Repealing the ACA under Trump

[Danny Bateman]

They're defunding PP to prove a g****** point. Just like repealing and replacing Obamacare. Or building the wall. Or a travel ban. It doesn't matter how bad an idea it is, it fits their stated goals and they'll be damned if they don't do it.

 

Need I remind people Pence closed PP in Indiana and the result was an HIV outbreak? He then had to rely on the ACA to pick up the pieces and help those people.

 

Reminder that this program would still do nothing to fix the healthcare disparity people in rural areas like Scott County face. There's not enough access to good healthcare there, and PP may be their only choice in many cases.

[knapplc]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember, Republicans have had this plan simmering on the back burner for seven years. And this is the result of all that work.

 

We've had seven years to understand the shortcomings of Obamacare. It needs fixing. THIS is their fix. How could you screw this up this bad?

[knapplc]

Here's the secret payoff to health insurance CEOs buried in the GOP Obamacare repeal bill

Concealed within the 123 pages of legislative verbiage and dense boilerplate of the House Republican bill repealing the Affordable Care Act are not a few hard-to-find nuggets. Here’s one crying out for exposure: The bill encourages health insurance companies to pay their top executives more.

It does so by removing the ACA’s limit on corporate tax deductions for executive pay. The cost to the American taxpayer of eliminating this provision: well in excess of $70 million a year. In the reckoning of the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that analyzed the limitation in 2014, that would have been enough that year to buy dental insurance under the ACA for 262,000 Americans, or pay the silver plan deductibles for 28,000.

As part of an effort to rein in soaring executive pay, the ACA decreed that health insurance companies could deduct from their taxes only $500,000 of the pay of each top executive. That’s a tighter restriction than the limit imposed on other corporations, which is $1 million per executive. The ACA closed a loophole for insurance companies enjoyed by other corporations, which could deduct the cost of stock options and other “performance-based” pay; for insurance companies, the deduction cap is $500,000 per executive, period.

The idea was to signal that the ACA, which cemented health insurance companies into the center of American healthcare, wasn’t a pure giveaway to the industry.

[Danny Bateman]

 

Here's the secret payoff to health insurance CEOs buried in the GOP Obamacare repeal bill

 

Concealed within the 123 pages of legislative verbiage and dense boilerplate of the House Republican bill repealing the Affordable Care Act are not a few hard-to-find nuggets. Here’s one crying out for exposure: The bill encourages health insurance companies to pay their top executives more.

 

It does so by removing the ACA’s limit on corporate tax deductions for executive pay. The cost to the American taxpayer of eliminating this provision: well in excess of $70 million a year. In the reckoning of the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that analyzed the limitation in 2014, that would have been enough that year to buy dental insurance under the ACA for 262,000 Americans, or pay the silver plan deductibles for 28,000.

 

As part of an effort to rein in soaring executive pay, the ACA decreed that health insurance companies could deduct from their taxes only $500,000 of the pay of each top executive. That’s a tighter restriction than the limit imposed on other corporations, which is $1 million per executive. The ACA closed a loophole for insurance companies enjoyed by other corporations, which could deduct the cost of stock options and other “performance-based” pay; for insurance companies, the deduction cap is $500,000 per executive, period.

 

The idea was to signal that the ACA, which cemented health insurance companies into the center of American healthcare, wasn’t a pure giveaway to the industry.

 

 

That's right, people. With this bill, you'd be effectively subsidizing already bloated CEO pay to get even bloatier.

 

I like how Trump chimed in with his tweet about how selling across state lines will be included soon.

 

If anyone can find any evidence that would actually help in any noticeable way, I'd love to see it.

[zoogs]

How on earth have Republicans managed to convince so many people that the most urgent problem facing them is giant corporate conglomerates not getting enough of a break via / having enough say in government policy?

[ZRod]

How on earth have Republicans managed to convince so many people that the most urgent problem facing them is giant corporate conglomerates not getting enough of a break via / having enough say in government policy?

 

 

Hint: poorly/un-educated doesn't mean you didn't go to college folks.

[zoogs]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/02/21/us-life-expectancy-will-soon-be-on-par-with-mexicos-and-croatias/?utm_term=.10ac333e888b

 

Not so in the United States. “Notable among poor-performing countries is the USA,” the researchers wrote, “whose life expectancy at birth is already lower than most other high-income countries, and is projected to fall further behind, such that its 2030 life expectancy at birth might be similar to the Czech Republic for men, and Croatia and Mexico for women.”

 

The reasons for the United States' lag are well known. It has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of any of the countries in the study, and the highest obesity rate. It is the only one without universal health insurance coverage and has the “largest share of unmet health-care needs due to financial costs,” the researchers wrote.

We need to make America a world leader again. Unfortunately, the Republicans are only interested in further maximizing outcomes for corporate elites far removed from problems such as "average life expectancy".

 

Bad problems require advancing towards better solutions, not doubling down on regressive, exploitative policies.

[RedDenver]

Welcome to Republicare

[commando]

coming to a city near you...Donnies Death Camps!!! trains leaving soon. allll abooaaard!!!

[BigRedBuster]

coming to a city near you...Donnies Death Camps!!! trains leaving soon. allll abooaaard!!!

Are they still keeping the death panels to decide who gets on the train?

[knapplc]

I can't wait for conservatives to go ballistic about this bill being "rammed down our throats" like they did with Obamacare.

 

Obama unveiled his plan in 7/2009. It became law eight months later, in 3/2010.

 

The Republicans unveil their plan, after seven years of work, and plan to have it passed within several weeks - perhaps before the Congressional Budget Office can complete its analysis.

[BigRedBuster]

I can't wait for conservatives to go ballistic about this bill being "rammed down our throats" like they did with Obamacare.

 

Obama unveiled his plan in 7/2009. It became law eight months later, in 3/2010.

 

The Republicans unveil their plan, after seven years 3 weeks of work, and plan to have it passed within several weeks - perhaps before the Congressional Budget Office can complete its analysis.

FIFY

[knapplc]

No, really. They had seven years. And this is the plan they came up with.

 

Here's an analysis of the new costs under this plan:

LINK

After seven years, Republicans have finally released their health care legislation. Now their bill can be compared side-by-side with the Affordable Care Act based on how it affects enrollees’ pocketbooks — including both premiums and out-of-pocket costs for care.

We’re presenting an analysis here of the net financial impact of the Republican bill on premiums, after tax credits, plus cost-sharing. We estimate that the bill would increase costs for the average enrollee by $1,542, for the year, if the bill were in effect today. In 2020, the bill would increase costs for the average enrollee by $2,409.

We reported above the results for individuals. For families, the Republican bill would increase costs by $2,243 if the bill were in effect today. For families with a head of household age 55 to 64, the bill would increase costs by $7,604. For families with income below 250 percent of poverty, the bill would increase costs by $6,228.

These cost increases would explode by 2020. We estimate that the Republican bill would increase costs for families by $4,274. For families with a head of household age 55 to 64, the bill would increase costs by $10,591. For families with income below 250% percent of poverty, the bill would increase costs by $9,024.

There may be a reason why Republicans took so many years to reveal their health care plan: It is easier to attack an imperfect existing system than to improve it. Under examination, the Republican bill clearly does not compare favorably with the ACA. As many have pointed out, and as the CBO score will clearly show, the Republican bill would cause millions of people to lose their coverage — but it would also increase costs significantly for those who remain insured.

 

[Moiraine]

I believe BRB is saying they worked on it for 3 weeks. You said they worked on it 7 years. They had 7 years to work on it, yes.

[knapplc]

I believe BRB is saying they worked on it for 3 weeks. You said they worked on it 7 years. They had 7 years to work on it, yes.

 

 

We're making the same joke from different angles, is all.