While the ACA subsidies help to lower the cost of insurance to the people, it also is a windfall profit for theinsurance companies. Insurance companies do not provide or produce healthcare. They suck up money; act as a gatekeeper to care, They also cause care providers to process insane amounts of paperwork which costs them time, money and requires additional personnel. It all has to be paid for, and isn't efficient. What would be a winning ticket would be to throw the insurance lobbyists and their money out of the legislators' pockets, the insurance companies out of heathcare, and institute a single payer system. Healthcare should be a right and not a political football. If other countries can do it, with the proper motivation, so can we.
agree, but until we reach that day, it's unconscionable that millionaire maga gop "legislators" are forcing millions off coverage while giving huge tax cuts to the ultra rich
Jeff, thank you for your service! Hopefully the LOSS of service and catastrophic effects will knock some sense into even the most hard core right wingers.
The medicaid cuts are timed to start after the 2026 vote. The Party constantly chiming about reducing government red tape at least will force states to hire people to get those monthly activity reports and send out the denial letters. Most can now be computerized. But the appeals - if such process is allowed - will require extra state and recipient input. How many risk firing (and losing both job and Medicaid) to contest the denial?
And access after facilities need to close or shutter a cardiac or obstetric department will lead to longer uncomfortable travel. But will these rural folk most affected vote in 2026 or 2028?
People obviously forget that the basis of the ACA was created by the best Republican minds in the Heritage Foundation. It was proposed as an alternative to what they feared would be Hillary Clinton's likely proposal for a "single payer" plan when Bill assigned her with finding a plan in 1993, when he first took office. Newt Gingrich was instrumental in making sure the insurance companies were protected in a system that operated on the basis of "if you can afford it, you're covered! Otherwise, you're screwed." Mitt Romney got the Heritage Foundation's plan to work as good as possible in Massachusetts, while he was Governor. Wanting to begin his administration on a bipartisan note, Obama drew on Romney's success to adopt/adapt that plan for use on a nationwide scale, knowing that single payer would never fly in a Congress that had a very thin Democrat margin. To get the bipartisan support, the plan was diminished to meet Republican demands. Yet when it came to a vote, not a single Republican voted for it. Further, red stated refused to participate, making success even that much harder. Then to add insult to injury, Republicans blocked most efforts to tweak the plan to fix unexpected issues. The object was to make the ACA fail! But as noted in the column, that failed because Republicans have no alternative.
OF COURSE THEY HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE. THEIR PLAN IS THE ACA/OBAMACARE THEY WANT TO KILL! Why is this so hard to remember?
Of course the Republicans have no plan, because there is no way to deliver affordable healthcare to Americans by the “market-based solutions” they revere. The two options we have are government-supported insurance in a better form than our current patchwork system or single-payer. Absent proposals along those lines, all they can do is demagogue the issue.
only the first part of Scrooge's life, pre-Marley. My parents, rest their progressive souls, used to wish the Democratic Party would sponsor screenings of A Christmas Carol, back when big shows were "brought to you by."
While the ACA subsidies help to lower the cost of insurance to the people, it also is a windfall profit for theinsurance companies. Insurance companies do not provide or produce healthcare. They suck up money; act as a gatekeeper to care, They also cause care providers to process insane amounts of paperwork which costs them time, money and requires additional personnel. It all has to be paid for, and isn't efficient. What would be a winning ticket would be to throw the insurance lobbyists and their money out of the legislators' pockets, the insurance companies out of heathcare, and institute a single payer system. Healthcare should be a right and not a political football. If other countries can do it, with the proper motivation, so can we.
agree, but until we reach that day, it's unconscionable that millionaire maga gop "legislators" are forcing millions off coverage while giving huge tax cuts to the ultra rich
Jeff, thank you for your service! Hopefully the LOSS of service and catastrophic effects will knock some sense into even the most hard core right wingers.
The medicaid cuts are timed to start after the 2026 vote. The Party constantly chiming about reducing government red tape at least will force states to hire people to get those monthly activity reports and send out the denial letters. Most can now be computerized. But the appeals - if such process is allowed - will require extra state and recipient input. How many risk firing (and losing both job and Medicaid) to contest the denial?
And access after facilities need to close or shutter a cardiac or obstetric department will lead to longer uncomfortable travel. But will these rural folk most affected vote in 2026 or 2028?
“ But will these rural folk most affected vote in 2026 or 2028?”
Depends on the effectivity of the Democratic messaging about all this to red-state MAGA voters.
People obviously forget that the basis of the ACA was created by the best Republican minds in the Heritage Foundation. It was proposed as an alternative to what they feared would be Hillary Clinton's likely proposal for a "single payer" plan when Bill assigned her with finding a plan in 1993, when he first took office. Newt Gingrich was instrumental in making sure the insurance companies were protected in a system that operated on the basis of "if you can afford it, you're covered! Otherwise, you're screwed." Mitt Romney got the Heritage Foundation's plan to work as good as possible in Massachusetts, while he was Governor. Wanting to begin his administration on a bipartisan note, Obama drew on Romney's success to adopt/adapt that plan for use on a nationwide scale, knowing that single payer would never fly in a Congress that had a very thin Democrat margin. To get the bipartisan support, the plan was diminished to meet Republican demands. Yet when it came to a vote, not a single Republican voted for it. Further, red stated refused to participate, making success even that much harder. Then to add insult to injury, Republicans blocked most efforts to tweak the plan to fix unexpected issues. The object was to make the ACA fail! But as noted in the column, that failed because Republicans have no alternative.
OF COURSE THEY HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE. THEIR PLAN IS THE ACA/OBAMACARE THEY WANT TO KILL! Why is this so hard to remember?
Of course the Republicans have no plan, because there is no way to deliver affordable healthcare to Americans by the “market-based solutions” they revere. The two options we have are government-supported insurance in a better form than our current patchwork system or single-payer. Absent proposals along those lines, all they can do is demagogue the issue.
It’s the ghost of 1. Christmas past and 2. Christmas present
Republicans love living the life of Ebenezer Scrooge. Will they learn?
only the first part of Scrooge's life, pre-Marley. My parents, rest their progressive souls, used to wish the Democratic Party would sponsor screenings of A Christmas Carol, back when big shows were "brought to you by."