• Republicans Push New Obamacare "Repeal." Here Are 4 Things You Need To

    From Ubiquitous@21:1/5 to All on Tue Sep 19 21:05:05 2017
    XPost: alt.tv.pol-incorrect, alt.politics.usa, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
    XPost: alt.politics.republicans

    It’s now clear that the latest Republican effort to repeal and
    replace Obamacare is gaining significant steam in the Senate. It’s
    doing so because Senate Republicans are tired to hearing that they
    aren’t doing anything to push the ball forward, and also because the
    latest deadline on September 30 means that Republicans must either
    pass a new budget or lose their opportunity for reconciliation under
    the Senate rules.

    So, what’s in the new bill, sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham
    (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA)?

    Here’s what you need to know.

    1. Medicaid Gets Slashed. Technically, Medicaid growth gets slashed.
    Instead of the federal government sending money to states on a need
    basis, states are given block grants — and more importantly, all the
    money is pooled and redistributed, rather than granted to states
    that expanded their Obamacare-subsidized Medicaid rolls. The goal
    would be to cut expected Medicaid funding on the federal level by
    one-third by 2026, and eliminate it entirely by 2027. But that’s ten
    years down the road, and unlikely to ever occur.

    2. Medicaid Gets Redistributed. The states hardest hit are those
    that have already expanded their Medicaid rolls, attempting to take
    advantage of President Obama’s subsidies. The new rules would
    benefit states like Wisconsin, Alabama, and Mississippi at the
    expense of states like New York and California.

    3. No More Individual Mandate. This was always the least popular
    part of Obamacare, and it would disappear. This means many people
    would voluntarily drop out of the health care market. It also means
    that insurance companies would likely raise their rates to
    compensate.

    4. States Get The Ability To Waive Essential Benefits. Under this
    new plan, states could waive certain “essential health benefits,”
    opening up the market some more. Pre-existing conditions regulations
    would remain on the basis of sex, for example, but states could
    waive regulations forcing insurance companies to cover certain
    “essential health benefits.” The bill still requires states to show
    “how the state intends to maintain adequate and affordable health
    insurance coverage for individuals with preexisting conditions.”


    This is a better bill than the one the Republicans rejected a few
    months back. It still won’t do enough to open up competition — until
    all pre-existing conditions regulations are removed, competition
    won’t be free and open. It also doesn’t get rid of all of
    Obamacare’s taxes. It’s going to be difficult for Republicans to
    pick up Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) vote, and Republicans may have to
    ignore Planned Parenthood funding in order to grab the votes of
    Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME). In any
    case, this won’t be an Obamacare repeal. It will be a continuation
    of Obamacare, with significant cuts to Medicaid. Until key Obamacare regulations and taxes are fully removed, watch for premiums to
    increase as the individual mandate is repealed.


    --
    Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
    have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.



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