The Senate’s Secret Medicine

Last month the House of Representatives sent a critically-ill healthcare bill to the Senate emergency room, where the men of the Senate GOP Group Medical Practice are still performing secret surgery on it. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is cautiously optimistic about the bill’s condition. If you want to know details about the senate version of the American Health Care Act, you’ll have to wait until it comes up for a vote on Senate floor.

Wait. Won’t senators be able to examine the proposed legislation and offer amendments during hearings?

We don’t need no stinkin’ hearings, says Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R – UT), That way the bill can pass the Senate with a simple majority, not the usual two-thirds vote.

In the video above, Senator Claire McCaskill (D- MO) responds to the GOP’s diagnosis with a second opinion.

More:

“The Senate’s three tools on health care: Sabotage, speed and secrecy,” Andy Slavitt, Washington Post

Update:

“Conservatives near revolt on Senate health care negotiations,” Burgess Everett, Politico

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House Health Care Bill Leaves 23 Million Americans Uninsured

The “American Health Care Act” was passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives before the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office could determine how much it would cost and who would be covered. The CBO has finished the analysis, and the AHCA score is, basically GOP +1, Americans less than zero. 14 million Americans would be without health insurance next year, 23 million within a decade. In states that seek waivers from providing essential health coverage mandates, a feature of the bill, insurance would be priced out of reach for many people with preexisting conditions. There would be a new tier of plans at lower cost that don’t actually cover major medical risks, so the CBO doesn’t count the projected buyers as insured.

The cynical, life-threatening measure might reduce the federal budget by $119 billion over a decade, less than the $150 billion in savings projected by Paul Ryan, who wants to use any health care savings to give the wealthy a tax break. For the GOP, there’s no problem that can’t be solved by tax cuts for the rich.

GOP Congress Passes Health Care Plan, Now Must Read It

Before leaving DC for yet another recess, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and replace it with something they haven’t read, something the Congressional Budget Office hasn’t scored. That means no one in Congress knows how much this so-called “American Health Care Act” will cost taxpayers, how much insurance will cost, and who won’t be covered. In other words, the GOP just bought a pig in a poke.

More:

American Medical Association condemns House healthcare bill passage,” Max Greenwood, The Hill

“House GOP Just Voted to Slash Medicaid — Which Pays for 60 Percent of People in Nursing Homes,” Jon Schwarz, The Intercept

“House Sends Health Care Hot Potato to Senate,” Lindsey McPherson and Erin Mershon, Roll Call

“Analysis: 5 issues that could derail the GOP health care bill in the Senate,” Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News via PBS Newshour

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GOP Healthcare Bill: DOA

Republicans in the House refused to line up behind Paul Ryan‘s misbegotten American Health Care Act, so the speaker pulled the plug Friday afternoon. After Donald Trump said he was “100 percent behind” the AHCA bill, many in the media had branded the draconian legislation TrumpCare, so naturally the president was quick to blame everyone else for the defeat, from the democrats to Ivanka and Jared.

You like your ObamaCare? You get to keep your ObamaCare.

More:

“Why Obamacare Defeated Trumpcare,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“Health-care stocks are celebrating the death of Donald Trump’s health-care bill,” Alison Griswold, Quartz

RyanCare: The more you need, the less you get

AHCA, the GOP healthcare bill: Ezra Klein explains it all to you.

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Trump Health Care Promises

The Associated Press compared the health policy promises Donald Trump made during his campaign, transition and early weeks of his presidency with the GOP health care bill introduced this month. As scored by Congress’s own nonpartisan CBO, the bill keeps none of those promises. It would deny medical care to millions, especially poor and low income Americans.

But, hey, the CBO got the numbers wrong about Obamacare, right?

Wrong.

More:

“AP fact check: Trump’s promises on health care,” Calvin Woodward and Jim Drinkard, Associated Press via PBS NewsHour.

“Trump’s ‘insurance for everybody’ plan has turned deadly,” Matt O’Brien, Washington Post

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Image from TalkingPointsMemo Editor Josh Marshall, who says: “Please don’t share this image far and wide because then people would know all of President Trump’s broken promises about health insurance for millions of people.” Download a copy here. 

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Under the GOP Plan, 24 Million People Will Lose Health Coverage

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has scored Paul Ryan’s 53-page American Health Care Act, and found it would save $337 billion over 10 years by denying health insurance to 24 million Americans. 14 million would lose coverage in the first year and insurance rates would rise 15-20% in 2018-2019. The AHCA celebrates all this by giving billions in tax breaks to the rich.

The biggest losers with the GOP health care bill? Americans who voted for Trump.

More:

“Health Bill Would Add 24 Million Uninsured but Save $337 Billion, Report Says,” Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear, New York Times.

“The CBO’s nonpartisan report on the Republican ACA replacement plan, explained in 6 charts: It’s an attack on the poor.” Alvin Chang, Vox

Update:

Turns out that White House analysts are even more pessimistic than the CBO, and think 26 million people would lose coverage.

“White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper insurance losses than CBO,” Paul Demko, Politico

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