This isn't just about reducing the benefits package; it is also about allowing risk-rating -- that is, discriminating among groups on the basis of health status, so that older or sicker groups end up paying higher premiums. It destroys community solidarity.
This is a typical Trump exaggerated sales job...all sizzle, no steak. He, and the haters of the ACA, haven't a clue as to how to improve on the ACA, but of course that is not their intention. The intention is to benefit business, which passes the cost along to the government, in the first place, in the form of tax expenditures. A hideous system.
I remember Trump promising a better and cheaper health insurance plan than that of the ACA. It was just another empty Trump promise. His "health" plan is only for those who are healthy. November cannot come soon enough.
1
We ought to be suspicious of everything this Administration does, even if it might, in principle, prove beneficial. Case in point: link to the article about fraud and abuse in association health plans, in particular this paragraph about the Labor Department in the past taking action against these plans:
"In many cases, the Labor Department said, it has targeted 'unscrupulous promoters who sell the promise of inexpensive health benefit insurance, but default on their obligations.' In several cases, it has found that people managing these health plans diverted premiums to their personal use."
Hmmm...unsrcupulous promoters who sell the promise of something but who default on their obligations? The people managing a supposedly beneficient entity diverting its assets to their personal use? Who does this sound like?
My husband is a cheapskate. Then he whines when what he brings home falls apart. After 36 years I no longer have much sympathy. How many times do you have to tell someone 'you get what you pay for'?
2
As I see more and more Americans in my area, who are overweight, smoke, consume energy drinks, etc. I realize just how many of them are loyalists to the man-child strongman sitting in the White House.
Then I realize how Trump's cut backs of health care for small businesses will impact them in light of their lifestyle.
Sadly, 99% of them will never question their messiah's actions. They've been trained to blame everything on previous administrations.
I'll refer them to Kim Jong-Un for their health care questions.
1
Getting rid of mental health benefits in the middle of an opiate crisis and a suicide epidemic? Brilliant.
After the NFIB applauded the President’s bigoted rant today I thought I’d have a few hours to recover before the next outrage.
Republicans, where are you? Hiding under your beds and hoping you’ll get re-elected before the US becomes a fascist dictatorship?
2
Obvious by now Trump will do nothing to benefit working people. Anything he proposed or signed into law is for corporate profits, which are increasing at astounding rates.
Wow this for sure is going backwards and guarantees that Obama care or any kind of what we know of insurance cannot work. This splits the group and does not spread risk so if all sick folks are in one group and all well folks in another group by definition alone this is not insurance for anyone. And will fail for all in the long run.
So back to the same old same old of "insurance" plans that don't insure anything worthwhile for their policyholders and cost a ton each month. I guess this is the better, cheaper (and I do mean cheaper) Obamacare-replacing health insurance that you don't have to buy because freedom and won't help you if you get sick because freedom.
1
Sounds like Donald just told us that he's for UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE. lNow we can have one HUGE (BIGLY in Donald's terms) group that EVERYONE can join, no matter who they are so that EVERYONE can now have health care protected by our government.
Now that everyone will be able to afford health care - just think EVERYONE because all you need to do is join a group, just make sure it's ONE GROUP FOR EVERYONE) how fast premiums will drop because the cost of health care will now be spread over ALL Americans no matter where they live or what they do. Guess we all owe Donald a huge pat on the back for finally solving the health care crisis single handidly. Only one problem. Which ONE GROUP are we all going to join to get that Universal Health Care.
Now they can sell policies that are as useless as a Trump University degree.
6
Well, as a Canadian, our plan seems much better. Go for care and the government is the single payer. Nobody knew health care could be this simple!
news is almost un-needed anymore. i just imagine the most petty and unhelpful thing that this administration could do - voila - they exceed my wildest imaginings every time.
7
Insurance companies have been claiming they do not sufficient clients that use the ACA matrix. Expand the number of people by have all using health insurance in the US use the matric. This includes that have company provide insurance, private individuals, Medicaid, Medicare, state workers, Federal workers, and all military personnel. This would lower overall cost because the policies are spread over an increased number of users. Control drug cost like the VA and defense department.
Let's be fair to Trump.
Since Trump is so enamored with Russia, I suspect that quite sincerely he wishes to model the US health care on the Russian one. That's a noble ambition. Now let's examine the situation.
Russian Health Care Is Dying a Slow Death
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-health-care-is-dying-a-slow-...
(check Wikipedia as well on the same topic.) etc
Since we already live under a form of Russian protectorate (Putin Monarch-President, Trump Viceroy) it's quite that normal that our health care system should follow suit.
There has never been an administration that has done so much to hurt so many.
5
And they're just getting started.
1
Sounds like the junk plans of old.
Just don’t ever need an ER for a car wreck, have a baby, get Black Lung, cancer, or need prescription drugs.
I’m sure the Trump Mob Family has this insurance- whoops- we all bought the Grifters the Cadillac Plan.
5
It never ceases to amaze me how this administration and the Republicans in Congress are determined to make life more difficult for those in need.
They are willing to spend billions for an unnecessary wall and yet deprive millions of Americans the ability to have health insurance. And the saddest part is that the people who put Trump in power are the ones who need the help the most.
Obama was right...he was ahead of his time...he cared and Trump could care less.
3
Yesterday Trump signed another bill to create another military force in America. All these new military organizations must be duplicating the same info. Then there is no money for an affordable health plan. Something major is wrong and it is called GOP.
5
I wish Congress had spent the last 12 months working to improve the ACA protections. Americans are still struggling with unexpected out of network medical bills and balance billing catastrophic costs that they could not control. Americans still cannot be assured that although they are being treated at an in-network hospital, that the physicians are also contracted as in-network. What choice does a person suffering a stroke, heart attack, asthma attack, epileptic seizure, diabetic coma have in these situations? WHY isn't our Congress working to protect American consumers to prevent financial catastrophe? People are buying the insurance and yet the system is still rigged against them.
3
Trump’s health care is just like a Trump Casino, live the lavish life and roll the dice, you might win! But we know that in the long run, you will lose.
3
"Junk" coverage was defined by The Commonwealth Fund (Liberal think tank) over a decade ago.
It includes coverage that makes a household spend 10% or more of income on ONLY deductibles & copays - and does NOT include premiums
Based upon my county demographics, the typical household is 2 people & do NOT qualify for subsidies as median household income is just a few thousand above the cut-off
Here is what is on offer on the ACA for 2 people of the median age in the county:
(1) Bronze HMO Premiums $1030/mo ($12360/year) + $13300 deductible = $25660 per year before the insurance pays for anything
That is over 37% of the median household income BEFORE paying taxes & 47% of their after-tax income
ANd that is the CHEAPEST premium
(2) Mid-level silver plan HMO
$1429.98/mo ($17159/year) + deductible of $4000 =$21159 before the plan pays anything & up to another $10700 in copays for a total of $31859 .
(Easy to hit $57500 in medical bills & spend the max deductibles & copays)
That is over 46% of gross income & over 58% of their after-tax income
Even with a subsidy, a waitress making $20000 is expected to spend
(1) Cheapest bronze = $0 premiums BUT a $6650 deductible.
(2) Mid-level silver $62.77/mo on premiums ($753.24/year) + deductible $600 + copays up to another $3075 (hit that with a broken wrist & $15975 in medical bills) = $4503 per year (23% pre-tax income)
The waitress making $20K (165% Poverty for 1 person) can NOT afford it
ACA = JUNK COVERAGE
4
in NYS a person making 20k as your waitress (and many others) should be able at least for the time being to afford the "essential plan" which is quite good (until of course it will be sabotaged).
I'm beginning to realize the people who continue to justify the ACA as wonderful either have good insurance through an employer or have insurance by other means. They surely can't be draining the bank account like I am. The numbers you quote are about right. The check you need to write is largest single expense in my household by far. The deductibles make it a "catastrophic" plan with very high premiums. But remember, "You get a FREE yearly checkup!!!" The whole thing is a criminal enterprise.
Racing to the bottom.
4
The ACA was poorly crafted. Instead of raising tobacco taxes on the 13 billion packs smoked each year to $5 or $6 per pack or more from the current Federal level of about $1 the Democrats chose to burden the middle class with healthcare costs associated with lifestyle choices such as overeating and unhealthy diet.
Other countries such as Canada, The UK, and France, often cited by advocates for universal care in the US have very high tobacco taxes which help people to quit or never start tobacco as well as funding healthcare in a fair manner instead of burdening those who chose healthy lifestyles with the high healthcare costs of those who choose unhealthy lifestyles.
Two thirds of cancers are associated or caused by tobacco use and obesity. In order to reduce cancer, we must raise tobacco taxes and help to change lifestyles to make healthier food and other choices.
4
President silver-spoon-in-his-mouth has no idea what an average American family needs or can afford, and has surrounded himself with doctrinaire ideologues ready to do his bidding. America moves both forward and back, but in the present case is eroding 70 years of forward progress; welcome back to a past best left behind.
11
One definition of the USSR before it collapsed was "a third world country" with an advanced space program and a vast nuclear arsenal. Sounds like how Trump would like the US to become. Especially after shamelessly genuflecting in front of KJU.
This is one of the trojan horses meant to further weaken and ultimately gut the whole ACA. Trump & his GOP minions' aim is to surreptitiously lay the foundations that would later be cited as basis for legally nullifying the ACA, something they could not directly accomplish legislatively. Witness, for example, the now rescinded individual mandate requirement, a core ACA principle, by way of the recently passed taxcut law. This is now being cited, in a federal lawsuit filed by Jeff Sessions, to strike down and declare the whole ACA as unconstitutional. Likewise, this new Trump directive, surreptitiously-promoted as helping employees and employers alike, is really meant to dilute and defang the ACA requirement for coverage of pre-existing conditions, basic health services, etc, that are its raison d'etre. Once implemented, don't be surprised if Trump and his minions would later deliver their coup d' grace, citing this as further proof for gutting the now unutile ACA.
8
For Canadians this is good news. As you all know, us Canadians are all so rich we all flood down to the states for our medicinal needs. We ignore our own universal health care. After all it's just money. And now with millions of Americans receiving flimsy, but cheap, coverage the wait times should be greatly reduced.
4
This is awesome. I have a pre-obamacare plan where premium is half of the same post-obamacare.
Larding up "insurance" with things that can be better paid for out of pocket just makes the premiums crazy. Step in the right direction to bring "insurance" back to "insurance". Now to take on the ridiculous chargemaster rates that make people think they need insurance when it's just hospitals trying to inflate their charity writeoffs with inflated list prices.
2
Yeah- ER out of pocket will be really cheap on Planet Trump. Uh-hunh.
4
No more pre-existing condition coverage.
4
Trump Healthcare. As useful as a degree from Trump University.
Seriously.
11
"...President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement."
How is the ACA considered an "achievement?" ... It was promised to lower our insurance costs but has done the exact opposite! The healthcare system is one big inefficient, bureaucratic mess... How is it that you pay one price if you have insurance, another price if you don't, another price if you have money, another price if you don't have money... Just a big mess... it really needs to be simplified
1
When their employees can not perform their jobs because they can not afford proper care then perhaps the "penny wise pound foolishness" will become apparent. Put another way, sick employees can not work, must replaced, productivity and profit are negatively affected.
7
So the issues that Obamacare corrected have been reversed by DJT, this is not surprising as he wants to reverse 229 years of improvements made here and go back to either a king or dictator which ever he can get away with.
8
I fear Trump a heck of a lot more than I fear any undocumented alien.
25
Paul, you live in Connecticut. The are whitest kids on the block and couldn't get much further from the illegal immigrant problem. Maybe if you lived in California, or reality for that matter..., you might have a different perspective?
While everyone else is focused on Trumpkin kidnapping children in Texas he’s busy ( along with the republicans) stealing people’s health care.
8
deplorables won't care until their kids start dying.
good luck
11
And it will be the "Liberals" fault!
1
If you are rich trump loves you.
If you are stupid it's important to him that you believe his lies.
Anyone else can drop dead as far as he is concerned.
8
This could have a positive impact for some. Health insurance through the exchange, without subsidies, was in the $1,000 range when I checked.
3
No. Only if you want to buy a junk plan. Now, it will be even more expensive for unsubsidized individuals to buy policies that cover anything.
3
Enjoy paying $8004.90 for a emergency visit without admission.
7
This new rollback will only exacerbate the gap between the haves and the have nots. It's a pitiful excuse for economic discrimination.
10
Finally, those "beautiful plans" Mr. Trump promised during his campaign!
5
Same approach was tried and failed in 1970s-1980s. The lack of low-cost national health coverage--all ages, all conditions, all citizens--is the biggest inequality in the USA.
19
I wonder if there have been any studies on the uptick in food poisoning and correlation with the availability of affordable health care for restaurant workers and food handlers?
5
Oh good, fake insurance is back. Anybody ever encounter one of these plans in the pre-ACA days? I'll summarize: happy to to take your money, but you'll never, ever see a dime of it in return.
I think every Trump voter should cover themselves in sweet, sweet freedom and buy one of these plans.
42
Junk insurance...covers almost nothing, gives you 10% discounts on checkups...that's what many peoples' plans entailed. Little more than a coupon. This is what the ACA was meant to repair. A number of employers had this kind of JUNK insurance so that they could say they gave benefits...but they really were just fake policies that would drop you the minute you had anything serious.
17
When your policies are unjust in the eyes of the majority, you can either step back and chart a more representative course, or you can hit the public with so many abuses from so many directions that they feel overwhelmed in trying to fight them all.
Trump and his team have chosen the latter, and if we don't remove the source of all this misery from office, we can stop printing headlines, because the awfulness will be so commonplace that it stops being news. We may be there already.....
25
Trumpian shock and awe
1
Am waiting for the bill shock his supporters will get when they get a bill for $8009.35 for a pancreas inflammation because their $135 per month insurance had a deductible of $10,000.
Considering most of them are from the lower middle class, let them thank him for the bill. Maybe he will pay it for them. Ha ha ha. Enjoy.
17
This is happening in the Obamacare exchanges.
2
Yes, because Trump and the Republican's sabotage efforts are beginning to gut the system. Now just remove the pre-existing condition requirement and voilà: we're back to the late 90's, but with much higher costs.
Thanks, Trumpies. Of course, most of you are on Medicare, so you don't care.
1
My ACA plan (2 adults/2 kids) has premiums of $1400/month with an individual deductible of $5800 and family deductible of $13,700. Had I gone for plan with the lowest deductible it would have been around $2800/month. There are no ways to get around it. People should really think about those numbers. They are hugely burdensome on those who are in the middle class.
I'd love to see Trump get his health insurance through one of these plans he seems to love. The benefits will be so skimpy, the plans will amount to catastrophic health insurance.
10
In past years, the Labor Department said, it has identified many “unscrupulous promoters who sell the promise of inexpensive health benefit insurance, but default on their obligations.”
With this administration, that's not a bug that's a feature.
20
Doesn't cover mental health care, emergency services, maternity and newborn care and prescription drugs. I guess that leaves the flu that it might cover, unless you go to the ER.
12
The more damage Trump does to the ACA the more clear it becomes that Single-Payer is the only way to go. Mr. Obama too the Public Option off the table... now, unintentional though it be, Pres. Trump is putting it back on the table. It's perfect!
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
2
The only reason Obama took the Public Option off the table was that it couldn't pass Congress and he went with the compromise hoping to make it better. Unfortunately the GOP only wanted to make it worse, and affordable only for the upper classes.
6
Single payer doesn't fix the fact that high healthcare costs are from overeating and unhealthy diets primarily and tobacco use, alcohol and recreational drug use, and environment such as air pollution also major contributors.
Two thirds of cancers are associated or caused by tobacco use and obesity. Single payer does not fix any of those things.
Single payer enables the insurer to beat down high costs by forcing hospitals and doctors and pharmacies to negotiate.
When you have deductibles, the incentive to negotiate is gone because the insurer knows you are on the hook for a majority of the bill.
1
I'm so tired of this debate. Wipe it out and lets get back to the 80's so that everyone that can't afford insurance goes without and every company that doesn't want to provide healthcare doesn't and then simply let the hospitals fund all uninsured. Kids don't need check-ups, only the well off need dental and everybody can stop whining about ACA. I have insurance and a co-pay I can afford so the heck with the millions that will suffer. In reality, one only needs healthcare when they're sick.
While we're at it why do we need to have car insurance. I haven't had a claim in 10 years but I pay annual premiums that cover other reckless drivers. Cancel my requirement to maintain coverage and I'll simply bank my premiums until I need them. Forget getting sued for negligence, I can simply file bankruptcy.
Reality check, legislators need to get their heads out, read the bills put in front of them and work bi-partisan to provide intelligent solutions instead of party line bickering.
10
Pancreatitis or appendix or a gall bladder surgery are unexpected and cannot be blamed on poor health. Enjoy the $8000 the hospital changes you for the same.
4
By creating a firestorm over immigration and tariffs the administration can sneak through major changes in healthcare.
“I do a little sidestep...”
9
Trump's agenda:
June 18th:
When attacking Democrats wasn't enough...
meet with Kim, and make a bad deal,
and when that wasn't enough...
attack immigrant children,
and when that wasn't enough...
start a trade war with CHINA,
and when that wasn't enough...
attack European unity,
and when that wasn't enough...
increase the tariffs on Chinese goods, again,
and when that wasn't enough...
reverse the health care laws that protect the most vulnerable American citizens,
and when that wasn't enough...
reverse EPA laws to allow polluting,
and when that wasn't enough...
... not sure yet, but in about another 6-8 hours, I'm sure I'll have something else to add to this list!
June 19th:
bully the head the UN by demanding they pressure the head of UN Human Rights Commission to tone down their criticism of Trump's actions...
and when that isn't enough...
pull the USA out of the UN Human Rights Commission,
and when that isn't enough...
skirt Congress by using an Executive Order to reverse the rules of the Affordable Care Act,
and since the day isn't over...
15
The name of the program is now:
Obama cared, We don't.
22
This is what happens when voters elect people who know nothing and aren't willing to learn anything to make laws about life and death programs such as access to health insurance. Since it is a Republican plan supported by Trump the opportunities for fraud, corruption and incompetence are limitless. Throw in a few cronies as state Insurance Commissioners and all the ingredients of a perfect storm for criminal behaviour are present.
Many of us--looking for a bright spot after the Nov 2016 election of Trump---said at least Trump and the Republican party's failure to understand how "complicated health insurance is" would advance the adoption of a policy for single payer health insurance or a Medicare for All option by decades after Trump screwed up the ACA. With this new Trump rule and others equally stupid, single payer may be here within a few years. Guess Trump will deserve a pen at the signing ceremony for single payer!
4
I thought that the ACA requires all insurance plans to cover pre-defined "essential health care benefits."
Consequently, I wonder: Why is it possible that health care plans set up by insurance companies for specified businesses are able to circumvent the ACA requirements? Shouldn't these plans also, automatically, be subject to the ACA requirements?
1
It sounds like a plot, not a plan. By creating the option for healthier folks to buy insurance for themselves, not available to riskier unemployed, or retired, or unemployable populations, premiums can be reduced for the low risk groups. Premiums can be further reduced by eliminating coverages for riskier eventualities, or for wiser preventive measures that entail certain (not just possible) costs.
The higher risk populations and higher risk eventualities can still get insurance, but at very high premiums because costs are not widely spread over the general population.
When the costs of insurance aren’t widely spread, the cost of treating uninsured calamities will still show up in emergency and humanitarian treatment paid for from the public purse.
7
I thought we had to follow the law to the "T" no matter how unjust the outcome, until Congress steps up and changes the statute. Or do we only follow that rule when caging crying children who have been separated from their parents?
14
Trump won't be happy until we peons are (un)covered by limited health insurance that wipes us out financially at the first cough.
9
The Democrats can win in November on this issue alone.
Taking healthcare away from the poorest, sickest and most vulnerable isn't going to be popular among Trump's base or anyone else for that matter (except the heartless donor class.)
16
Since this has now become a cult, his followers don't care. Keep in mind Waco and such where followers were willing to drink poison.
5
I think the cult we are talking about here are more likely to follow trump into a bunker. It’s all so very 1937 right now
3
Yup... I was a controller for a company many years ago... we put one of these in... low cost, no benefits to speak of.. we had two families who thought they had a great plan until both families had extended cancer treatments... needless to say they both had to go bankrupt and get whatever care the hospital could provide... good luck!
40
Typical GOP plan: save money by not providing health care! So simple. Here is a fig leaf, on paper only insurance policy. It won’t cover you when you need care, but hey, it’s inexpensive! The Republican Party truly is evil.
28
Obamacare is the Socialist Monstrasity and it is good to see that it is coming to an end, though bit by bit. Thank You, Donald Trump.
5
Like "Boarder Security"?
2
really? why? It will destroy the economy as 40,000,000 will go off health care and we the balance will pay for emergency rooms, idiots uninsured getting into car accidents and the like. history repeats itself... get educated
5
there's only one reason you can make a comment like that,
you, and anyone you know and love, are free from,
any and all chronic illnesses,
cancer,
degenerative issues like arthritis, and
life threatening allergies.
you , and anyone you know and love, are in that situation,
because your DNA holds no surprises for you.
lucky DNA = low cost health care
unlucky DNA = pay through the nose, or you can't pay at all
pay through the nose, limit what you can contribute to your retirement, limit how fast you can pay off a loan, and those costs guarantee you retire with less.
can't pay, then you live your life in constant worry over when you'll be ill again, and how much that will cost, and if you can even pay, so you limit your appointments and prescriptions, that's your only choice, to make your the most of the small amount you can pay for your health care, but it comes at a cost, and that cost is the quality and length of your life.
without good healthcare coverage, you can't work, and you can't cover all of the costs of your healthcare that your policy doesn't cover, and you live every day, knowing that this is a downward spiral, and all you can hope for, is that you don't reach the end of your spiral too soon, so maybe you can see your kids grow up, or your grand-kids be born, but then again, maybe not, because not only did you get unlucky DNA, you got crappy health care coverage.
maybe you think is OK, survival of the fittest?
it's not OK with me, and I make no apologies.
3
As someone who has been on Obamacare for four years with all other individual plans gradually withdrawn from the market, I welcome this change.
Obamacare is terribly unfair to freelancers. It supposedly guarantees us coverage, but what it has done for me is require me to pay $700/month for a network consisting of second-rate doctors and McMedicine clinics. (One insurer, Oscar, is only accepted at one NYC hospital and only by some doctors there.) What if I'm willing to tolerate a higher deductible and less coverage for certain things in exchange for a better network? Not an option -- Obamacare is one size fits all.
As for fraud, the last time I went for a checkup, my Obamcare insurer claimed the 16 of 18 tests my doctor ordered did not qualify as preventive care. These were standard tests that I have had done for years . I am technically insured but as a practical matter I am paying out of pocket for very basic care, in addition to my premiums. My Obamacare insurance feels like fraud with every bill.
Most people currently on corporate or group plans who support Obamacare don't realize how awful a position they have put freelancers in. Most have not been forced off their plans into this lousy system.
Allowing freelancers to form groups gives us options. I am looking forward to leaving Obamacare at the first possible opportunity.
7
Obamacare is not perfect: I would much prefer Medicare for All or a national health plan (why not advocate for that instead?) but if you think things will get any better with this Trump plan, you are mistaken. It might be good financially but..........
Better pray -- if you believe in a God -- that you never get sick. Because if you do, you will see the bills rack up. And then what will you do? Unless you want to die, you will show up in our emergency rooms, hospitals, intensive care units and we will have to take care of you using the public dime at a much higher cost to the country and with much more suffering to you.
People always think they they're invincible right up to the moment they get in that horrible care accident or are given that dreadful diagnosis.
Also, just because your doctor thinks the test are "preventive" doesn't mean they are by standards of care. That might be why your insurance denied coverage not to mention that every insurance company has quirks in what it covers and doesn't. It might not be a function of Obamacare. (And I say this as someone who absolutely loathes most insurance companies and has fought for coverage for my patients.)
3
The only thing separating an insurance denial of coverage is the strength of the State regulators where you live.
Allowing insurance companies to sell across State lines is not about competition, it's about deregulating health insurance at the State level and allowing insurance companies to sell policies in states with little to no regulations. The entire industry will move and sell insurance from the State or States that won't hold them accountable for service. Insurance policies will not be sold in States that regulate and protect consumers.
This isn't about competition, this is about deregulation of health insurance and getting rid of mandatory coverage.
Of course reducing what's covered along with the enforcement of payments for what is covered will reduce premiums.
34
This is how much Trump and the GOP care about our health: not enough to truly fix the problems we face. Only enough to line the pockets of the entire health/wealth care industry.
It's time that our elected officials were put onto the same sorts of health care plans that we're forced into. We do not have choices. We do not get the care we need. We get the care we can afford and most of the time it's not enough. If Scalise, who was shot last summer, had had to go through any one of the plans most Americans have, ACA or not, he would have been in debt, out of job, and certainly not in as good health as he is now.
The failure of the ACA now is the fault of people who voted in Trump, McConnell, Ryan, and the rest of the GOP clowns.
51
Calling these people the Grand Old Party GOP somehow doesn't sound right anymore.
3
According to the "right" as said by intellectual sage Newt Gingrich, you don't need health insurance you just show up at the emergency room and they have to treaty for free.
10
The entire republican party mantra (since the inception of the Affordable Care Act - Obama Cares ) has been to resist anything in regards to health care that takes away profits from the insurance companies. It has been a death of a thousand cuts.
Now that republicans are in office (and have failed to legislatively doom the ACA ) are doing everything in their power administratively to choke off the lifeblood of the law. If that means allowing businesses to skirt it and offer basically nothing, without then protections, then so be it.
This will be able to be reversed as soon as Liberals take over again to fix all of these administrative decrees, but we are way past that. Liberals are running on a full platform of Single Payer and the people are responding.
It is but a matter of time.
17
It would be a sin not to VIN.
Vote in November!
16
Bit by bit by bit. Death by a thousand cuts, this egregious and unlawful administration is taking away our rights as citizens and handing advantages to business, which typically does not care a hoot about us.
61
Trump promised "the cheapest and best insurance coverage for all Americans." And this qualifies? Keep the populace sick and stupid. They are much easier to manipulate.
65
Trump was right about one thing: it is necessary to drain the swamp. Congress writes the checks for what the President does. And it was Congress that authorized the broad authority the President invokes to do much of his mischief. His Constitutional authority is quite circumscribed, especially domestically. Legislation and appropriations are the keys. Do not waste energy and time reacting to every bit of tweeted or oral flatulence that comes out of Trump. Instead, focus on changing Congress and, in the long run more importantly because of gerrymandering, your state legislators.
20
The flaws in this idea are obvious. Like all the "changes" in the ACA and/or rules about ways to provide health insurance, it is simply an avoidance of the real issues. Yes, the ACA premiums are too high. So are most health insurance premiums. But, has anyone analyzed the current price for individuals in the non-ACA, non-group policies offered this year? The predictions last year that changes to the ACA would de-stabliize that market appear to be correct. Yet, here we are, facing another effort to undermine the ACA, coming on the heels of recent actions to derail the prohibition on preventing pre-existing conditions being used to deny coverage, or increase the price so far that no one can afford it.
None of this will provide better or cheaper health insurance coverage. It will, however, continue to undercut a major achievement of the Obama presidency and placate those whose opposition to the ACA is unwavering -- regardless of its value to millions. Turning back the clock seems to be one of the few reliable tenets of the Trump administration.
Even the health insurance companies know this is folly.
52
Of course it will provide cheaper health insurance.
The Republican plan will cost less because health insurance companies will no longer be required to provide a service in return.
The service, comprehensive health care happens to be very expensive. By kicking sick people off the roles, reducing what's covered and allowing Insurance companies to deny coverage for people who become sick while insured, the product will be substantially cheaper.
2
Just like corporate tax cuts that would increase employee pay/benefits this too is a sham. Assuming small employers had the ability to negotiate a group policy with one of the large health care insurers it would also require they form an association with leadership that has authority and knowledge to do so. The reality here is this change frees employers to cut health benefits and pushes more Americans to the uninsured ranks.
It's easy to be against anything created by predecessors and much more challenging having original thoughts. A more intelligent legislative solution would be to take the existing plan and modify it to be more effective. Funny how Americans complain about the high cost of maintaining health insurance but they're ok with using the ER as their Primary Care. It doesn't take a finance degree to understand how this drives up the cost of care for everybody.
30
These roles do more than roll back protections, they decimate the law. The problem was always the cost. Now it costs everyone much more. And for those who think they should be paying less because they think they are healthy and young have no idea what turns their health may take in the future for them or their children. This is not about making health care better for people, it's about allowing insurers to make even more money.
18
If I recall, Mr. Trump assured everyone that he was going to replace Obamacare with a "much better, cheaper" healthcare solution.
Where is it?
In fact, all Trump has done is to kneecap the existing law (as it has "Obama" on it), without putting any serious thought into what should replace it. Then again, apart from his personal interests, he hasn't put a lot of serious thought into much of anything since becoming President.
Serious thought from a President. What a novel idea.
23
This is the beginning of the end of good employer health plans. Small businesses, which can be larger than you think, will absolutely pursue some way to lower their portion of premiums paid for their employees, so there is a huge incentive for insurance companies to help companies form these associations. Employee premiums will stay high and the plan will have as many loopholes to avoid ever getting any real coverage as the law provides.
So mothers with C-sections will be on their own, emergency care costs born by those unlucky enough to be in an accident or have a heart attack, families with mental health conditions may not be able to afford the care their primary wage earner needs. Newborn babies denied health coverage ?
Sure you could impoverish yourself until you declare bankrupcy and maybe qualify for Medicare .. but for most people, there goes savings, college funds, paying off credit cards, etc.
Why do this ?
17