Civil Candor

political cynicism for turbulent times

Copyright © 2023 CivilCandor.com

Home » Big Government » Health Care » Repeal, Replace, Dismantle, Destroy Won’t Sell ACA Fix

Repeal, Replace, Dismantle, Destroy Won’t Sell ACA Fix

Last update July 18, 2017Leave a Comment

With the nation at their mercy Republicans are about to blow the mission they staked their reputation to the instant Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act. We’ve heard the buzzwords: repeal, replace, dismantle. We might as well add destroy. The press isn’t great, but how could it be? Republicans will be lucky to make this sale to themselves not because their ideas are bad, but because their campaign to make this overhaul palatable is all wrong.

The party is not good at selling its conservative ideas to America and this is a really tough sale. There is one overwhelming problem with the GOP sales pitch:

It is built on reforms conservatives have been pursuing for decades.1

Replacing a health care system popular with many that was championed by a president they adored can’t be about Republican health care and conservative values. That’s the kind of promotional campaign that creates fear and anger. It sounds like Republicans are preparing to repeal, replace, and destroy something people depend on with values they don’t agree with. That’s not going to make this go down easy, especially when many are already infuriated by the Trump administration.

Repeal, replace this terrible law: the horrible problem

The problem with this terrible law is that it’s not terrible for everyone. It was very good for people with pre-existing conditions. Guaranteed issue was a badly-needed reform that past Republican majorities never delivered. Now they are threatening to repeal, replace, dismantle, and destroy what gave people insurers won’t touch a chance to avoid ruin from uninsured medical bills or pricey state high-risk pools.

Ryan can’t sell his bill like this*

Speaker Paul Ryan’s sales pitch for how the new plan deals with this big pre-existing condition problem doesn’t sound encouraging to anyone who dealt with high-risk pools before the ACA:

Our plan will introduce the Patient and State Stability Fund to help finance solutions designed by state leaders to meet the specific needs of their populations. Ultimately, our plan will give states the flexibility they need to protect their most vulnerable citizens.2

It doesn’t match the House GOP’s pitch on the same topic:

Prohibit health insurers from denying coverage or charging more money to patients based on pre-existing conditions.3

What does the bill say? The purpose of the Fund is:

Helping, through the provision of financial assistance, high-risk individuals who do not have access to health insurance coverage offered through an employer enroll in health insurance coverage in the individual market in the State, as such market is defined by the State (whether through the establishment of a new mechanism or maintenance of an existing mechanism for such purpose).4

The bad thing about state high-risk pools wasn’t access. It was paying the premiums. If this plan lowers costs, why do we need a special financial assistance fund for people who by definition were not high-risk with ACA guaranteed issue?

It may be unclear how the American Health Care Act protects all Americans, but the bill’s moral slant and fulfillment of a promise to cut the legs off of Planned Parenthood starts on page 3 with the definition of “Prohibited Entity.”

Religious restrictions and going after women’s health care?

Do Republicans really think they can impose conservative religious restrictions while the country is up in arms over what liberal America calls a Muslim Ban?

The Speaker gave conservatives a long list of reasons why they should back the American Health Care Act including defunding Planned Parenthood.5 I can imagine the left mounting pretty good arguments for discrimination, violating the separation of church and state, and worse over abortion restrictions that will be condemned as an attack on women’s health care.

Obamacare repeal, replace was never the right message

The House GOP vows that their health bill:

Keeps our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.6

It will do that and may be the best health care bill America could hope for. If Republicans can’t sell their plan it doesn’t matter. Repealing and replacing a system to impose conservative spending and values will not make the American Health Care Act more appealing without a believable campaign to go with it. That’s a vital part of this bill we haven’t seen or heard yet.

*UPDATE March 25, 2017: Ryan can’t and he didn’t. Yesterday’s defeat of Republican health care by refusing to even bring it to a vote was an appalling display of GOP failure. The party proved again that it is much better at taking away than offering the people something that helps. That’s where Democrats come in. President Warren and Speaker Pelosi, anyone?

UPDATE July 18, 2017: It’s official. In less than seven months the GOP killed its long-promised fix for Obamacare. All that remains is the arguing over whether Republicans will suffer more for refusing to pass a wildly unpopular replacement or by refusing to honor a promise they staked a claim to many years ago.

We are way past embarrassment on this one. This is disgraceful.

Sources

Filed Under: Health Care Tagged With: Paul Ryan, Republicans

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Apotheosis of Washington. Architect of the Capitol.

Apotheosis of Washington
Architect of the Capitol

BROWSE

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More

In case of sale of your personal information, you may opt out by using the link Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Accept Decline Cookie Settings
I consent to the use of following cookies:
Cookie Declaration About Cookies
Necessary (1) Marketing (0) Analytics (1) Preferences (0) Unclassified (1)
Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.
NameDomainPurposeExpiryType
wpl_user_preference civilcandor.com WP GDPR Cookie Consent Preferences 1 year HTTP
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Analytics cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.
NameDomainPurposeExpiryType
_ga civilcandor.com Google Universal Analytics long-time unique user tracking identifier. 2 years HTTP
Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
We do not use cookies of this type.
Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.
NameDomainPurposeExpiryType
_ga_R6V41C7WZK civilcandor.com --- 2 years ---
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site. For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
Cookie Settings

Do you really wish to opt-out?