Originally published at: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/senate-republicans-take-the-attack-on-obamacare-to-a-new-level
House Republicans included massive cuts to federal social safety net programs, like Medicaid, in the reconciliation package they passed in May. Experts tell TPM that the cuts to the programs amount to an effort to repeal elements of the Affordable Care Act. This week, Senate Republicans signalled they might go even further in that ACA…
millions will lose access to healthcare.
That includes Republican voters, the children of Republican voters, and generally people who follow Republican medical advice like to avoid vaccines.
The party of Right to Life don’t walk the walk, or really care about anyone, at any stage of life.
“But the upper chamber Republicans are also taking their attack on the expansion population a step further by adding a provision that would require adults with dependent children older than 14 to prove they work, attend school or perform community service for 80 hours a month in order to be eligible.”
I think members of Congress should have to prove they’ve worked to provide something of actual value to Americans who aren’t billionaires before they’re eligible to continue receiving their paychecks, good health-insurance coverage, and the numerous other little treats they enjoy as part of their position. If that were a requirement every single Republican would be out of Congress tomorrow.
GOP legislation summarized: “Get your miserable asses back in the fields/factories/mines and work until you drop dead! More money for us > healthcare for the poors.”
Yes, any requirement that congresscritters contribute to the public weal would be a retirement notice for many GQP legislators.
I’m unsure of the impact that work requirements would have on population that obtained coverage under the ACA expansion of Medicaid.
IIRC the expansion was to benefit those who work but who do not make enough to obtain subsidies to buy private insurance on the marketplace.
I imagine some would be affected, but most likely not most.
Let me be clear that I oppose any form of Republican style “reform,” which is usually a misnomer.
Republicans are clearly acting like they plan to run the US from a position of autocratic rule.
We always jump to messages about people dying when discussing threats to coverage. But when ranking the predictable negative outcomes of shrinking the ACA, foreclosure and medical bankruptcy should be at the top of the list.
Yes, death is dramatic and a kind of click bait.
At the same time, I would be surprised if experiences like foreclosure and medical bankruptcy didn’t negatively effect people’s physical health, make them more susceptible to other conditions, limit their treatment options and shorten their lives.
In an ongoing effort to make America dumber and sicker, Rethugliklans continue building a bridge to the 17th Century.
The GOP jihad and their felon leader have eclipsed Osama bin Laden and his 19 hijackers.
Have a great weekend, TPMers!
I understand that Obama put the fascists’ knees into a permanent jerk. So they gotta kill ACA, or injure it as much as possible.
But I fail to see what they think they win by stripping healthcare from millions of people, many of whom are their own MAGATs. They are fucking mental.
I’m guessing more than a few will derive some twisted satisfaction from it.
What they are doing is ensuring that there will be revolution in the fairly near future. Their measures are going to hit their base hard, and when that finally sinks in, there will be mass uprising. The Dems job is to keep shining a light on the fact that it is the Refucks who are doing this to them, not the Dems. Every cruel enactment that puts a bigger burden on the poor and middle class makes it more likely that the turnaround will be violent and that they will be held accountable.
Not only that, but the fact that there will be no hospitals or doctors to treat anyone but the very rich who can pay for special attention.
All in all, what they are ensuring is a single payer medical system in spite of the stranglehold that the Insurance Industry has on Congress.
Once again, the cruelty is the point. Stop voting for Republicans!
There are 461 members of Congress who are Christians. And evidently they know nothing about Jesus. How about they read the Beatitudes? Hypocrisy, the 8th deadly sin.
Who makes the determination someone in able to work?
This is not ACA related but reminds me of the arbitrary nature of “requirements”.
In Texas, the rules for a handicap tag were changed recently. My wife has mobility issues, requiring a cane to walk many days. On hard days, it is a struggle across hot parking lots just to get in the door. When she asked about getting the tag, the doctor’s have refused because she technically can walk 200 feet despite arthritis, damage to her knee and pain. If you see her, it is a tough struggle.
The doctors’ refusals to sign off are based on the changes and they cannot say absolutely that she cannot do it. They are afraid of going out on a limb. (heck of a pun by accident) So she is in limbo. It affects where we go, limiting her options. Yet I see people who are ambulatory without stress, hopping into and out of large vehicles and they have the tags or placard and access to the handicap parking.
I see work requirements being fined tuned like this. And doctors being cowed to make the determination, only to have someone question that decision.