Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has a personal stake in the health care debate. His newborn son had a heart condition that required expensive surgery. He began asking Washington insiders whether they thought it was fair that his son would live because his parents can afford to pay for the necessary surgery, while other babies would die because their parents lacked the means or the insurance to save their child. This became known as “the Kimmel Test.”
Kimmel said last night that the new GOP heath care bill did not pass the test and is, in fact, disastrous.
This is the best single analysis I have seen about the proposal. I hope you will read it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
An overlooked tragedy is something I’ve written about ad nauseam over the past year: comedians are a more reliable and accurate source of honest information than journalists (what few remain) and the media. Perhaps it’s just a symptom of our celebrity-driven culture. While Jon Oliver won Emmys, he really should be garnering Peabodys. And while reporters get Peabodys, they should more often be up for Emmys. Jimmy Kimmel has done a greater service than any so-called popular news sources out there.
And as we she Sen. “Blanche” Graham get her undies in a tizzy and Sen. Cassidy with his wide-eyed, aw shucks ahm a doctor schtick, we must remember that they will pay absolutely no political or professional price for their criminal behavior. The vast majority of their constituents are not able to distinguish truth from fiction and are ideological to the detriment of their own interests. When they feel the pain, they will resort to their resentment to blame everybody but those most responsible for their condition.
Maybe there can be a “Jimmy Kimmel test” for public education. Can a lower socio-economic class student get a similar education as Kimmel’s child? or put another way, can the public education provided a lower socio-ecomic class student be enough to interest the Kimmel family to have it for their own child?
It is to bad Kimmel has NOT READ THE BILL. If he had he might have been singing a different tune as far as pre-existing conditions are concerned. Cassidy made sure states would get no funds if they failed to cover pre-existing conditions. Besides, President Trump has made it VERY CLEAR that he would NEVER sign a bill that did not cover pre-existing conditions.
Linda, did Trump read the bill? Has he ever read any bill?
Well, and Trump has been nothing if not true to his word, so I guess we should trust him this time….
Linda Giffin
Have you read the bill . Because I saw Cassidy obfuscate instead of answer that question, when asked very directly, several times.
Having access to healthcare insurance when you have an existing condition and having the ability to pay for the premium that will be placed on that pre-existing condition are not the something.
Lloyd’s of London will insure almost anything for the right price. You want to go swimming with sharks. I am sure they have a life insurance policy for you.
same thing
Linda,
Have you read the Cassidy-Graham bill? Can you post a link to it?
At this moment the bill is not available to read ANYWHERE. So all of your experts have NOT read the bill either! Not Kimmel, not CNN, none of them have read it.
Single payer is your healthcare co trolled by the government … socialistic. The Graham-Cassidy Bill is Federalized, just like the Gounding Father’s planned it … control to the states.
Collin’s isn’t happy because her state will eventually get less, because they have been getting more. Payments to the states will become leveled.
McCain has already said he would vote for the bill if the governor approved of the plan. Ducey has said YES, even though it will be an $11 million dollar loss to adjust to.
I would imagine the Kaiser Foundation knows what they are talking about.
……..
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Medicaid-expansion states would lose 11 percent, compared to how much they receive now, and states that have not expanded Medicaid would gain about 12 percent on average by 2026. The bill would also slow Medicaid spending by capping it. After 2026, the chunk of money states receive would expire entirely, unless Congress decided to renew it.
What’s more, private insurers could once again charge people more based on their health status, and they would not be required to cover 10 essential health benefits, like maternity or mental-health care, as they are under Obamacare.
It’s here that women—no matter their income level, age, or childbearing preferences—would really feel the effects of Graham-Cassidy. Currently, contraceptives are required to be covered without a co-pay under Obamacare, but the bill would allow states to waive that requirement, which also covers other types of preventive services. That means birth control might no longer be free for women who buy their health insurance on the individual market. Women on Medicaid would not be able to use their Medicaid plans to visit Planned Parenthood clinics for birth control and other services for one year, potentially resulting in the closure of Planned Parenthood clinics.
Graham-Cassidy would be a boon for red states, a punishment for blue states that expanded Medicaid. A massive transfer.
Can you please post this on your blog?
This is something everyone can do to feel heard in this voiceless debate about the repeal.
Call Senators:
Lisa Murkowski 202-224-6665
Susan Collins 202-224-2523
John McCain 202-224-2235
This is their Washington D.C. phone number. You can leave a voice mail. They seem to be our only hope. I told them that I was calling from Penna. and that our country needs their vote to save lives. I asked Senator McCain to continue to be our hero.
The three calls took less than five minutes.
The let’s pretend health care bill being rushed through Congress is fraudulent to the core. There is a state waiver that nullifies everything claimed to to be present in the bill. The perks are being shifted to make it difficult for Murkowski, Collins, McCain, and any other objectors to vorte against the bill. Greg B has it right.
No senator cares about voices outside his/her state, so it’s up to people who live in those states to apply pressure.
Dear Helene, I just called all three offices and was surprised to be able to get through.
I’m asking everyone to call and leave a message to vote NO. I am appalled at the thought of Indiana getting a block grant of money and how many people will suffer as a result of this horrible legislation.
Cassidy just announced during a tv interview that he has been trying to reach Kimmel to clarify some of his misconceptions. So far he has not heard back from Kimmel, or his “people”. He closed with an open invitation for Kimmel to contact him to talk. Will Kimmel call Cassidy to hear it from the “horses mouth”?
Linda,
I hope you don’t lose your health insurance. 32 million Americans will, under the Cassidy-Graham bill.
CBO is still computing their numbers, so I have no clue where you get your info.
McConnell is trying to rush a vote without giving CBO time to compute the millions who will lose their health insurance. However, a variety of experts say it will be 32 million people.
Feel good about that, Linda?
CBO is expected before the vote, unless they drag their feet. It was submitted in time.
There are NOT 32 million people on Obamacare. There are only 10-11 million. People will be transitioned to other plans. Depending on the efficiency level in your state there should be very few, if any people falling through the cracks.
Scare tactics from the left. CBO never has gotten any of the Obamacare numbers even close. Their methodology is very flawed and needs to be revised.
FYI … the whole insurance process would be less complicated if the industry would accept slightly lower profit margins.
Sorry, Linda, McCain says NO to a bill that has not been scored by CBO.
Leaving 10 million Americans with no health insurance is horrible. Monstrous.
The vote isn’t in yet. I never expected McCain to do anything but side with Schumer. McCain’s campaign finances have turned up showing donations from Soros sources. He is only sticking around so he can block the president. Governor Ducey is all for it, so McCain Can no longer use him as his excuse.
Business Insider: 15-19 million lose health insurance at once under GOP BILL; by 2027, 32 million lose their insurance: http://www.businessinsider.com/graham-cassidy-health-care-bill-how-many-lose-insurance-coverage-2017-9
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/09/21/how-many-with-preexisting-conditions-would-be-priced-out-of-coverage-under-cassidy-graham/?utm_term=.c1ae60d56a69
http://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/state-by-state-estimates-of-changes-in-federal-spending-on-health-care-under-the-graham-cassidy-bill/
https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/like-other-aca-repeal-bills-cassidy-graham-plan-would-add-millions-to-uninsured
Linda, I assume you think it’s okay if 15 million people face catastrophic illnesses lose health insurance. Are you okay with 32 million people left without health insurance? Does the number affect your view?
Should any American die because they can’t pay for healthcare?
Your assumption is only accurate if there is NO INSURANCE AVAILABLE to those people. That is a FALSE NARRATIVE because there will be insurance AND coverage, just NOT Obamacare.
What you need to know about Trumpcare:
Trump says GOP’s health bill protects pre-existing conditions. Here’s the truth
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/21/news/economy/obamacare-repeal-pre-existing-conditions/index.html
We must have Single Payer!
Amen! No politician who tells me it can’t be done will get my vote.
Yes. Civilized places do.
So it will be okay for the government to decide to withhold available medical treatment if someone with no medical background decides to deny you treatment? That’s the way it is in those other “civilized” countries.
Nonsense, Linda. Do you actually know anyone who lives in one of THOSE countries? If you live in Denmark or Canada or Japan or ALMOST ANYWHERE ELSE, basic healthcare simply is not an issue. Only in the brainwashed U.S. is this so, even given the existence proof right here of Medicare, which is a blessing to millions.
We have it here in Australia (although successive conservative governments have done their best to try and erode it) and it works fine. Could be improved, but worth keeping. Linda G is talking out of a certain part of her anatomy.
The VA is an example of single payer in the U.S. and it has been atrocious. Long wait times, people have died while waiting. Medicaid has worked for most, but is more than thirty years out of date to work better. If you have an issue with a smaller number, that issue will magnify when applied to larger groups.
What amazes me is no one seems concerned that they are not getting BOTH sides of this issue. Jimmie Kimmel got all of his info from Schumer and that is all you have heard. There is still no movement by the Kimmel camp to have Cassidy on his show to hear the other side of the issue from the “horses mouth” so to speak.
Socialism, communism lite, gains a foothold by controlling the information that gets to the people. By not giving voice to both sides your “information” is being deliberately limited so you will do what those in charge want you to do. Venezuela is the most recent (last twenty years or so) that demonstrates the progression this method always seems to follow.
In the beginning you “give up” little things, but they just open the door to more and more of your autonomy … your freedoms and individuality. You become just one of the drones. Inevitably the amount of corruption within such a system takes over. You can see it already in the audit reports coming out of the various governmental agencies. Millions have been embezzled that could/should have been used for taxpayers. How do you feel about paying extra ($24,000 for one HUD Director’s son’s RENT, plus other goodies totalling over $350,000) so they can have the good life while you barely get by?
The one great thing about this bill is it’s return to the Federalist ideals of the Founding Father’s. Who is going to be more receptive to a local group of people’s needs … a more local governing body where you are counted as one among millions, or a national body where you become one of hundreds of millions. At a national view, you would be almost non existent … minuscule. Thus your needs will be less likely to be considered, let alone addressed.
Sad. My older brother is on dialysis and the VA keeps him alive.
Didn’t say it was all bad, just not as good as it should be. I have an extended family member that almost died waiting for treatment from the VA and he only got it after heavy lobbying by family, friends and the media on his behalf.
Linda,
I hate to rely on anecdote but my brother would have died without VA help.
“The VA is an example of single payer in the U.S. and it has been atrocious. Long wait times, people have died while waiting. Medicaid has worked for most, but is more than thirty years out of date to work better. If you have an issue with a smaller number, that issue will magnify when applied to larger groups.”
We’ve had Australian Medicare for over thirty years now and it works great. No one dares to take it away (although conservative governments have tried to erode it).
Hey Linda, guess what we pay the doctors, midwives, hospital, laundering of soiled clothing, meals, medication, etc. for the many hours of childbirth? Nothing, that’s what! Big fat zero! Happened to us and to many other Australians.
Top-class care, as well. The “evils” of “socialised medicine”.
Thank you!!!
This is all so insane, so obscene. 2017 and we still don’t have universal health care!! All the other wealthy democratic countries have some form or version of universal health care. They don’t all have single payer or even socialized medicine; Switzerland, Germany and Holland have a system based on private insurance. The private insurers are heavily regulated, they must be non-profit and and the CEOs are not sucking in $15 million or $30 million a year. Drugs cost a fraction of what they do in the US. Isn’t it a hoot living in a country ruled by far right wing vampires. Universal health care? Ha, ha, ha not in the greatest, bestest country on earth. That would be socialism, can’t have that in right wing America.
Has anyone actually READ the bill? This country runs medicare, medicade, Tricare, government workers and VA. and all these ACA selections. None of them are without their problems. Personally, I do not want to see socialized medicine in this country. Do you really like the government running your health care? I should think that being on the state level, health care can be regulated to suit the specific needs of the citizens of that state far better than the feds can do it. People can have closer contact with the decision makers and enact changes (or move away). Even with the changes going on in the VA–the choice system is regulated heavily with a VA middleman that screws up the works and delays care by the civilian practitioners.
One has to admit that the ACA is self destructing. Countless citizens have single payer, the costs and deductibles are shy high and folks are going without and electing to pay the cheaper fee and just wing it. There will continue to be many, many who will elect to be uninsured. With the fines removed–expect even more to go without insurance. If I was a young 20 something, I would too. The mandated requirements must be changed as well as across state company coverage. States could use block grants to cover those with preexisting conditions based on the numbers in their state.
This has been an issue for years. The Dems wanted to ignore the ACA problems and the GOP wanted to dismantle it as a campaign pledge but had no idea what to do about replacing it. Why should they care—they and their staffs have subsidized policies (if they aren’t already on medicare, Tricare, or gov workers)? Both sides have done a serious injustice to the citizenry…and have lied, lied, lied.
April,
Are you okay with children and adults dying merely because they can’t afford to pay for medical care?
You failed to answer April’s question and is is very valid … Has anybody actually READ this bill. The answer is a resounding NO because it has not been posted for review.
You can only fear monger at this point because you have NO FACTS to base your comments on since NONE of your SOURCES have read the bill either.
April, I and millions of others like our government run MEDICARE. It works beautifully no thanks to the GOP which keeps trying to sabotage it in any number of ways. Medicare is a life saver for tens of millions of seniors and it is a government program; the doctors and hospitals are private. But you think it is socialized medicine. Bunkum! The only middlemen are the CURSED insurance companies!!!!!!! They spend massive amounts of money on advertising, on executive compensation (as much as $20 million a year for one CEO) and on a huge bureaucracy that works overtime to deny claims. This does not happen in the other wealthy free democratic countries because THEY HAVE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND WE DON’T!!!!!!!!! Sorry for yelling but this drives me nuts.
April, we have the existence proof of superb national healthcare plans in every other industrialized democracy. Our healthcare costs here are TWICE, per capita, the average in those places, and we have higher infant mortality, lower longevity, and higher rates of all the diseases of affluence than those countries do. U.S. citizens have been fed utter nonsense about single-payer. Lies.
“Do you really like the government running your health care?”
Yes, I do, because in Australia that’s what we have.
Thank you, David Perry. Please use your voice to speak out in the US whenever possible. We need to hear from people who can express exactly what single payer, government run health care, means. You have experienced it.
It is sad that there are many people like Linda and many politicians who work to destroy our health through the repeated mantra of just how bad a government run program would be.
Of course I am not…I am a nurse of 41 years, having worked in many military, public and private hospitals and the health department. We have hospital ERs and public hospitals that care for people and the indigent are placed on medicade. Some use ERs like doctors offices. There are also foundations that cover many people with chronic problems not to mention the providers that do free care in free clinics
April: Medicaid (not “medicade” sic) is a ………….drum roll………… government run program. If we had universal health care like the other civilized countries, poor people would not have to go to the ER for what should be routine care. They would not have to wait until the last moment when their ailment turned critical. If we had universal health care, the poor would be able to see the doctor on a regular basis and catch conditions before they became acute and critical. Now do you get it?
Medicaid is a “government insurance program for persons of all ages whose income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care.”
My mother was on medicaid the last months of her life. 60% of people who are in nursing homes are receiving some type of Medicaid. What are these people supposed to do if they no longer can receive this help? I feel sorry for states like Texas and Virginia whereby the poor suffer needlessly because their politicians want to prove a political point…socialistic federal aid is bad.
Jimmy Kimmel on Bill Cassidy’s Health “Care” Bill
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Published on Sep 19, 2017
David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist…NYT
Defenders of the new Trumpcare — the Graham-Cassidy bill — are telling Jimmy Kimmel to be quiet and leave the health policy debate to the experts. So I wanted to give you a quick rundown this morning of what the experts are saying about the bill:
It “violates the precept of ‘first do no harm’” and “would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance coverage.” – American Medical Association, which represents doctors.
It is “the worst healthcare bill yet.” – American Nurses Association.
It “would erode key protections for patients and consumers.” – American Hospital Association.
The “process [in the Senate] is just as bad as the substance. … Most Americans wouldn’t buy a used car with this little info.” – AARP.
The bill will “weaken access to the care Americans need and deserve.” – American Heart Association, jointly with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Diabetes and Lung associations, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the March of Dimes and others.
“This bill harms our most vulnerable patients.” – American Psychiatric Association.
It would hurt “consumers and patients by further destabilizing the individual market; cutting Medicaid; pulling back on protections for pre-existing conditions.” – America’s Health Insurance Plans.
It “would lead to a loss of health insurance for at least 32 million people after 2026. … By repealing the ACA’s coverage expansions and cutting deeply into the Medicaid program, the Graham-Cassidy bill threatens the health care of as many as 100 million people, from newborns to the elderly.” – Sara Collins, The Commonwealth Fund.
Take that, Jimmy Kimmel. You’re nothing but a late-night talk show host trying to prevent your fellow citizens from losing access to decent medical care.
Thank you, Carol.
I have not read the bill and I am willing to bet that Trump has not either. (NCLB, by the way, was over 1,000 pages, and a member of Congress at the time told me that he was one of only five in Congress who actually read it–he opposed it, one of the few.) Frankly, I would be amazed if either Cassidy or Graham has. Legislative language is extremely dense.
But I feel sure that the medical associations you cited know exactly what is in this bill and how it will affect real people.
I copy/pasted David Leonhardt’s column and added notes of my own. Sent it to my Indiana State Senator Todd Young (R). I reminded him that these are the voices of experts in the healthcare industry…also told him that I am a constituent and I vote.
I have also called and left messages at his Indianapolis office concerning this issue.
People need to call their state senator’s offices and load the lines with rebuttals to this horrible bill.
Right, “reading a 1,000 page bill” is not like reading a 1,000 page book. You have to take notes, do constant cross-references, analyze the relationships between each provision and every other provision. Frankly, I would prefer my Senators not “read the bill” themselves. They should be relying on their highly qualified staff to “read” the bills for them and prepare detailed memos about how the bills work.
Wonderful. Thanks for this post, Carol!
Apparently, Kimmel was not only speaking as a father, but working and acting as a voice for Chuck Schumer. These guys won’t even SEE the bill until Monday or Tuesday!
It would be unfair to nonhuman animals to say that the sponsors of these health”care” bills are animals.
But they do have all the compunction and fellow feeling of wasp larvae.
How embarrassing. tRump was talking to the leaders of African nations and mentioned the nonexistent country Nambia. They have an excellent healthcare system. Borowitz, a humorist, grabbed at that one. Remember, this is a joke. [It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes.] Palin will receive her education about Nambia from DeVos. Great thought.
…………………………………
Trump Names Sarah Palin Ambassador to Nambia
By Andy Borowitz
September 22, 2017
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump on Friday capped a busy week of diplomatic activity by naming the former Alaska governor Sarah Palin the United States Ambassador to Nambia.
By naming Palin to this diplomatic post, the United States has become the first nation in the world to formally recognize Nambia’s existence.
In a joint appearance with Trump at the White House, Palin acknowledged that she “didn’t know a lot about Nambia” but said that she was looking forward to receiving a comprehensive briefing on the nation’s history, culture, and customs from the Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos.
“Then it’s Nambia, here I come!” Palin exclaimed.
In a sign that Palin’s appointment was a popular move, a new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans support her permanent relocation to Nambia.
Carol, you beat me to it!
This is a truth about our absentminded Idiot for a president. Notice that he is carefully reading the script since he knows nothing about Africa. Nambia is a made up name, invented by tRump. He spoke this in front of a group of African leaders. What an embarrassment.
………………….
Ridiculist: Trump makes up a new country
President Donald Trump slipped up on the pronunciation of an African country. CNN’s Anderson Cooper puts “Nambia” on the Ridiculist.
Namibia does not seem to worried about the mispronuciation of it’s country’s name. They like the fact that social media is talking about them. Maybe it will move them into a position where they stop doing business with North Korea.
Linda,
How much commerce is there between Namibia and North Korea? Enlighten us.
In excess of $100,000,000/year, which surprised me.
Prove it
Did he serve? I was not aware he had any military service.
He was called to serve but he dodged the draft–five times.
You may have noticed when he plays golf that he has a bone spur on his heel. That’s why he can’t play golf.
The family found a doctor to keep him out of the war while McCain endured five years of torture.
Not doubting McCain’s service and Trump’s is not a factor. McCain is NOT doing what the people of Arizona elected him to do. Instead he is working with democrats. Democrats could work on this bill in a bipartisan man or, but their position is resist … That is NOT what any country can endure for long. These are the actions of activists trying to collapse a country by saying “the hell with you” to the people that voted in a person they don’t like. The dems message to create chaos to make this country unmanageable is socialist, not American.
Face it … Obamacare will die. Then we will have millions without coverage.
If Obamacare dies, it is because Trump has promised to strangle it by cutting off subsidies.
The GOP bill is monstrous. Why do you think every medical association in the nation has spoken out against it? They are not Dems or Republicans. They are medical professionals.
This is all about placating the Koch brothers and other big donors.
I would love to see Trump go on national tv and explain the new GOP bill. Not denounce Obamacare as a disaster, which he does daily, but really explain what is in the bill.
He won’t do it because he has no idea.
tRump has no idea of what is in this most recent attempt to get rid of Obamacare. He just wants an audience to watch him sign something ‘wonderful, big and beautiful’ for the country. You can be sure it will be the ‘best healthcare bill ever and will help everyone get insurance at an affordable rate.’ [Remember when he thought we were paying $12. a year for coverage?]
Just wait until the millions who loose coverage learn what is at stake. Pre-existing condition people will pay more and probably be priced out of the market. Women will get no help for birthing and no more free birth control. Premiums will rise so that out of pocket expenses will be so high that many with insurance will no longer be able to afford it. Planned Parenthood that provides care for the indigent will get no funding. Medicaid will eventually be phased out.
Apparently, this is the worst ‘healthcare reform’ bill yet. We can only hope it is one more failed attempt to hurt Americans. Susan Collins has not declared her intentions but hopefully, she will come out against it. She is tending towards that direction.
I do not understand why the GOP is so intent on passing something that destroys people. Is this really what their conservative followers want? I don’t understand why these people keep being put into office. Do the supporters have to loose their insurance before they realize something is terribly wrong? Do they really want to suffer so that the ‘lazy, greedy’ poor” no longer get healthcare?
It is the insurance companies that are deserting the sinking ship and they have been since BEFORE Trump was elected!
Insurance companies exist purely to make money. They care nothing about the health of people. $$$ is needed for extravagant CEO pay and to feed share holders. It is a disgusting system with tons of excessive paperwork. Their dropping out is a sign that they weren’t making enough money.
The US is spending more on healthcare than any other advanced nation and yet we do not have a longevity that stacks up well, partly because there are millions who get no care and another set of millions who can’t afford their premiums and co-pays. Privatization has proven to not work to help people.
ACA is not perfect. It is not holding down medical costs and was largely written by a former executive of WellPoint. Still, it is volumes ahead of the current GOP disaster. The comments made by healthcare experts prove that.
There is no basis for your claim that the ACA is better than the current bill … since it has not been made available to people to read yet in its entirety. Insurance companies want to make money … That is a given. Do you think they will make more money under the ACA holding one government hostage forced to pay through the nose to get coverage? Or, trying to deal with fifty governmental bodies that are going to compete for lower costs?
Fraud is easier to commit the bigger the agency is. Medicare and Medicaid alone have at LEAST $70-$110 MILLION DOLLARS IN FRAUD EACH YEAR according to recent reports. That does not even include the Obamacare fraud numbers. In recent months over 400 doctors have been charged with fraud related to opioid prescriptions. Then there are fraudulent billing practices, etc.. The more localized the controls the better. People in Alaska have different needs than people in big cities. If one agency, far removed from any understanding of the differences is in charge one of those groups will NOT have their needs met.
Imagine for a moment if the government ran the auto insurance industry. Calculating risk to determine rates would look much different. Rates would be leveled across the nation as a whole. A drive would no longer get multiple discounts from the industry to attract my business. They would not have to offer them … limited competition keeps rates higher. So the driver in New York, or California might not see any change from their several hundred dollar a month bill, but I sure would because mine would go up to that level! When you go from paying $40/month to several hundred dollars a month IT’S A BAD DEAL! That is what most American’s are complaining about.
The more closely insurance can be controlled by individual locales the better. One size fits all rarely turns out well for the majority.
Thank goodness for a few Republicans who are not just interested in passing ‘anything’ to appease the conservative element. This just came from WaPo.
…………….
GOP Sen. Susan Collins says she won’t support Cassidy-Graham health-care bill, likely killing the latest effort to overhaul the ACA
The Maine senator announced her decision after a preliminary projection from the Congressional Budget Office said “millions” fewer Americans would have insurance coverage by 2026 under the Cassidy-Graham proposal. In a statement, Collins said the analysis “confirms that this bill will have a substantially negative impact on the number of people covered by insurance.”
Collins becomes the third GOP senator to oppose the Cassidy-Graham legislation after Rand Paul (Ky.) and John McCain (Ariz.).
A CBO score is only relevant if control stays at the federal level … which this does NOT. Its like comparing apples and oranges. Next year there will be millions of uninsured unless we do something to provide insurance industry guidance and some controls. Only socialist and communist countries use the tactic “you have to buy this government … no other options”.
My ex PAYS $13,000 DEDUCTIBLE/YEAR under Obamacare. That is after paying his insurance premiums! He can’t AFFORD OBAMACARE! Millions of people in this country are in the same boat. They have already started getting out of the current FORCED USE INSURANCE. It has 42 taxes and you are forced to buy something so expensive you can’t afford and can’t use.
Are you supporting the Cassidy-Graham health-care bill? It is being pushed by the GOP as a replacement for ACA so it must be better?
Not necessarily. But we must get rid of Obamacare asap and it’s job killing costs! Any new plan will take years to perfect, but minus the mandates and eliminating taxes anything will be an improvement. Obamacare has been a method to kill the middle class. Under Obama the middle class shrank, while the top 1% of earners and the governmental dependents grew. The middle class has always been the stabilizing element in our society.
Dems talk about how this new plan cuts Medicare and that is a LIE! It cuts the RATE OF EXPANSION BY 4.5%. That is talking less than 5¢ out of a dollar. Medicare will still grow, just at a more stable and achievable rate.
Collins has come out and said she can’t vote for the bill. This is VERY curious since the bill she introduced a few months ago is very similar to the Cassidy-Graham Bill. It smells like special interest lobbyists are working against the American middle class AGAIN.
We want something where corruption and abuse is not commonplace and accepted as the norm. It should be AFORDABLE, not just titled affordable to lull people into a false sense of well being.
Linda,
Look up the Heritage Foundation in Wikipedia.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation
Under the section called “Policy Influence,” there is this statement:
“The health insurance mandate in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is an idea hatched in 1989 by Stuart M. Butler at Heritage in a publication titled “Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans”.[41] This was also the model for Mitt Romney’s health care plan in Massachusetts.[42]”
What???!!!
Obamacare was hatched at the Heritage Foundation!!
“Dems talk about how this new plan cuts Medicare and that is a LIE! It cuts the RATE OF EXPANSION BY 4.5%. That is talking less than 5¢ out of a dollar. Medicare will still grow, just at a more stable and achievable rate.”
……..
A block grant will be given to each state. The amount will not keep up with the needs of people or inflation, therefore, Medicaid will continue to be cut. Where are these people supposed to go when they are the poorest? Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood will also be cut. 30% of the funding for Planned Parenthood comes from Medicaid.
Cutting Obamacare with no adequate replacement is not a move in the right direction. ACA is not perfect. It was mostly written by a former VP of WellPoint insurance as a means of getting money from the government to private insurance companies. Insurance companies exist only for profit.
Here is what my (D) Senator Joe Donnelly has to say about the ‘new improved healthcare’ being put out by the GOP:
Sunday night, Senate Republicans released a revised version of the Graham-Cassidy bill — legislation that, if passed, would repeal the Affordable Care Act — and it’s worse than before. The changes they made go even further to weaken protections for Americans living with pre-existing conditions by making it easier for insurance companies to deny coverage and discriminate against them.
Joe’s made his position clear before, and he’s doing it again: He’s 100% opposed to any bill that would send premiums through the roof, gut Medicaid, and strip millions of their health care. Period.
Linda,
Are you proud of Trump’s military service during the Vietnam War?
The revised bill makes it even more obvious that Republicans are trying to sweeten the deal for particular lawmakers rather than attempting to craft a better bill. The core of Graham-Cassidy is still the same: it converts federal spending on Medicaid and insurance subsidies to block grants for the states. But according to a summary circulated by Republicans, key states that would have seen their federal dollars decline under Graham-Cassidy compared to the current law, will now see increases between 2020 and 2026: Alaska (3 percent), Arizona (14 percent), Kentucky (4 percent), and Maine (43 percent).”
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I am always amazed at the ability to craft laws that bribe and don’t care a twit about the millions who will loose their insurance. Isn’t there any morality left in the GOP?
“With less money, fewer people will be covered. That’s just math,” says Nicholas Bagley, a law professor at the University of Michigan who specializes in health law. “And since Graham-Cassidy is a lot less money, a lot fewer people will get covered.”
An analysis by the Brookings Institution estimates that about 21 million people would lose coverage under Graham-Cassidy compared with the current law through 2026, and eventually 32 million people would lose it because of the block grant funding changes.
A separate report by the health care consulting firm Avalere Health estimates that states would lose about $700 billion in federal health care funding over 10 years and $3.5 trillion over 20 years.