House Passes American Health Care Act
I think today is a good day to have a conversation with our friends and family who vote Republican, and find out why they would support such a heartless effort to remove healthcare for 24 million people, allow insurance companies to deny coverage for preexisting conditions, push the sickest of us to underfunded high-risk pools, while giving a massive tax break to the millionaires and billionaires.
Ask them why they think that making the AHCA even more cruel, by removing protections for preexisting conditions, was the only way Republicans in the House were able pass an Obamacare repeal?
Do they know that if they are over 50 years old, Obamacare regulated the insurance industries so they could only charge 3 times more than the lowest bronze plan, and now the Republicans made a change so insurance companies can charge them 5 times more than a bronze pan? Why would they want to support Republicans who just raised they insurance premiums?
Do they know without preexisting condition protections, it will be inevitable that a percentage of people without healthcare will die. That’s right, they won’t be able to have access to insurance and will die. Did they cheer? Were they happy?
Do they know Obamacare is funded mostly by millionaires and billionaires? If they make $250,000/year or more they’ll pay about $250/year for Obamacare, otherwise they pay right now $0 in taxes for Obamacare. That’s right. All of those protections are free!
Obamacare was debated on for 18 months, had a transparent and open debate. Republicans had no plan after 8 years, cobbled together pieces of Paul Ryan’s 2012 health care reform in a secret room that fellow Republican Rand Paul couldn’t even get in to, and they rushed the legislation through so fast the Congressional Budget Office did not have time to score it. Did they know Republicans were so sure of the negative effects of their plan they shielded themselves with exemptions?
The Senate will now take up the bill and only 2 Republicans need to say “no” in order to kill this bill, and send it back to the House. But once it returns, the House Republicans will no longer have the budget reconciliation process used to shove the ACHA through. There is a limited time between now and that Senate vote. And it would be nice to know where your Republican friends and family stand on the health of their friends and family.