 |
| Trump and Ryan have a Plan B for the ACA: Explode It. |
October 12, 2017 Update: Here is info on the latest attempts to destroy ObamaCare.
July 28 Update
This post was written before the House manged to pass a so-called "repeal and replace" bill and Senate took up their own bills to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare).The Senate ignored the House bill and put three different bills of their own to a vote. All of the bills failed to pass. The last one failed by just one vote when three Republicans--John McCain, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski voted no.
But Republicans have a Plan B. They will subvert the law. despite their oaths to "faithfully execute" the law. Here is what Trump wrote in a tweet: " As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"
Not much has changed since the first bill failed in the House. What follows is the original post. Please be sure to read the "next steps" section.
“It was never repeal and place; it was bait and switch.”
Bill Maher, on his HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher summed up the whole Republican, Donald
Trump, and Paul Ryan plan for health care with the above quip.
The bill that would have stripped millions of health
insurance, the bill that made a mockery of health insurance, may be dead, but
the plan to destroy the ACA (ObamaCare) is far from dead.
Trump Announces the Republican “Repeal and Replace”
Bill Has Failed
At 3:31 pm (ET) on Friday, March 24, 2017 Trump called a
reporter, Robert Costa from the Washington Post. Trump told him that he had
pulled the bill for the Republican “American Health Care Act" (AHCA).There would be no
vote in the House of Representatives. The ACA would remain the law of the land.
Trump then video-taped an announcement which was aired on TV. He
spoke in his usual rambling style. I was struck by how he repeated over and
over that he was going to wait for the
ACA to explode. I was laughing at Trump’s poor choice of words. The right word
was implode, which means to collapse. I soon realized that Trump was actually
using the right word to convey his intentions. He was saying that he wants to explode,
blow-up, the ACA.
How Republicans Plan to “Explode” the ACA
Republicans have already been quietly undermining the ACA. As Nichol Kristoff said in a TV interview, they
would “step on the oxygen hose.”
Trump began this in his first week as president. He told
every agency to stop all financial outlays that they could within the bounds of
the law. They could cut-off funds or delay
them, all with the goal of preventing the smooth operation of this program. .
Why are insurance agencies withdrawing from the ACA market? It
is because Republicans passed a bill that withdrew the subsidies that were
supposed to protect insurance companies from the risk they would incur by the sudden
influx of people with pre-existing conditions. These subsidies were supposed to
last ten years to allow the market to stabilize as more healthy people entered
the pool of insured.
More laws and action to explode the ACA are sure to be coming.
The Democrats and the media have failed to keep the American public aware of
this.
How Republicans Dodged a Bullet
Paul Ryan cancelled the vote in the House of Representatives
to avoid the humiliation of having it fail, bigly (as Trump would say). According
to news reports, about 30 to 40 Republicans were going to vote “No.” If they held a vote, even more Republicans
might have voted against it because they would not want to be on record voting
for a failed bill.
Since there is no record of votes, no Republican has to face
the voters with an on-the- record vote on this highly unpopular bill. Only 17%
of Americans were in favor of this bill. I can’t think of any bill with lower
public support.
This bill was put together in a slapdash fashion in
just a few weeks. There were no hearings to allow for testimony from stakeholders
like insurance companies, doctors and hospitals, and patients.
As the bill started
to look doomed, panic set in--Ryan kept making the bill worse and worse as he
tried to appease the Freedom Caucus. (Maher called them “the artist formerly
known at the Tea Party.”) However when he appeased the extreme right wing of
the Republican Party, he then had to add sweeteners for the more moderate
Republicans from swing districts who feared losing their elections in 2018 if
they voted for this draconian bill.
 |
The 10 Essential Services Insurance Companies Would No Longer Have to Provide If Republicans Succeed in Passing a "Repeal and Replace" Bill.
|
Trump Tried to Put the Blame on Democrats
In his rambling speech, Trump repeatedly said that no Democrats
were willing to vote for the bill. I nearly fell off my couch laughing.
Here's why the claim is laughabloe.
- When the ACA was passed, not a single Republican voted for
it.
- The Democrats were never asked to support the bill.
- The Republicans have a 44 person majority in the House of
Representatives. They surely didn’t need votes from Democrats. Even with this
large majority they could not get enough votes.
Trump and Ryan Lied About the “Death Spiral”
Republicans constantly say that the ACA is in a “death
spiral.” This is not true, despite the Republican efforts to kill it. Ahe ACA is not imploding.
- There were 12.4 million new sign-ups for 2017.
- The CBO reports that the program is stable.
- Politifacts rates Ryan’s
claim about the ACA failing as “mostly false” saying “health care costs have risen more slowly since the law took effect and the law has met its major goal of getting more people insured -- an estimated 20 million. That’s not a failure.”
The Art of
No-Deal
Trump is very fond of telling everyone that he is a great deal-maker.
Yet, he failed miserably
Trump is nothing but a con-man. I am amazed that the people who supported him
could not see this. His ridiculous pie-in-the-sky promises were never backed up with
any actual explanation of how he would accomplish them
Just look at the bill that just failed.
- Trump promised everybody would be covered—this bill
would have meant that 24 million people would lose their insurance.
- He said his plan would cost much less. This bill would
have raised premiums.
- He said the plan would be fantastic. This bill would have
provided fewer benefits.
Maher said, “Trump is worse than a used-car salesman,
because with a used car salesman at least you get a car.” Trump supporters are
getting nothing.
- ·Repeal and Replace: Failed
- The Muslim Ban: The courts have blocked it. Twice.
- The Wall, Tax Cuts (for the middle class) , and
Jobs: We can wait and see, but so far there is no evidence that he will accomplish
any of this.
The failure of Trump’s first bill does not bode well for
future success.
Republicans have learned that they can oppose Trump and win.
They need have no fear of him or his “mean tweets.”
Democrats have learned that if they stay unified, they can win.
Next Steps for Democrats
Trump (in the midst of blaming Democrats for his
failure) sort of indicated that he was open to working with Democrats. They should call his bluff on this. Come to
Trump with a bill that will undo Republican sabotage and fix some of the
problems with the ACA.
Democrats should push for a single payer—Medicare-For- All—plan.
Before there was Obama Care, there was RomneyCare in the state
of Massachusetts. It worked so well that it was the model for the ACA. States
like New York and California should start their own plan.
You can use a bot to send a fax to senators and representatives. Text the word RESIST to 50409. Follow instructions and a fax will be sent. I tried it. I wanted to fax Marco Rubio, and I did. But I think the same fax went to others. Next time I will write my message in more generic terms. For instance "Stop efforts to destroy ACA" works for both Dems and Republicans.
Do you know how ObamaCare benefits every American?
ObamaCare (ACA) Benefits You Even if You Don't Know It
When Donald Trump took office, he swore "to faithfully uphold the laws". Now, he hinting that he will subvert them by withholding funds for the subsidies. Read about it here.
Donald Trump Dangles
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.
© Catherine Giordano 2017
