Trumpcare 3.0 will kill people
Single-payer deserves consideration
Just when you thought that the health insurance you could
finally afford under the Affordable Care Act was finally safe, two heartless
and downright cruel Senators bring up one last repeal and replace bill with the
sole justification being, “that’s what we campaigned on.”
The latest edition of Trumpcare 3.0 is decidedly worse than
any of its predecessors when measured by the damage done to the 25-35 million
people stripped of health insurance, those stripped of basic healthcare all together
and the families who will have to pick up the care costs for their young,
disabled or elderly parents. All this on top of further restrictions on
reproductive healthcare and reductions in other healthcare programs for women
The Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill is being ramrodded
through the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who will stop at nothing
to undo everything the Black former president put together. They need to get it
done before the end of next week when the Senate rules revert back to a 60 “yes”
vote requirement for any bill to pass.
Putting the bill together behind closed doors with no
public, much less Democratic, input or review, it is being cast as a choice
between states rights and the dreaded socialism of the government run
single-payer Medicare for All healthcare system gaining increased public
support daily. It is being rushed to a vote, before the Congressional Budget
office can complete its review and provide the impartial numbers on the damage
it will do and the costs involved. It is a true pig in a poke.
What we know is that Graham-Cassidy will roll back Medicaid
expansion that gave 14 million Americans health insurance coverage for the
first time. The rest of Medicaid, care for the elderly in nursing homes, the
disabled, young people in poverty and others, will also be trimmed and
converted into lump sum payments to the states with insignificant controls on
how each spends the funds allotted creating 50 different healthcare systems for
the sickest and most vulnerable. The savings will go to fund GOP tax cuts for
the wealthiest and corporations who need them the least.
With insurers being allowed to charge sick people more, health
insurance premiums for those still covered will skyrocket. With the elimination
of required coverage for pre-existing conditions, the cost of insurance will quickly
rise to levels that most Americans cannot afford. One analysis puts surcharges,
in addition to the regular premiums, for opioid addicts and those with
rheumatoid arthritis at $20,000, $50,000 more for those with serious heart
conditions, and over $140,000 for those with metastatic cancer. Another puts a $4500
surcharge on asthmatics, $17,300 on pregnancy and a $72,000 bump on lung
cancer.
The state block grants would punish the Democratic states
that took Medicaid expansion dollars and reward the GOP states that did not. States
receiving the grants will be allowed to apply for waivers from many of the
Affordable Care Act requirements that the bill does not repeal directly. If you
need a service not covered, you will have to pay for it. ACA premium subsidies
will be phased out by 2020. The slow death of federal healthcare funding will
continue to 2027 when all federal dollars for the nation’s health will cease.
The deadlines for figuring out your insurance for next year
loom. Insurers must sign final contracts for 2018 by the end of next week. If
ACA subsidies vanish next year, premiums will explode. ACA enrollment starts November 1st.
The new bill will eliminate the requirement for everyone to have insurance or
pay a penalty. With that gone, many believing themselves to be healthy might
not buy insurance at all. That too will drive up premiums as insurers scramble
to cover a larger pool of sick people with fewer premium dollars.
Even with the developmental secrecy, negative reaction to
the latest
Trumpcare has been swift and severe. Governors from both
parties have condemned the bill. The American Medical Association, AARP, the
America Hospital Association, most of the major disability advocacy groups, and
representatives from just about every significant healthcare organization have
urged Congress to reject the bill. Health insurers oppose it too. All 50 of the
state Medicare directors oppose it too.
The three holdout GOP Senators’ objections to Trumpcare 1.0
and 2.0 have not been addressed in the new legislation. Hopefully, they will
continue to stand up for their constituents like all of the Democrats in the
Senate who will vote “no.”
This bill must fail, paving the way for serious
consideration of a universal single payer system similar to those used for
decades by most of the countries on the rest of the planet. It is time to stop
the madness spawned by hatred of all things Obama and for bi-partisan solutions
for America’s health.
Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a
guardian for the disabled and the elderly.
