Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The Republican House of Horrors Offers a Terrifying Healthcare Vision

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/03/07/republican-house-horrors-offers-terrifying-healthcare-vision
"Instead we have a plan that again fetishizes a market-based healthcare fundamentalism that saw the U.S. plummet in a wide array of health care barometers, including infant mortality and life expectancy rates and people skipping needed care due to cost compared to the rest of the developed world, especially before the ACA. With the hodgepodge plan hurriedly released Monday night, the House majority attempts to straddle growing public support for a government role in establishing health security for the American people and the Tea Party crowd that views any fingerprints of public protection as akin to Satanism. The bill fails on both counts, while also betraying promises made by then candidate Donald Trump that "we’re going to have healthcare for everybody" that is "far less expensive and far better."  Pretending to retain popular components of the ACA, the bill offers refundable tax credits to replace the ACA subsidies to buy private insurance, temporary continuation of the ACA Medicaid expansion, and requiring insurers to sell insurance to people with pre-existing conditions. But it’s like fools gold, each component sabotaged by the not-so-fine print. The principal effect of the new bill will be the loss of existing health coverage for tens of millions of people, without any restraints on healthcare industry pricing practices that add up to massive health insecurity for the American people."