Health Care Costs And Obamacare Repeal
Republican politicians are beginning work replacing Obamacare with something else, a new variant of tax credits or some vague benefit for healthcare savings accounts.
Many had thought Congressional Republicans were investing too much time and energy grandstanding Obamacare repeal, and not enough developing a credible alternative.
That may have changed with the selection of four Committee Chairman to the Health Care Reform Task Force. They are: Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA), Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-MN), Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX).
That’s all well and fine and in the end I’m sure these politicians think they are doing the right thing. My issue with health insurance isn’t about finding the replacement for Obamacare, it’s making it affordable for the individual. There are millions who can’t afford a mortgage payment disguised as a health insurance premium and that’s what needs to be fixed, fiddling around with the tax credits won’t help anyone if they are paying for premiums instead of food.
Both Price’s and Upton’s proposals would get rid of Obamacare’s poorly functioning exchanges and federal over regulation of health insurance. However, it is important to understand that Obamacare’s poorly designed tax credits can be reformed along the lines Price or Upton propose without complete repeal of Obamacare.
Nobody anticipates a Republican super-majority in the Senate in 2017, which means compromises will be necessary. The House Republican Health Reform Task Force would be well advised to consider Dr. Price’s tax credits as a primary position, and Mr. Upton’s as a fallback. here….
Now you see the cracks in these political plans, they are already making excuses why they may keep parts of Obamacare because they will be squabbling with the other party over how best to screw over the middle class. You see they don’t understand the problem, $1200 a month to them is a small amount of money but it’s a huge amount to someone making $70,000 a year, and that income is taxed so you have already been bent over by the federal and state governments long before the health insurance premium needs to be paid.
Federal and State employees have government funded health insurance, Senators and Congressman make six figure incomes subsidized by whatever corrupt graft they can get in the lobby black market money. These people don’t understand the middle class, they understand how to give out billions to the poor, they understand how to hob knob with their fellow blue bloods, but as far that group of working class people in the $50,000 to $70,000 range they don’t have a clue, yet that is the first group be cut out of tax credits subsidized premiums in Obamacare.
Make it cheaper you ass hats, let the market place dictate premiums across state lines, fiddling around with an Obamacare replacement is trying to throw us a bone. Get rid of Obamacare completely and allow the market to be competitive, I don’t need your tax credit crumbs I need insurance I can afford without being penalized for not having insurance that I can’t afford anyway….fucknuts…..that is is all.
2 thoughts on “Health Care Costs And Obamacare Repeal”
how bout a little common sense..
1) make policies al a carte…why should my 60 YO post menopausal sister who has had a hysterectomy be required to buy pregnancy coverge??? she is…
2) portability…like your coverage/policy and change jobs?? take it with you with no loss of coverage. the new boss will pay his share of your cost, depending on your contract/agreement.
3) allow cross state line line sales. elimination of state regulatory commissions will not only increase compitition, it will reduce government costs by eliminting a useless state agency.
4) make those with preexisting conditions, and unable to self insure(sorry mr. rich CEO, no free ride here)..elegable for medicadefor a nominal means tested fee.
5)eliminate advertizing of prescription drugs..who do you think pays for those million dollar ads?? even if you don’t use the one advertized, the one you do use that’s made by the same company is more expenssive to help pay for the ads.
increased competition should drive down cost much like it has for life and auto insurance, and those with preexixting conditions will have the great state run health care system we enjoy now
Building on what xtron says, I’d also suggest tort reform (how much of what doctors do is defensive medicine driven by fear of malpractice suits?).
In addition, all these proposals address the cost side of the equation. Let’s think about the supply side. Increase the number of health care professionals (supply), and costs should go down. How can we do that? Decreasing the regulatory and administrative burdens will help (ever take a look at government-mandated insurance billing codes?). So will student loan waivers for graduates who work for a couple of years at government clinics (not nationalized health care, but instead clinics for low income people who otherwise can’t afford health care – something like the National Health Services Corps).
Of course, these ideas will never come to pass. They make too much sense, and more importantly don’t line the pockets of any special interest groups.