Just a side note. Congress can never fully repeal the ACA. Many of the provisions that improve the delivery and administration of health care (e.g., electronic records) are now immutably woven into the industry fabric that changes going forward will only be improvements. The hospitals, doctors and insurance companies are not going back to pre-ACA. With that said, Congress can, and, tragically, probably will, still screw individuals and families with their foolish actions.
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Can a handful of not-completely-batshit Republican senators (plus the entire Democratic caucus) actually save us from the worst of worst? I ask that as a serious question. Go ahead and stomp on my rosy-eyed vision if you must. Iâm looking for glimmers of hope wherever I can find them.
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Obamacare is so bad for America that we are going to leave it for years for you to suffer from it. It will also kill Medicare as well.
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So he is realistic about how you pass bills. For those not in the Il Duce Donald world at least.
But still selling the âget rid of the mandateâ tea. still no coherent plan.
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Ok thanks for the explanation I appreciate it
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Yep. It will take time to implement the fixes that Dems were asking for during the ânothing short of full repealâ era.
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Technically, yes, as it would only take a few Republicans to block this, assuming that the Democratic Party remains unified. That said, given how often theyâve promised their base that they would repeal, given the number of votes that they have taken to repeal, given that one of those votes actually ended up on the Presidentâs desk, it would likely be political suicide for any Republican to block it. Theyâre already terrified of being primaried on the right; a vote to block would almost certainly guarantee it.
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Well anything is possible
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This is what happens when fantasy-land collides with reality. Repealing Obamacare makes for a great GOP talking point to gin up the base yet doesnât work so well as real-world action because a) itâs complicated and b) it actually helps people, including GOP constituents.
As I told a friend, the only silver lining in this election (and itâs really just a sliver of silver) is that now Republicans have to govern. They own it. Talking points and fake rhetoric wonât get them very far when it comes to fulfilling the promises madeâŚ
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"âŚto make sure we do no harm, create a good health care system that everyone has access to⌠"
Did he not get the Republican Party memo? Since when has their approach to health care included any of the above goals?
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If Republicans can figure out how to replace it with something better, I have no problem. My guess is it is going to look a lot like an amended version of the ACA.
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This is an article about the bill passed in January that could be used as a model to effectively end Obamacare. Obama vetoed it, of course.
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From a pure policy perspective, the set of provisions in Obamacare regarding insurance coverage are really the only conceivable way to extend coverage to more people (so that the cost of caring for them is evenly shared across the spectrum of parties who deliver that care) while maintaining the private health insurance market and without a public option. The reason is âmoral hazardâ, which is an insurance term of art meaning that you canât insure something when the party offering the policy canât measure the likelihood of the event with the same precision that the party purchasing the policy.For example, you wonât take bets on a game with loaded dice.
By forcing insurance companies to forego the moral hazard to cover people with pre-existing conditions under Obamacare, the government must balance that with requirements that everyone pay into the system before, during and after they might put carriers at moral hazard. Hence, the individual mandate is the only possible way to maintain that very popular part of the law.
âEstablishmentâ Republicans know this but the politically-driven ones and idiots donât care. Many are happy to replace Obamacare with suffering and bankruptcy, as long as that happens to the right people â the ones who didnât vote for them. But if you require insurance companies to cover anyone without regard to their known costs, and the people can wait to get a policy until they know they need it, rates will skyrocket and the entire system falls apart, as it was BEFORE Obamacare.
Reality is a bitch, as they say, but I still suspect the GOP will repeal and not replace, then blame Obamacare anyway for the results.
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So theyâre all in for single payer? 
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For it or anything else to work like its supposed to it is a 100% requirement that the program contain cost control features to which the GOP/Teatrolls are 100% ideologically opposed. Caps on profit margins, mandating people obtain coverage, minimum plan coverage requirements, etc. etc. All of it is a non-starter for them. Their version of âfree marketâ is like having no rules, no referees, no lines on the field and yet still saying youâre playing football. To them, the only real âfixâ is THAT applied to the health care industry, then still claiming we have the best health care in the world because something something 'Muirkkka, fuck yeah.
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I thought that too, but when you have control of all the levers of power, it is going to be hard to win in 2018 when a lot of the people who voted for them in 2016 no longer have insurance. If Democrats play this right, Republicans will take all the blame and will be responsible for all the horror stories.
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Lamar! is actually not a bad dude. He will probably end up against a brick wall with blindfold and cigarette like the rest of us.
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Pre Obamacare, many insurance companies did not drop people who developed problems. They jacked up the cost until those clients dropped themselves.
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Blame Democrats for any pitfalls on a bunch of vague, disingenuous or outright false reasons and repeat them enough until they become facts in the minds of their constituents. And then keep telling them that Democrats want to take their guns. No votes lost and no damage done.
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