Mitch McConnell Says He’s Coming For Your Health Care

“Republicans could try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in U.S. elections next month, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday, calling a failed 2017 push to repeal the healthcare law a ‘disappointment.’

In a forecast of 2019 policy goals tempered by uncertainty about who would win the congressional elections, McConnell blamed social programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, for the fast-rising national debt.”

— “McConnell says Senate Republicans might revisit Obamacare repeal,” David Morgan, Reuters

More:

“Mitch McConnell blames the soaring deficit on Medicare and Social Security, not the GOP tax cuts,” Peter Weber, The Week

“Republican Doublespeak on Health Care Starts at the Top,” Max Nisen, Bloomberg

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Which Health Care Bill Will the Senate Vote On, Anyway?

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for a Senate vote on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare), but it’s not clear just which GOP bill will be considered. Will it be:

• The one that just repeals the ACA and leaves 32 million Americans without health care?
• The one like RyanCare that repeals the ACA and replaces it with a program leaving 23 million without health care?
• The new one repealing the ACA and replacing it with a program that removes health insurance for 22 million?

One thing is clear: whether it’s Door #1, #2, or #3, the deal will cut taxes for the rich and increase premiums for anyone who still has health insurance.

More:

“Everyone is confused about the health care vote — including Republican senators,” Tara Golshan, Vox

“The Republicans Have Three Health Care Bills And No Clear Paths Forward,” Anna Maria Barry-Jester, FiveThirtyEight

“Senate GOP: Knowing Health Care Plan Is ‘Luxury We Don’t Have,’  Joe Williams and Lauren Clason, Roll Call

“Ahead of key vote, details of GOP health bill still unknown,” Hope Yen, Associated Press

“Senate Republicans don’t know what’s in their health bill or what it would do. They’re voting anyway.” Dylan Scott, Vox

“Trump makes veiled threat to GOP on Obamacare,” Rebecca Morin, Politico

Related:

“Parts of Senate GOP Health Care Bill Break Rules, Parliamentarian Says,” Mary Ellen McIntire, Roll Call

“Mixed signals from Trump White House on health care strategy,” Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Ken Thomas, Associated Press

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GOP Bill Destroys Health Coverage for 32 Million

Next week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring his Affordable Care Act Repeal bill up for a vote after all. If passed, the bill would repeal the ACA (aka ObamaCare) in two years, but doesn’t provide a replacement. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that, if the bill passes, 17 million Americans would lose health coverage next year, 32 million by 2026. CBO estimates that average insurance premiums would rise 25 percent next year, 50 percent by 2020, and double by 2026.

Worried insurers would probably start leaving the individual insurance market in the next few months or hike rates sharply.

President Trump threatened Senate Republicans with political retribution if they don’t vote for the homicidal bill. He’ll probably tweet them from the golf course this weekend to make sure they’re working on it [Update: Yes he did].

More:

“CBO Makes It Clear Repealing Obamacare Without a Replacement Would Be a Disaster,” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine

“Here’s what health care looks like if Republicans’ Obamacare ‘repeal and delay’ plan succeeds,” Max Ehrenfreund, Washington Post

“H.R. 1628, Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017: Cost Estimate,” Congressional Budget Office

Update:

“Parts of Senate GOP Health Care Bill Break Rules, Parliamentarian Says,”Mary Ellen McIntire, Roll Call

Related:

“Trump can’t make a health care deal because he doesn’t understand health care,” Ezra Klein, Vox

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McConnell: GOP Wants a Health Care Time Bomb

The GOP’s murderous senate health bill flatlined on Monday, but there’s a Republican Plan B. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will introduce a measure that would repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) in two years.

That’s it. No alternative plan to replace it.

Your health insurance will self-destruct at the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2019.

More:

“McConnell’s ‘nuclear option’ after health care failure,” Mike Allen Jonathan Swan, Axios

“Republican senator announces no vote on ObamaCare repeal: ‘I did not come to Washington to hurt people,'” The Week

“Dem senator: ObamaCare repeal without replacement would be ‘humanitarian disaster,’” Aida Chavez, The Hill

“McConnell Obamacare repeal plan already taking fire from Republicans,” Daniella Diaz and Ted Barrett, CNN

“’Repeal and delay’: McConnell’s new, risky health care plan, explained,” Sarah Kliff, Vox

UPDATE:

“GOP’s repeal-only plan quickly collapses in Senate,” Jessie Hellmann and Jordain Carney, The Hill

Related:

“House GOP Budget Plan Cuts Medicare and Social Security,” Priscilla Alvarez, The Atlantic

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Trump Wants 32 Million Americans to Lose Health Care

If Republican Senators are unable to pass what they are working on now, they should immediately REPEAL, and then REPLACE at a later date!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

“Trump has now called for total repeal of the Affordable Care Act, with no guarantee of any specific replacement later, or even a guarantee that any replacement would ever materialize at all.”

“We can estimate the impact of repealing those things. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office has already done so, when it analyzed a previous version of a GOP repeal bill over a year ago. And that analysis found that repealing those things would result in 32 million people losing coverage by 2026, 19 million of them people who would lose Medicaid coverage.”

— “Don’t sugarcoat this. Trump just called for 32 million people to lose health coverage.” Greg Sargent, Washington Post

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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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GOP Health Plan: ‘Nothing, zero, nada.’

GOP candidate Donald Trump told a Pennsylvania press event/rally that he’ll implement the Republican health care policy and “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare.”

Barack Obama:

“They spend like an hour, ‘we’re going to repeal Obamacare.’ Okay. And then what are you gonna do? Well, then we’re going to repeal it and we’re going to give you something great. Okay. What? Well, something.”

“You watch the press conference and what you realize is they got no plan. They want to repeal because ideologically they’re opposed to the idea of helping these 20 million people get health insurance. It’s not like they don’t even have a pretense of a plan. They don’t even have a semblance of a plan. There’s not even a hint of a plan. Not even a mote. Not even a—there’s no plan. Nothing, zero, nada.”

“Obama: GOP Doesn’t Have ‘A Pretense Of A Plan’ To Replace Obamacare,” Allegra Kirkland, TPM Livewire

More:

“Trump’s Health Plan: Pay Your Own Medical Bills Using Money You Saved,” James Hamblin, The Atlantic

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Paul Ryan’s ObamaCare Replacement Plan

You know the GOP healthcare plan House Speaker Paul Ryan promised would be a better replacement for the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”)? Turns out it’s not a plan, it’s a white paper — you know, kind of like a plan, but without all those nerdy numbers and pesky details. Expect the white paper snow job next week.

More:

“Paul Ryan’s Promised Obamacare Replacement Plan Shockingly Turns Out Not to Exist Again,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

Related:

“Trump’s healthcare plans trouble GOP,”Peter Sullivan, The Hill

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GOP Healthcare Plan

Before leaving DC for their usual four-day weekend, the Republican-dominated Congress voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and replace it with … nothing. Don’t panic, you still have health insurance; the president quickly vetoed the GOP bill.

While this is the first time the Senate passed such a bill, the GOP-dominated House has voted to repeal the ACA sixty-two times.

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