For all those middle class voters who “wanted a change” and “someone to shake up the system,” they’re about to get what they wished for. The only problem is that now that the Republicans have complete control of government, they’re getting ready to take down programs Trump literally swore he wouldn’t touch. Their first priority is doing a complete repeal of “Obamacare” … something Trump voters love and thought that what he was saying was just bluster and that it would never happen. Well …….. surprise!
According to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), in his press release today —
Obamacare is hurting families, and before things get worse, we will act to repeal it so that we can bring relief as soon as possible.
Once Obamacare is repealed, we will make sure there is a stable transition period so that people don’t have the rug pulled out from under them. One key to ensuring a smooth transition is getting House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, M.D. (R-GA) confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Working together, we will focus on delivering relief and a better system for people struggling under Obamacare.
Instead of a government-centered system like Obamacare, our goal is a patient-centered system that gives every American access to quality, affordable health care.
What does that look like? Well, last spring, as part of the Better Way agenda, House Republicans offered a unified health care plan to show the American people what we would do differently. It included a number of common-sense ideas and principles, such as:
- Moving health care decisions away from Washington to patients, families, and doctors,
- Giving patients the right tools, like Health Savings Accounts, to make health insurance more portable and affordable,
- Breaking down barriers that restrict choices and prevent Americans from picking the plan that is best for them and their family,
- Real protections and peace of mind—regardless of age, income, medical conditions, or circumstances,
- Empowering small businesses to provide the kind of affordable health coverage that meets your needs.
Here’s what some experts and editorial boards had to say about these ideas when we put them forward earlier in the year:
- “The overriding theme of the plan’s many reforms is consumer-directed health care. The ACA moved substantial power and authority over the insurance marketplace and the care delivery process to the federal government. The House GOP wants to reverse this shift of authority by giving consumers and states more control over important decisions in the health sector.” (James Capretta and Joseph Antos, AEI)
- “…shows that Republicans understand that a better health care system requires the repeal of Obamacare. Admirably, it proposes a number of patient-centered reforms to the employer and individual market…” (Michael Needham, Heritage Action)
- “…it is better economic policy because it makes the health sector look like the rest of the economy — built on competition, rewarding quality and low-costs, and evolving flexibly to meet the needs of the customer base. It is a far cry from the top-down, industrial-age Obamacare spigot of federal dollars and regulations.” (Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American Action Forum)
- “…builds on successful reforms of the past and points us toward a more market-oriented, consumer-driven model, while addressing many of the complaints and fears that Americans have about their health-care system.” (National Review)
- “…their vision in broad terms of how to deliver quality health care for Americans without entangling them in red tape and federal mandates. …would help Americans get insurance without handing over all control to the federal government.” (Chicago Tribune)
The American people know the status quo is unsustainable: 80% want some kind of major changes. We will act to bring relief to people struggling under Obamacare.
This is the fifth piece in an ongoing series.
Part 1: Repeal Is Relief
Part 2: Obamacare Has Failed
Part 3: How Obamacare Is Getting Worse
Part 4: The Tools It Takes to Repeal Obamacare
I ask you, after reading Mr. Ryan’s vague description of what he thinks is wrong and how to help ordinary Americans, what planet does he go home to each evening? He certainly does NOT live in a community such as those in which most Americans life.
- Individual families, not the Federal Government, make their own decisions about where to seek care and from which companies to buy their insurance, from those insurance companies/doctors/pharmacies/etc., that provide services in their communities.
- The problem is the cost and the fact that wages have been pretty much flat or declining for a decade or more, while prices for services and drugs have skyrocketed. How is a health savings account going to remedy that? The major “barrier” most Americans have in selecting the “best” plan for them and their family is not that it’s offered in a state three states away, but that they can’t afford to buy that “best” plan and all too frequently end up settling for a plan that oft times bankrupts their budget when a serious injury or disease strikes a member of their family.
- How the hell is repealing the ACA without replacement going to provide “real protections and peace of mind”? That’s what the ACA attempted to do by setting a minimum standard for what insurance plans must carry and prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage. As an example under the ACA, insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to a new born infant who was covered from the instant of conception until birth because they have some mysterious pre-existing (?) condition.
- Consumer-directed health care? What does that even mean? Employers don’t offer a wide variety of insurance plans from which their employees can be “consumer-directed.” Mr. Ryan and his caucus want employers to continue to be the means via which employees would access insurance coverage (which continues to tether the employee to the employer). The only “consumer-driven” control over what is or is not available to meet his/her and family needs would continue to be to find another employer who’s negotiated better policies and premium rates, and hope he/she and the family won’t be denied coverage under the next employer because of some insurance-company-declared “pre-existing condition.”
- The change that Mr Ryan refers to, that “80% of Americans” want, is not to return to what we didn’t have before enactment of the ACA, but improvements to the ACA to make healthcare options even more accessible and affordable.
Please note, the only thing Republicans are still talking about is “repeal.” We have yet to see any form of comprehensive bill to “replace” the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). What we have seen is a bill to restrict how much an injured party can sue for as compensation (tort reform) for that doctor’s malpractice, restricting compensational sums to amounts that may not allow injured individuals to fully recover from their loss. Another Republican bill proposes to stomp the crap out of states rights by opening up markets and allowign insurance policies to be sold across state lines (meaning good luck getting any help from your state’s insurance commissioner if you bought an out of state policy that’s underperforming). Lastly, they’ve proposed that individuals should just take responsibility for their own health care using healthcare savings accounts through their employer (if even offered by their employer and which aren’t currently portable from one employer to no employer to a next employer).
None of the proposals by the Republican leadership address the root causes of the out of control costs Americans face for healthcare across our nation. In reality, what would truly help control the costs are what other nations are doing — regulating the costs of services and pharmaceuticals — but given the free market enthusiasm of the Republican corporatists in Congress, and that they hold majorities in both Houses and hold the office of the president, you can expect charges for services/pharmaceuticals to continue to rise at astronomical rates, unabated. They should also be taking a serious look at medical/pharmaceutical patent abuse to prevent drug prices from being jacked up 5000% when some punk hedge fund CEO buys the rights to a drug decides it would be a great little money maker for him (e.g., Martin Shkreli, the hedge fund manager and drug company CEO who became a poster boy for Wall Street greed when he raised the cost of a life-saving pill from $13.50 to $750).
Stay tuned to this one. Repeal (without replacement) of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will be the Republican Congress’ #1 priority when the 115th Congress convenes.