OBAMA/TRUMPCARE MEGATHREAD

[Kyyle23]

Is it really surprising though? They have been ducking town halls for months

[StrangeSox]

 

Contrast this with years of conservative rage targeted at Michelle Obama's healthy lunch and youth exercise programs, and also against our own President who had a "bring me a coke" button installed in the Oval Office and believes exercise is harmful.

[Dick Allen]

 

Contrast this with years of conservative rage targeted at Michelle Obama's healthy lunch and youth exercise programs, and also against our own President who had a "bring me a coke" button installed in the Oval Office and believes exercise is harmful.

If it were a movie, you wouldn't buy any of this stuff. But it's all true.

[caulfield12]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/14/c...st-rules-238033

Reckless insider stock trading leaves Congress rife with conflicts, particularly around health care/pharmaceutical stocks

 

 

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Health and Human Services secretary, was under siege, the harsh lights of a Senate hearing upon him. News reports showed he had bought shares in a tiny biotechnology company while sitting on committees that could influence the firm’s prospects. A colleague, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), had tipped him off to the investment.

 

A Washington Post editorial called Price “a walking, talking example of the ways in which congressional ethics requirements are too lax.” Sen. Chris Murphy demanded: “Tell me how it can possibly be OK that you were championing positions on health care issues that have the effect of increasing your personal wealth?” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked him, “Doesn’t this show bad judgment?”

 

But what many saw as a scandal, others saw as an opportunity. On the very day that Wyden was decrying Price’s bad judgment, Rep. Doug Lamborn, Republican of Colorado, bought shares of the same tiny Australian company, Innate Immunotherapeutics. Within two days three more members also bought in — Republicans Billy Long of Missouri, Mike Conaway of Texas and John Culberson of Texas. Conaway added more shares the following week.

 

These brazen decisions to gobble up shares of a little-known firm at the very moment when such trading was being decried as an abuse of power reflects Congress’ anything-goes culture around stock investments. In the pursuit of wealth, even obvious conflicts of interest are routinely ignored by members who feast on daily trades. Long, for instance, serves on a committee overseeing Obamacare, and Conaway is a deputy House whip.

 

 

 

[StrangeSox]

House May Be Forced to Vote Again on GOP's Obamacare Repeal Bill

[StrangeSox]

Lost amid the chaos today is the administration announcing that they're intentionally destroying the exchanges and millions of Americans health insurance with it.

[Dick Allen]

Lost amid the chaos today is the administration announcing that they're intentionally destroying the exchanges and millions of Americans health insurance with it.

That is exactly what everyone should have expected. They certainly weren't going to do anything to make it do anything but fail. Murderers really.

[greg775]

That is exactly what everyone should have expected. They certainly weren't going to do anything to make it do anything but fail. Murderers really.

Didn't Trump run on the issue that Obamacare sucked and said he would change the system completely?

[caulfield12]

He promised better care, cheaper and covering everyone (at least those already with the ACA).

 

Then he realized it was much more complicated to do so than he previously thought.

Edited May 20, 2017 by caulfield12

[greg775]

He promised better care, cheaper and covering everyone (at least those already with the ACA).

 

Then he realized it was much more complicated to do so than he previously thought.

So is everybody going to be covered or not? Did he flat out lie or not? I want facts not "gotcha" commentary. I want to make up my own mind but nobody can explain these issues a.) in regular simple English or b.) without hatred of Trump clouding the explanation. It's why sports are so fun. Despite the statniks telling me wins and losses and ERA don't matter for pitchers anymore, baseball is cut and dried. Basketball is cut and dried. Healthcare? TOO COMPLICATED.

[LittleHurt05]

Didn't Trump run on the issue that Obamacare sucked and said he would change the system completely?

 

Yes, he did, because it did suck. And his people did propose a completely overhauled system. Except the new system is infinitely worse than Obama Care. And this is coming from someone who was very negatively affected by ObamaCare

[Quin]

Well Greg, you see, Trump lied.

[greg775]

Yes, he did, because it did suck. And his people did propose a completely overhauled system. Except the new system is infinitely worse than Obama Care. And this is coming from someone who was very negatively affected by ObamaCare

If you get a chance could you write us a long essay on here explaining your situation? And how ObamaCare didn't help you much and how TrumpCare will be worse? I truly can't understand this issue from the complicated poorly written articles about it. Thanks. I hope whatever your issue is will be fine.

[greg775]

Well Greg, you see, Trump lied.

If his TrumpCare plan is worse than ObamaCare then shame on him. I still don't understand the core issues.

[illinilaw08]

If his TrumpCare plan is worse than ObamaCare then shame on him. I still don't understand the core issues.

 

Ok Greg - here's my effort to explain this as simply as possible.

 

Prior to 2008, insurance companies could deny coverage to someone because they had a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies could place a maximum limit on the amount of coverage you could use in your lifetime. They could exclude entirety categories of services - like maternity coverage - from people. The upshot of those policies was that people who had cancer or had been hit by a car or had diabetes were unable to obtain insurance period, or could no longer use insurance because they had passed their lifetime maximums. This led to lots and lots of medical bankruptcies, etc.

 

Now, those people could still obtain treatment when they got sick, because a hospital can't turn someone away without insurance. But people who were using the ER as their doctor were unable to pay the bills. And when those bills ended up discharged in bankruptcy, that led to increased costs for everybody else.

 

The Affordable Care Act comes along in 2008. It says that the insurance companies can't deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions. All their policies have to cover "essential services." There are no more lifetime maximums. And if you fall below a certain income level, you received subsidies on your insurance - subsidies that were paid for by increased taxes on the very wealthy. It also expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of people.

 

Now, the ACA has problems too! Because insurance covers more, the cost of coverage went up for a lot of people. And deductibles went up as well. Also, some Republican states refused the Medicaid expansion (even though the federal government was paying for it). But more people had health insurance, and the number of medical bankruptcies should have gone done.

 

The Republican bill wants to return coverage back closer to what our system was prior to 2008. The bill lets states decide if they want to make insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions. It sunsets the Medicaid expansion in 2020. Rather than subsidies based on income, it gives everybody the same tax credit for purchase of health insurance (so Bill Gates would get the same amount of credit as you would). It also doesn't force insurance companies to cover "essential services" anymore. For healthy people, insurance costs will probably go down. For people who are sick, insurance costs will skyrocket again.

 

According to the last time the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office scored the Republican bill, 24 million people would lose access to health insurance as a result of the Republican bill (the new CBO score comes out Wednesday).

 

Healthcare is complicated! I'm not an expert on it by any means, and the issues go a lot deeper than what I just wrote. But that is a Cliffs Note version of the issues in healthcare.

[StrangeSox]

Leaked Trump budget proposal shows that, combined with the ahca cuts, Trump would cut Medicaid by $1.4 trillion dollars.

 

During the campaign, he pledged not to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or social security

[caulfield12]

The AHCA cuts Medicaid by $880 billion....is that $1.4 trillion separate cuts or inclusive of the proposed AHCA changes?

 

Still waiting for the revised CBO score this WED. That will be a lovely headline for the GOP to deal with while Trump's out of the country. McConnell better be ready. Ryan, too.

[StrangeSox]

Leaked Trump budget proposal shows that, combined with the ahca cuts, Trump would cut Medicaid by $1.4 trillion dollars.

 

During the campaign, he pledged not to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or social security

 

[Dick Allen]

I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.

[caulfield12]

I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.

 

That's even more ironic considering his daughter is one of twos candidates, along with Karen Guilfoyle from FOX NEWS, to replace Spicer.

 

You can bet it will come up again if she is named WH Press Secretary.

Edited May 24, 2017 by caulfield12

[greg775]

Ok Greg - here's my effort to explain this as simply as possible.

 

Prior to 2008, insurance companies could deny coverage to someone because they had a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies could place a maximum limit on the amount of coverage you could use in your lifetime. They could exclude entirety categories of services - like maternity coverage - from people. The upshot of those policies was that people who had cancer or had been hit by a car or had diabetes were unable to obtain insurance period, or could no longer use insurance because they had passed their lifetime maximums. This led to lots and lots of medical bankruptcies, etc.

 

Now, those people could still obtain treatment when they got sick, because a hospital can't turn someone away without insurance. But people who were using the ER as their doctor were unable to pay the bills. And when those bills ended up discharged in bankruptcy, that led to increased costs for everybody else.

 

The Affordable Care Act comes along in 2008. It says that the insurance companies can't deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions. All their policies have to cover "essential services." There are no more lifetime maximums. And if you fall below a certain income level, you received subsidies on your insurance - subsidies that were paid for by increased taxes on the very wealthy. It also expanded Medicaid coverage to millions of people.

 

Now, the ACA has problems too! Because insurance covers more, the cost of coverage went up for a lot of people. And deductibles went up as well. Also, some Republican states refused the Medicaid expansion (even though the federal government was paying for it). But more people had health insurance, and the number of medical bankruptcies should have gone done.

 

The Republican bill wants to return coverage back closer to what our system was prior to 2008. The bill lets states decide if they want to make insurance companies cover pre-existing conditions. It sunsets the Medicaid expansion in 2020. Rather than subsidies based on income, it gives everybody the same tax credit for purchase of health insurance (so Bill Gates would get the same amount of credit as you would). It also doesn't force insurance companies to cover "essential services" anymore. For healthy people, insurance costs will probably go down. For people who are sick, insurance costs will skyrocket again.

 

According to the last time the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office scored the Republican bill, 24 million people would lose access to health insurance as a result of the Republican bill (the new CBO score comes out Wednesday).

 

Healthcare is complicated! I'm not an expert on it by any means, and the issues go a lot deeper than what I just wrote. But that is a Cliffs Note version of the issues in healthcare.

Thank you. That helps much.

 

During the campaign, he pledged not to cut Medicaid, Medicare, or social security

I tell you, I'd rather have Bernie who is at the opposite end of the spectrum than the elitists like Trump. How can a Presidential candidate lie about such things? I mean if this is true and Trump said what you said, this is really appalling. If he flat out lied, he should be called on it daily. If this is true, anybody who voted for him expecting no cuts to these services just got f***ed over, flat out f***ed over. I know politicans are famous for lying about things to get elected. Maybe tons of them have done this as well. it still sucks if he ran on this and flat out was lying.

 

I mean I guess the voter should just assume any Republican is lying when it involves positive solutions regarding social issues and common guy issues (health care, food stamps, social security, medicare).

 

Not trying to stir it up, but at this point in time, Bernie was our only chance at compassionate social policies. (This is assuming correctly that Hillary was unelectable). This is very sad. I guess in 4 years it'll go back to normal. I'm assuming Trump will want no part of re-election.

 

I mean OK, lets say like a friend of mine you have a horrible pre-existing condition. Now she has insurance under Obamacare. Will her company be able to immediately drop her? She'll never get insurance. Each treatment will be 50000 or more so she'll be homeless soon. Multiply her situation by thousands after thousands. We almost have to go to socialism at this point. Our system is barbaric.

Edited May 24, 2017 by greg775

[Quin]

Yeah, they can drop her if Trumpcare goes through

[Jerksticks]

Thank you. That helps much.

 

 

I tell you, I'd rather have Bernie who is at the opposite end of the spectrum than the elitists like Trump. How can a Presidential candidate lie about such things? I mean if this is true and Trump said what you said, this is really appalling. If he flat out lied, he should be called on it daily. If this is true, anybody who voted for him expecting no cuts to these services just got f***ed over, flat out f***ed over. I know politicans are famous for lying about things to get elected. Maybe tons of them have done this as well. it still sucks if he ran on this and flat out was lying.

 

I mean I guess the voter should just assume any Republican is lying when it involves positive solutions regarding social issues and common guy issues (health care, food stamps, social security, medicare).

 

Not trying to stir it up, but at this point in time, Bernie was our only chance at compassionate social policies. (This is assuming correctly that Hillary was unelectable). This is very sad. I guess in 4 years it'll go back to normal. I'm assuming Trump will want no part of re-election.

 

I mean OK, lets say like a friend of mine you have a horrible pre-existing condition. Now she has insurance under Obamacare. Will her company be able to immediately drop her? She'll never get insurance. Each treatment will be 50000 or more so she'll be homeless soon. Multiply her situation by thousands after thousands. We almost have to go to socialism at this point. Our system is barbaric.

 

The problem with the socialist medical sytems is that people can't get treatment timely. It flat out doesn't work. The articles online spout stats about it working but the people actually living in these countries can't even get their babies delivered sometimes. I'm in a position where i hear these stories pretty regularly. Not saying our system is much better, just that full single payer for 300+ million would be the beginning of the end of the American Age. It's a mess in Scandanavia and the UK and their populations are much smaller.

 

I think the answer is a universal switch to concierge medicine across the board. Everyone carries insurance for serious disease. Insurance companies win, and people win. The only people that lose are all the coders and billing departments at every hospital/doctor's office. The need for that field would plummet.

 

[greg775]

I think the answer is a universal switch to concierge medicine across the board. Everyone carries insurance for serious disease. Insurance companies win, and people win. The only people that lose are all the coders and billing departments at every hospital/doctor's office. The need for that field would plummet.

I kind of agree with this.

[caulfield12]

Greg, with the new law, you can't be dropped for having pre-existing conditions.

 

The problem is with community rating going off the books (AHCA), the prices for those with those conditions will still skyrocket. You can argue "access" and that they can't drop you, but they can certainly price you out of the market or bankrupt you anyway. Then the penalty for letting coverage lapse and trying to get under an insurance plan again when you get sick (those pre-existing conditions) will be double the already skyrocketing rates.