If the Porch Needs Fixing, You Don't Burn the House Down

If the porch needs fixing, you fix the porch. You don’t burn the house down. When it comes to the ACA (ObamaCare), it seems the Republicans want to burn the house down. 

The ACA needs a few minor fixes--amend it, don't end it. 

The Republican Health Care is an attempt to bring down the The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and pretend that they were not the ones who lit the match. They'll try to claim that it was spontaneous combustion.   

It is like burning the house down because the porch has a few damaged planks. The ACA does have some problems—some inherent in the law itself, but many caused by Republican efforts to stymie the plan in every way they can in order to cause it to fail. (The truth is Republicans oppose all social programs; they will be coming for Medicare and Social Security next.)

A single payer or public option plan would be the best way to fix the problems with health care in America, but the insurance lobby is too powerful. A few minor fixes here and there could help the plan work better. As the Democrats say: “Amend it, don’t end it.”

On May 4, 2017, the GOP House finally passed a "repeal and replace" bill. The Republicans had a little party at the White House laughing and cheering about taking away your healthcare.(Also doing a lot of lying--pre-existing conditions are not protected. The bill is a massive tax cut for the wealthy disguised as a health care bill.)

This celebration made me think of GWB on the deck of an aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" banner. This Rose Garden party will come back to bite them in the ass.

In the Senate, the bill was  dead on arrival. They did their own bill. It was such a bad bill they couldn't get even Republican support for it. SWon now3 they are coming back with the "new and revised" bill. It does not look likely that they can get it passed, but there will be some powerful arm-twisting going on in smoke-filled rooms. For the time being, the ACA is still the law of the land.

If a "repeal and replace bill ever does get signed into law, the ACA will be burned to the ground.  The Republican "fixes" are designed to cause the ACA to fail. And when it does, there will be no going back.

We should not jump from the frying pan to the fire. The Trump-Ryan plan, cobbled together in a rush and pushed through Congress with the speed of a wild-fire, is not the answer. The Senate plan devised behind closed doors is not the answer. A plan that requires the removal of the “pre-existing condition” exclusion, but does not require the expansion of the risk-pool through universal coverage (the mandate) will force premiums sky-high until eventually the whole system collapses.

Maybe that will be a good thing. With the insurance industry in shambles, America might be able to get a single payer plan, similar to the plans every other Western democracy has. In these nations, health care is less costly and the health outcomes are much better.

I’d like to say, "Let them burn the house down," but I can’t because tens of millions of people will suffer, and many will die, if they do. You can’t play with fire.

© Catherine Giordano 2017

P.S.: Too many people are unaware of all the ways that the ACA is benefiting them. It’s true some people benefit more than others, but everybody benefits in some way. Please read this: How Does the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) Benefit Every American 

TrumpCare turned out to be just a wastebasket fire. It was put out on March 24. Plan B will be worse. It is like the smoldering embers that eventually flare into a raging forest fire. You don't see it coming. TrumpCarePlan B for ObamaCare: Destroy It. 

© 2017 Catherine Giordano

Here's what Bill Maher had to say about the bill passed in the House of Representatives. 

If you want to know more about the ACA, the best book to read is Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve Our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System by Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethicist

CLICK HERE

The book is divided into three parts. In Part I, Emanuel gives us the history of the American health care system. In Part II, he reports on the efforts to reform the system., In Part III, he tries to predict the future for this bill. (The book was written in 2015.) Some of his predictions were right on, but others missed the mark. Crystal-ball gazing is always hazardous.

Just a note: You can show your support for my posts by using the above link when you purchase this or any other book. I thank you in advance.