The US House just passed what it calls AHCA – the Obamacare repeal legislation they have been waiting 8 years to pass.
There are many ways to criticize this bill, ranging from the AMA’s criticism that it dismantles what safety net we have to a full-on dismissal by key Senate Republicans.
But there is a deeper criticism that has to be made – the real problem with this bill is that the House isn’t actually even trying to govern. They’ve completely given up.
Ryan can’t get away with as much as he’d like. What happens to the resentment built over this?
We have to start with the real reason for this bill: embarrassment. Not being able to deliver a key campaign promise to remove the tyranny of Obamacare made the House look bad all around. The real problem, of course, was that Obamacare was actually a net positive in many ways even with its flaws. It was a step in the right direction – if only a step.
While criticism of Obamacare was always possible – the insurance pools never had the populations necessary to keep costs down being the main one – that wasn’t where Republican campaign promises started. They criticized Obamacare because … honestly, I don’t remember why.
The main point was that Obamacare, as whined about on the campaign trail, was nothing more than a token in the ongoing War on Reality.
The august body at, um, “work”.
Passing legislation is a hard dose of reality. The Senate understands this and has pledged to start over, re-evaluating what health care in the US needs to be. That could yet be a good thing. It will certainly be some kind of effort to actually, I dunno … govern?
You can call this piece of legislation out of the House many things. Primarily, it is the white flag of surrender. They have given up even pretending that they are capable of governing.
Nothing more needs to be said.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 
Excellent take on the situation, Erik! I am assuming permission and re-blogging.
You always have it, thanks!
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
Erik Hare, my ‘go-to’ blogging friend, has a different, but I believe astute, take on today’s House vote to repeal ACA and implement Trump’s version of healthcare -101. Please take a few minutes to read his assessment, as I believe he has nailed it. Thank you, Erik, for implicit permission to re-blog!
That’s a… charitable… way of looking at it.
The only other way to look at it is that they are deliberately trying to screw people. I’m going to say that they don’t think about people long enough to consider this.
Great post, Erik. To further indicate that it is all about style than substance, and this President cares little about the details, several Republican Congressional representatives did not like the AHCA bill they voted for per The Washington Post. They felt pressured to get Trump a win in the House. These same folks know the Senate will alter it significantly (which the GOP Senate leadership as already said) and it may not ever survive a reconciliation process. Yet, they needed to pass something.
The CBO will likely not be kind to this bill as they were the first one. These guys are running victory laps over screwing over 24 million Americans out of healthcare. To be frank, not waiting on the CBO scoring and voting for something only for political reasons is extremely poor stewardship and malfeasance in some respects. That is this Independent voter’s opinion. But, what do I know, I just try to be a voice for those who rarely have a place at the table and certainly not this table
We didn’t even get the CBO estimates before they passed it on – that is simply unheard of with a major piece of legislation. That is worth dwelling on for a moment.
It is about nothing more than not being embarrassed by their own inability . As a result, they embarrassed themselves further.
Agreed. You may want to take a peek at my recent post “ACA truths Republicans don’t want you to know.” Jill reblogged so you can catch it there. I would appreciate your comments. One of the ironies is the ACA still is not fully implemented with 19 states not expanding Medicaid. To me, I would contrast data on the 31 states that expanded Medicaid versus those who did not. They could at least make some informed conclusions. But, that would be too logical for this crowd of leaders. Again, good post. Keith
Obama Care screwed us over royally. Escalating premiums. Ridiculous Co -pays and deductibles. Only one real choice left in our county.
The AMA is a self serving shill for the government.
The U.S. spends more money per capita on health care than any other country in the world; yet doesn’t even rank in the top ten on outcomes.
Citizens spend 75% of their wealth on the last several years of their lives. Nursing Homes and such are pathetic, depressing, expensive last stops on the way to the grave.
We need significant Tort Reform for Medical Malpractice.
Countries that have Socialized Medicine save costs by severely denying and restricting services. e.g. If you are over 70, you don’t get a total knee replacement.
The entire system of Health Care delivery in this country is broken.
I know. As a retired physician I saw it go to hell in a hand basket over 30 years.
The Federal Government will never be able to fix it.
Though I am a Democrat, I had a lot of criticism of Obamacare. It was a compromise from the start and it never really got to the heart of the problem. It wasn’t innovative at all.
Having said that, this is worse. There is nothing about reality in this bill, it’s just an attempt to push garbage through.
Despite the fact that the ACA insured 25 million people; there are still 27 million people without insurance. It was only a half way, half assed program
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that, as of 2016, approximately 27 million nonelderly people lacked health insurance. They estimated that this population breaks down approximately as follows[8]:
11.7 million people (43 percent of the uninsured population) are eligible for financial assistance to gain coverage through either Medicaid or subsidized coverage through the government exchanges
5.4 million are ineligible for coverage due to immigration status
4.5 million are ineligible for financial assistance due to ESI offer (i.e., employees’ state insurance)
3 million are ineligible for financial assistance due to income
2.6 million fall into the coverage gap where they do not meet state Medicaid eligibility requirements and earn too little to qualify for ACA subsidies
Obamacare was indeed half-assed at best. There is no doubt in my mind that Republicans could come up with a better system in one way or the other. But they aren’t even trying. That’s what bugs me.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that we will NOT have a fix for this until everyone is engaged, Democrat and Republican alike. This doesn’t get us anywhere.
Obamacare was always a compromise and not a good one. This is just garbage. Its like they want to go backwards but couldn’t even do that.
Exactly.
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