The House of Representatives passed Trumpcare today by two votes, opposed by all Dems. I think it is both cruel and foolish.
The cruelty first - it allows states to - waive essential benefits requiring out of pocket, unexpected and perhaps unaffordable expenses for some basic care - impose spending caps and thus reintroducing bankruptcy for the middle class if catastrophic expenses are required for the family - waive pre-existing conditions exemptions thus making health care for so many people so expensive as to be unaffordable.
So people will die.
Although the Reps forced it through before the CBO could issue an analysis I expect that it will throw about the same number of people off of health care as Trumpcare 1.0 - 14,000,000 initially and 24,000,000 in ten years. The Rep talking point that more people will be covered depends on none of the states waiving essential parts of it, but since they are allowed to, I expect many will. So people will die.
And it cuts Medicaid by $880 Billion - you know, it's for poor and disabled people so who cares? People will die.
The foolishness next. They voted on a bill that was not analysed by the CBO, so nobody knows what it will cost and nobody knows how many will lose their coverage. That's moronic. Obamacare took two years to grind through Congress with endless expert testimony and analysis; Trumpcare took two weeks with no testimony or analysis. The Reps in the House just passed a bill that will affect 1/6 of the country's economy in two weeks with no analysis. Astonishingly irresponsible. What on earth happened to the Republican Party?
Also, the states where Obamacare is not working are the states that are controlled by Reps who have done all that they can to sabotage Obamacare. These are the same states that will be allowed to slash care in the Trumpcare bill. Gee, what are the chances?
Who suffers? The people in those states. Who are the people in those states? Those who voted for Trump.
It looks to me like the House Reps just voted to dramatically hurt their own voters, their base. Are they counting on the idea that they won't notice? How much do they disrespect their own base? How little do they care about their own base?
I think the whole idea of the Republican Party in particular, and conservatives in general, is that it is the party of men, hard men, courageous men, responsible men who are dedicated to the protection of the country and its people. Today, the Reps didn't protect America's people, it threw them to the wolves - good luck on your own, suckers, the Reps got their tax break for the Plutocracy.
A very sad day, it seems to me, for America.
