One of the primary arguments from Republicans for repealing ObamaCare is that the healthcare law is “collapsing.” But experts warn that the GOP’s legislation might destabilize insurance markets even more over time.
The Senate’s ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill, released Thursday, would abolish ObamaCare’s mandate for people to have insurance, but it would still bar insurers from denying people coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Experts warn that arrangement would allow people to wait until they get sick to buy insurance coverage, likely driving up premiums.
On top of that, the GOP bill cuts back on ObamaCare’s tax credits, providing less financial assistance to help people afford a plan. So in addition to the lack of an enforcement “stick” to get healthy people to enroll, there would also be less of a “carrot,” in the form of financial assistance.
This combination could lead to more insurers pulling out of the market or hiking premiums, experts say, exactly the problems under ObamaCare that Republicans have talked about solving.
“A combination of repealing the individual mandate and diminishing premium subsidies would tend to destabilize the market,” said Larry Levitt, a healthcare expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Like I said before, the Republicans are not working to replace Obamacare with something better, they are just taking the worst parts of the law and amplifying them.
And that has not been lost on some key Republican Senators who fear the passage of this bill will be their downfall.
Courtesy of Politico:
Senate Republicans are casting doubt on their leaders’ plans to vote this week on repealing Obamacare, with lawmakers from all wings of the party so far withholding support from the massive reshaping of the health care law that they campaigned on for seven years.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky faces problems from seemingly every corner of his conference, and — from wary moderates to conservatives and even leadership allies — few Republicans were willing Sunday to predict the Senate repeal bill could pass this week, before lawmakers leave Washington for a weeklong July 4 recess.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) outlined “very serious concerns” about GOP leaders’ bill on ABC’s “This Week,” saying that “it's certainly going to be very difficult” for McConnell to win the 50 votes he needs to pass it on such a tight time frame.
I really doubt that more time will make much difference as the Republicans at their core really don't want to pass a health care plan.
But their inability to pass this crappy bill really does not do much to help those who need health insurance.
The Republicans have already done much to undermine the success of Obamacare, and if they do not work to make it better it will get steadily worse.
That may be something they think works for them politically, but in reality it literally means a substantial loss of life and Americans suffering needlessly from health care problems that could be solved with one or more visits to a doctor.
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