Discussion: 12 Times GOP Leaders Have Promised An Obamacare Alternative

system1 · February 4, 2015, 4:05pm

Discussion for article #232869

sufi66 · February 5, 2015, 11:37am

The GOP plan is simple: can’t write a check to the doctor? Then you die.

lew · February 5, 2015, 11:41am

What? The GOP lying about replacing O’care? Well color me beige.

deputydawg · February 5, 2015, 12:05pm

They could not agree on soundbites that would convince the public that their proposed changes to the ACA ie… tort reform and selling insurance across state lines made the law better.

longtimeobserver · February 5, 2015, 12:21pm

Party of “NO!” has no ideas.

learning · February 5, 2015, 12:36pm

Republicans can’t govern. They can make a lot of noise, spend ungodly amounts of money, cause mountains of harm to the middle class. But they can’t govern.

sjk · February 5, 2015, 12:36pm

Their goal now is to keep Obama a 2 term President.

wagonmound · February 5, 2015, 12:36pm

Hey, the relevant fact here is that these are Republicans.

Republicans can be counted on all the time, on every issue, in every venue to lie.

It’s probably genetic. Maybe we should develop a vaccine to do away with the disease of Republican conservatism.

Although it would be more fun to hunt them down in the streets and decorate the lamp posts with them.

radicalcentrist · February 5, 2015, 12:57pm

Simple solution: 1. Repeal Obamacare.
2. Immediately pass the same legislation, except label it “The Ronald Reagan National Romney/Heritage Health Insurance for All Americans and Anti-Terrorism Act”.
3. Have several glasses of merlot and declare the House in recess until April.

losamigos · February 5, 2015, 1:01pm

“Our goal is to show the American people what we believe would work better. I believe we will. We’ll continue to roll them out as we develop them.”

Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job!

cvilledem · February 5, 2015, 1:01pm

Sail did a great job with this. In their own words, it shows how lame and completely dishonest the Republucans are about this. Government takeover if health care? Hardly. Putting patients back in chargeof their health care? Hard to be in charge when you don’t HAVE Health care…and aren’t these the same people who want to tell women what they can and can’t do? Aren’t they the ones who want to tell doctors what they can and can’t say to patients? On and on they go, spinning their wheels and their inconsistencies.

radicalcentrist · February 5, 2015, 1:04pm

Late breaking news http://www.marketwatch.com/story/republicans-unveil-obamacare-replacement-plan-2015-02-05?link=MW_home_latest_news

Refundable tax credits and states can allow any POS to be called “health insurance”. Watch for meager credits that will buy a policy that covers aspirin and cough syrup.

Edit: I will just note that refundable tax credits are the main reason why, as Mitt Romney famously noted, 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax. Isn’t it a delicious irony that the Republican proposal would add substantially to that number?

sherlock1 · February 5, 2015, 1:05pm

Emergency Room Receptionist: “Insurance?”

John Doe: “I got kicked off my insurance plan because I was sick. So I put off going to the doctor and then I got very, very sick and I came here where the taxpayers will have to take care of me.”

Emergency Room Receptionist: “Oh! I see. You’re on the Republican Healthcare Plan.”

jinmichigan · February 5, 2015, 1:11pm

This is a game to the GOP leadership. Keep the rubes in place while nothing happens.

josephebacon · February 5, 2015, 1:28pm

Here’s the truth. Their hatred of the black man in the White House trumps everything else. If you think this hatred is going to stop when Hillary takes over, you’re dreaming. Republicans are already doubling down on hate for her.

oscarhomolka · February 5, 2015, 1:48pm

Lobbyists are hard at work formulating a replacement for the legislators who no longer write much of anything themselves. But am I misreading these bullets from the article you embedded?::

‘GOP aides said their proposal had no official estimates of cost or the numbers of people it would cover. They said they believed their plan would save money and be competitive with coverage under Obama’s program.’ !NO IDEA HOW MUCH, NO IDEA WHO GETS COVERED = NO PLAN!

‘As under Obama’s law, insurers would be required to include children up to age 26 under their families’ policies, though states could end that requirement. Unlike Obama’s law, states could decide whether to provide maternity coverage.’ !STATES DECIDE ON MATERNITY COVERAGE!

‘People with pre-existing medical conditions could not be turned down for insurance, as long as they did not have a gap in coverage that lasted more than roughly two months, congressional aides said.’ !ROUGHLY 60 DAYS AND YOU ARE CULLED FROM THE HERD!

‘For people who don’t sign up for coverage, states would be allowed to automatically enroll some of them in plans. Such people, though, could completely opt out of coverage anyway.’ !STATES ENROLL PEOPLE…BIG GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER!

‘To raise money, the GOP plan would impose taxes on the value of employer-provided health coverage exceeding $12,000 for individuals and $30,000 for families, amounts that would grow as inflation rises.’ !TAXING HEALTH BENEFITS - IF YOU HAVE SERIOUS ILLNESS THAT COSTS LOTS OF MONEY TO DEAL WITH, WE WILL TAX YOU ON IT!

‘Limits would be placed on awards from medical malpractice lawsuits, and insurance companies would be allowed to sell policies across state lines. Republicans said both steps were designed to help lower coverage costs.’ !LIMITS ON MALPRACTICE AWARDS AND ALLOWING INSURANCE COMPANIES TO MAKE MORE MONEY THAN EVER!

These guys are like General Custer… only, Custer never intended to get everyone killed!

radicalcentrist · February 5, 2015, 2:05pm

Automatic enrollment and tax increases-THIS PLAN IN 100X MORE COMMUNIST THAN OBAMACARE!

I doubt any Republicans will vote for this.

ltmcdies · February 5, 2015, 2:06pm

oh just admit it Boehner…there are bits of Obamacare (keeping the kids on a plan til 26, no pre-existing conditions, etc) you have to keep because Americans like them. And you have to have some way to discourage freeriding…right?
And pitching a few million Americans to the wolves by dumping them off their plans is bad and may actually tick off your health insurance industry supporters.
It would also demonstrate that the GOP discovery of “the poors” is just a lot of hooey.
So whatever you wind up with, is gonna look kind a like Obamacare, isn’t it.
Which will make the trillion or so votes to repeal Obamacare look as lame and pointless as they actually were.

Governing sucks don’t it, Boehner

leftflank · February 5, 2015, 2:10pm

The do-nothing trend continues. If the day ever comes that the Republicans actually take the big leap and put out some form of plan, they’ll say, see, we did what we said we would, don’t worry that it took over a century before we were forced into it, twice really. Or that we are going backwards in order to never go forwards.
Its a patient centered plan where every patient shares the pain and costs equally and costs are determined by the pain and profit to death ratio. And best of all, it isn’t friggin’ Obamacare so we don’t have to say Obama and care in the same sentence for eternity.
Now, lets get a few wars going and drill for some unneeded oil because death and destruction good.

benthere · February 5, 2015, 2:19pm

GOP offer a plan?? They don’t do that for anything, they only criticize and whine.