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[LegendofJoe]

Patients will illnesses who would get segregated into high-risk pools because of this new health plan are basically getting condemned to a life of fear and poverty because their plans would be caught in a spiral, no? And the rest of us would get sold "too good to be true" plans because the mandatory minimum coverage requirements would get removed. It sounds awful at first blush. This is a "moderate-friendly" solution?

Yep, the AHCA would basically flush all of the bankruptcy protection built into the PPACA down the toilet.

Hello medical bankruptcy, my old friend.

 

[Random17]

Sure, take another legislative L.

Even if it gets repealed it'll be an L. Obamacare is a politician's landmine, attempting to either save or it repeal has been shown to be politically dangerous, to put it lightly.

 

[RPGCrazied]

And if this passes, Georgia will be just a lost cause for the Republicans. Don't fuck with people's healthcare. Last straw.

 

[NealMcCauley]

It is actually sort of possible if they do what they seem to be suggesting here: leave even more of the original law up to the states.

Probably just me but it sounds like a way to pass blame to states if/when everything goes to shit.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Probably just me but it sounds like a way to pass blame to states if/when everything goes to shit.

Considering the majority of states are GOP held, this would be a pretty bad idea if this is their plan.

 

[Goro Majima]

McConnell isn't going to nuke the filibuster at all, but he's certainly not going to for such an unpopular bill.

Also once the Democrats eventually take back the Senate, they'll just undo it and implement UHC anyway since the filibuster would be gone.

Even though Obamacare was basically the republican plan and still want to destroy it, to meet that goal they'd be better off continuing to suffocate it like they have been until the exchanges are a ghost town.

 

[Auto_aim1]

You guys shouldn't be too confident that they won't do this. They are pretty determined. Not repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms and repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms. Not repealing it means no large tax breaks so they will do it eventually.

Right now they are trying to sabotage it and maybe wait until the mid-terms are over.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

You guys shouldn't be too confident that they won't do this. They are pretty determined. Not repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms and repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms. Not repealing it means no large tax breaks so they will do it eventually.

Right now they are trying to sabotage it and maybe wait until the mid-terms are over.

- Due to unknown reasons, half of the GOP was asleep over the last two weeks and aren't scared out of their minds that their district doesn't swing 20 points in the opposite direction and this passes the house
- The Senate laughs at the ridiculous bill, chops it into a million pieces so it doesn't explode the entire health industry instantly
- Democrats filibuster the bill
- Mitch McConnell has a mild brain aneurysm and decides to end the legislative filibuster to brute force a bill that an overwhelming majority of Americans do not like. Nobody knows why he did this, since it goes against everything he's said and makes no political sense at all, but he did it.
- The Frankenstein of a bill is sent back to the house where they fight with each other because Mitch McConnell didn't want to kill children or whatever
- Somehow, through all of this, they manage to pass something
- Trump signs it because he's a stooge.
- The entire industry crashes overnight and 2018 is the biggest change in Congress since the early 1900s.
- Trump loses in 2020 in a landslide and Democrats gain even more seats
- ???
- Medicare for all

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

You guys shouldn't be too confident that they won't do this. They are pretty determined. Not repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms and repealing it will hurt them in the mid-terms. Not repealing it means no large tax breaks so they will do it eventually.

Right now they are trying to sabotage it and maybe wait until the mid-terms are over.

We're past reconciliation now, there's no way they can get 10 democrats to agree with a repeal on top of resolving the wedge between moderates and far-rights. Sure, they could try and kick the can down the road past 2018, but there's a pretty good chance that Dems will take the House anyways. GOP wrote themselves into a corner with this nonsense.

 

[KernelPanic]

GOP *really* doesn't want people to have health care.

There must be some major money coming into their pockets

Koch brothers among others.

Party for sale.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Koch brothers among others.

Party for sale.

Koch brothers are against this bill

 

[WedgeX]

Patients will illnesses who would get segregated into high-risk pools because of this new health plan are basically getting condemned to a life of fear and poverty because their plans would be caught in a spiral, no? And the rest of us would get sold "too good to be true" plans because the mandatory minimum coverage requirements would get removed. It sounds awful at first blush. This is a "moderate-friendly" solution?

Unfortunately a lot of people have present-bias in addition to vastly underestimating their own health risks.

Let hope people remember the bad times pre-ACA.

 

[Xe4]

The confusing thing to me here is that this plan they're proposing wouldn't work with Tax Reform because too much is up in the air. If every state is given the option of possibly waiving benefits, then there's no way to factor in costs.

It's almost like they didn't expect to win and are now winging it or something.

As I understand it, tax reform is much harder than health care reform with a lot more moving parts involved. It took Reagan until his second term to finally get tax reform passed, that's how hard it was. So I don't see how it'll be possible, especially without the budget "savings" made possible by throwing millions of people off health insurance.

Ehhh. Regan's reform bucked the trend of higher income tax for the rich which was a lot harder to do back then than now. As a different example, both of Bush's tax cuts were passed before his first term ended.

Now, Bush's republicans were far more competent than the clowns in now, but it's still a lot easier than health reform, which is something no president before Obama was able to accomplish.

The problems in our health care industry are much greater than those in our tax code, though both are very important to fix.

 

[etrain911]

Welp, that's one way to force a government shutdown.

 

[GoldenEye 007]

I think it's bad word choice in the article. I think it means the GOP's factions are reconciling, not that they will try to pass it through the reconciliation process.

Ah that would make sense.

 

[sangreal]

I mean, isn't it impossible for them to pass it now without democratic votes since they can no longer use the budget reconciliation to force a vote with a simple majority? What's the point of even trying now lol

they can still use budget reconciliation, but some of the provisions in this bill aren't going to fly

I thought the reconciliation deadline passed already. What is the actual date?

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30458.pdf

Under a revised timetable in effect since FY1987, the annual budget resolution is scheduled for
final adoption by the House and Senate by April 15. The current timetable prescribes June 15 as
the deadline for completing action on any required reconciliation legislation, but there is no
explicit requirement to that effect.

 

[Auto_aim1]

- Due to unknown reasons, half of the GOP was asleep over the last two weeks and aren't scared out of their minds that their district doesn't swing 20 points in the opposite direction and this passes the house
- The Senate laughs at the bill, chops it into a million pieces so it doesn't explode the entire health industry instantly
- Democrats filibuster the bill
- Mitch McConnell has a mild brain aneurysm and decides to end the legislative filibuster to brute force a bill that an overwhelming majority of Americans do not like
- The Frankenstein of a bill is sent back to the house where they fight with each other because Mitch McConnell didn't want to kill children or whatever
- Somehow, through all of this, they manage to pass something
- The entire industry crashes overnight and 2018 is the biggest change in Congress since the early 1900s.
- Trump loses in 2020 in a landslide and Democrats gain even more seats
- ???
- Medicare for all

They can't sit on their asses for the next three years and pass nothing of significance when they have complete control of gov't. They are fucked either way (I'm agreeing with you btw).

Holding all branches of gov't is a poisoned chalice for the GOP. If they do nothing then the Democrats are on verge of permanent power.

 

[Fenderputty]

they can still use budget reconciliation, but some of the provisions in this bill aren't going to fly



https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL30458.pdf

This is only for the repeal portion, correct?

 

[Dehnus]

Preserving bans on discrimination?

GOP will never pass it.

Of they are African American people or women reproductive rights nobody will care.

Or HIV medication for gay people. They'll just cheer for it.

 

[Wilsongt]

So basically given red states the option to say "fuck you and your healthcare costs".

 

[ForsakenLotus]

I have to believe repealing it would be much more disastrous for Republicans than leaving the ACA alone. I mean a lot of people voicing concern at town halls are also Republicans, and polls have shown a considerable improvement in ACA approval numbers now that people actually kind of know what ACA is and what they stand to lose.

 

[Sunset Samurai]

Sure, take another legislative L.

I missed the first thread of where they failed to repeal it the first time. Can anyone link it? I wanna read through all of that goodness of their failure

 

[Boke1879]

They really want to die on this hill huh? This new plan would hike the price on those with pre existing conditions. Do they really think this will play well with the American people?

 

[soul creator]

lol, meant for poligaf

 

[zethren]

You can fuckin try lol

Why not go for one more embarrassment before the 100 day mark, sure!

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Wait, has there actually been talk of a government shutdown?

When the Republicans control every wing of the government?

Oh my.

Yup.

Scary shit.

 

[Dierce]

The only reason they will try to do this is to later pass tax cut legislation for the rich through reconciliation.

 

[Saint Gregory]

The only reason they will try to do this is to later pass tax cut legislation for the rich through reconciliation.

Yep, you can almost taste the desperation. Can't piss off their mega-rich contributers now can they?

 

[Walter White Walker]

They're just going to keep fucking that chicken, aren't they.

 

[Sir Abacus]

These assholes need to get over undoing Obama and look forward.

But if the white working class realize that black people aren't scary and can actually help them it could destroy the pervasive prejudice that underpins the white dominance (and the subsequent Republican power over) of US society!

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Congresspeople should no longer be given healthcare as a perk, and should have to pay, out of pocket, for the most expensive plan legally allowed. You'd see healthcare reform within a week.

 

[Kin5290]

I thought the reconciliation deadline passed already. What is the actual date?

I think they mean "get the Freedom Caucus on board" reconciliation and not budget reconciliation.

I missed the first thread of where they failed to repeal it the first time. Can anyone link it? I wanna read through all of that goodness of their failure

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1355156&page=1

 

[Monocle]

But aren't they tired of winning?

 

[Sianos]

the right: "America has a mental healthcare problem, not a gun problem."

also the right: "...And that's why mental healthcare shouldn't be an essential health benefit and also everyone who uses it is a snowflake and just pretending to get out of work"

 

[David Incorporated Esq.]

It's interesting how the last time a single party controlled all branches of government they passed a monumental change to our healthcare system.

Now, with the other party in power, they're at threat of government shutdown from in-fighting.

Democrats can't govern though, those crybabies.

 

[Tamanon]

They're just trying to cobble something together that will pass the House so they can blame the Senate when it dies.

 

[RPGCrazied]

They're just trying to cobble something together that will pass the House so they can blame the Senate when it dies.

Anything to make Mitch look bad I'm cool with.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

You can't really please the moderates AND Freedom Caucus at the same time soooo...

 

[RumblingRosco]

They can't sit on their asses for the next three years and pass nothing of significance when they have complete control of gov't. They are fucked either way (I'm agreeing with you btw).

Holding all branches of gov't is a poisoned chalice for the GOP. If they do nothing then the Democrats are on verge of permanent power.

This is seriously naive.

 

[Elandyll]

Sounds like they'll try to win over both moderates and conservatives in the GoP by ultimately making the healthcare bill a "choose your own adventure" on a state by state basis.

That cannot possibly work because you will still need federal funding at some level...

 

[sangreal]

You can't really please the moderates AND Freedom Caucus at the same time soooo...

but they do agree on this

even though this plan is even more obamacare-lite than the old one

it's really just obamacare with a shittier subsidy system and no mandate

and some tax breaks for the wealthy

 

[Auto_aim1]

This is seriously naive.

Not really. The GOP agenda is incompatible with modern America. They'll still be relevant as a political party but I doubt they will ever win the WH after Trump.

 

[Kin5290]

This is seriously naive.

Yep. Incumbent parties are at a natural disadvantage come midterms, because it's impossible to enact sweeping fixes, and see tangible results, to critical problems in America over the course of one to two years. Furthermore, the policies that Democrats pursue, while they may be smarter, produce benefits only several years down the line. Take the ACA, which had a messy launch to severe opposition and hasn't been seen as valuable until 8 years after the bill's passage. And voters have extremely short political lifespans.

 

[Sir Abacus]

Anything to make Mitch look bad I'm cool with.

They plan to blame the Democrats for healthcare reform not passing. Then, if Trump and Price refuses to pay the subsidies to the insurance companies and the market implodes the Democrats own it because they set up Obamacare in the first place and in their eyes it was a failure from the start. The fact that Trump and Price plunged a knife into its heart won't really make a difference. Especially once Trump says something along the lines of "we were spending HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS on propping up Obamacare. Just goes to show without spending HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of your money Obamacare was toast! NEW HEALTHCARE NOW!"

 

[Ogodei]

The changes are that some states get to opt out of Guaranteed Issue, along with states being able to opt out of Essential Health Benefits (and basically for any reason, because first they say "opt out if it proves it will benefit health care," but then adds the weasel words "other compelling interests of the state.")

Then they implement cross-state buying and the race to the bottom starts, while getting to claim that Guaranteed Issue still exists.

 

[sangreal]

The changes are that some states get to opt out of Guaranteed Issue, along with states being able to opt out of Essential Health Benefits (and basically for any reason, because first they say "opt out if it proves it will benefit health care," but then adds the weasel words "other compelling interests of the state.")

Then they implement cross-state buying and the race to the bottom starts, while getting to claim that Guaranteed Issue still exists.

is there more info than the draft in the politico article? because the changes you mention don't jive with that

http://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000015b-8ab0-df96-a9db-dff115c30001

 

[Cutebrute]

It's so weird trying to have the House start this discussion because when it reaches the Senate, it's deader than a door nail. If Republicans want to have any sort of appeal, it'll have to start there with McConnell and Schumer negotiating something together so there would be some bipartisan deal that can muster some votes.

This bill is just a ruse to make Senate Democrats look bad. If it passes the House, then the GOP can at least say they tried. There can be no bipartisan approach to health care these days.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

And if this passes, Georgia will be just a lost cause for the Republicans. Don't fuck with people's healthcare. Last straw.

Remember, there are some that are so fucking blind to back anything Republican that they are okay if it means that they will lose any sense of health, sense or money.

 

[Shadow Puppetry]

But Spicer said no Plan B!

 

[BobLoblaw]

I want to see the world burn. Go ahead and pass it. You'll fuck up so many lives that you'll lose all relevancy for the next 10 years.