oh, and the Senators who vote for it, who are likely to enjoy comfortable retirements. Because even if they lose their next election, the health system will be destroyed and they'll have deposited those checks from people who have more money than they can ever spend but don't want to pay their fair share of taxes.
If this passes the Senate, the House will adopt it right away, so republicans can keep their campaign promises of killing "Obamacare." trump has already said he'd sign it. And any talk of Medicare-for-All or other mechanism of universal health care will be moot, likely for many years to come.
(Bill co-sponsors represent:
Graham - South Carolina
Cassidy - Louisiana - and he's an MD who should know better. Both he and his wife are obscenely rich physicians - he's a gastroenterologist and she's a surgeon. They both ought to know better.
Heller - Nevada
Johnson - Wisconsin)
We are so toast.
This Affordable Care Act repeal bill is the worst one yet. It punishes states that have expanded Medicaid (mostly with Democratic senators) by decreasing their Medicaid funding and has no provision for funding Medicaid at all after 2026. As was the case with some previous ACA repeal bills, the requirement that people with pre-existing conditions be guaranteed access to health insurance would be removed. This means medical bankruptcies will return with a vengeance, and people will die prematurely from cancers, heart disease, complications of diabetes, and strokes, as they did before ACA.
This bill has 49 votes committed in the Senate already, and has only to get to 50 by September 30. After that date, it would need 60, which it won't get. There are 52 republicans in the Senate -on the last ACA repeal bill, three voted against: John McCain (Arizona), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Susan Collins (Maine). McCain has said he is in favor of this bill but will vote how his Governor wants. Mike Lee of Utah is leaning against, but as usual, not because this bill would hurt poor people, but because it won't hurt them enough. Murkowski and Collins are leaning against because it de-funds Planned Parenthood, but it does increase Medicaid funding to their states, for a few years, so they'll have trouble resisting this time. Senate majority leader McConnell has moved the CHIP (children's health insurance program) re-authorization bill to a later week so this bill can go first. It won't get a full Congressional Budget Office score on what it will cost the country before a vote is held, most likely.
If you think you or a family member might ever need Medicaid funding for nursing home care, if you might develop a disability after a car wreck, sports accident, or stroke, or if you might need health insurance but you've already developed a medical problem like cancer, heart disease, or liver disease, you should encourage your Senators to vote again this. Also if you think you'll ever need emergency care, a children's hospital, or a job. Or, if you care about other people and think people need to be able to get necessary medical care whether or not they are rich.
You can call your Senator at 202-224-3121. You can send a fax to them free of charge by texting to RESIST 50409. You can go to your Senators' offices, call their in-state offices, write a postcard (letters are screened for anthrax etc and take a while to get there...), or show up and meet with them. Because everyone in America, except the Koch brothers, the Mercers, and a few other billionaires like them, will be hurt by this legislation. Oh, and the Senators who vote for it, who are likely to enjoy comfortable retirements. Because even if they lose their next election, the health system will be destroyed and they'll have deposited those checks from people who have more money than they can ever spend but don't want to pay their fair share of taxes.
If this passes the Senate, the House will adopt it right away, so republicans can keep their campaign promises of killing "Obamacare." trump has already said he'd sign it. And any talk of Medicare-for-All or other mechanism of universal health care will be moot, likely for many years to come.
(Bill co-sponsors represent:
Graham - South Carolina
Cassidy - Louisiana - and he's an MD who should know better. Both he and his wife are obscenely rich physicians - he's a gastroenterologist and she's a surgeon. They both ought to know better.
Heller - Nevada
Johnson - Wisconsin)
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