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From ObamaCare to Trump Don’t Care

copyright Zach D Roberts

copyright Zach D Roberts

Well, it’s a brand new day for my white Alaska friends who have been under the oppressive regime of “Obamacare,” otherwise know as the Affordable Care Act. Finally, after promising for seven years to repeal and replace it, congressional Republicans have introduced Trumpcare as a solution. Included in the pushback is the 10 percent tax on tanning beds. As a person of such blinding whiteness this time of year, I feel liberated. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that just this change will cost $600 million over the next 10 years.

For those of us who nerd out and actually read bills, Trumpcare presents some trouble since it hasn’t been posted for the public to read. The Republicans did print it out and set it next to a printout of Obamacare. It was much shorter, so that must mean something. All I can figure is it takes fewer pages to say no than yes. If size matters, just take the “65 or older” out of Medicare.

Kansas Republican Congressman Roger Marshals said: “Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us.’ There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.” He seems nice. I wonder if he ever read anything else Jesus said.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan explained very patiently what was wrong with Obamacare: “The people who are healthy pay for the people who are sick.” No kidding. What’s next? “People with car insurance pay for people who have wrecks”? Really groundbreaking stuff here. It’s like he just found out that insurance is buying a lottery ticket you don’t want to cash in on.

Republican representative from the great state of Illinois John Shimkus argued against the ACA mandates, asking, “What about men having to purchase prenatal care?” Well, maybe he had chickenpox during that one day in health class and missed the slideshow on where babies come from. Here’s a question for him: What about women having to purchase erectile dysfunction medication? Sir, erections have consequences and SOME of them require prenatal care.

Rick DeSantis, a congressman from Florida, explained that people with cancer can go to the emergency room for chemo treatments. I am happy for Mr. DeSantis. Clearly he has never had to go through chemo or watch someone he loves go through it.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released its assessment of the repeal, and Alaska takes the hardest hit in the country: “Unlike the ACA’s tax credits, the House plan’s tax credits wouldn’t adjust for geographic variation in insurance premiums; they’d be the same for a 45-year-old consumer in Alaska, where benchmark health insurance coverage costs $12,600 this year on average, as in New Hampshire, where it costs $3,600.”

I’ve been to New Hampshire. Other goods and services aren’t 25 percent what ours cost, except for health care. “In Alaska, by far the highest-premium state, the average reduction in tax credits would be $10,200, or 78 percent.” That’s the average.

The AARP, which is called “a special interest group” by the Trump press secretary, came out opposed to the Trumpcare bill. By their estimate, a 64-year-old making $15,000 a year would pay $8,400 more for health care than they are now under Obamacare. More than half their salary. Apparently, making America great again includes making people poorer and sicker than they were. Oh, and if you’re so sick of winning, you’re probably going to need insurance.

Indian Health Services and the Alaska Native Medical Center and clinics were funded in large part by the ACA. A lot of people are trying to find out if that too has been repealed. A study in Montana showed a loss of 3,000 jobs of their medical field workers if the Indian Health Service is cut.

However, it’s not all bad news. If you’re a CEO of a health insurance company, you should be picking out your next fancy thing. Yay for you! Trumpcare reinstates your mega bonuses. How you’ve been able to make it on mere tens of millions of dollars over the last few years is truly inspirational. Someone should make a movie.

All of this really isn’t a surprise. The congressional Republicans have attempted to repeal Obamacare more than 60 times since 2012.

Our lone congressman, Don Young, is pretty clear on his website: “I continue to support the full repeal of Obamacare.” Shucks, thank you, Congressman. That must be easy for you, since the government has been paying for your health care since I was born. Sen. Lisa Murkowski continues to pretend to care and play Lucy with the football. And Alaskans keep running up to it. Sen. Dan Sullivan does what he’s told to do for a biscuit. Good boy.

Alaskans who went for years without insurance are currently covered by Obamacare. Under Trumpcare, mental health and substance addiction programs will not be covered. Our state already suffers from high suicide rates and too many towns are ravaged by opioid addiction. Besides access to health care, our economy is hugely dependent on healthy people to do their jobs. In the first 15 months of the expansion under ACA, Alaska health care providers received over $288 million. Consider what our economy looks like rolling that $288 million away. We’re already in pretty grave shape as it is. What’s clear here is that like most of the Trump agenda, the burden is to be shifted from the producers to us, the consumers.

I wish my fellow Alaskans good health. We’re all going to need it.

Comments

comments

Comments
13 Responses to “From ObamaCare to Trump Don’t Care”
  1. mike from iowa says:

    Fired head of Drumpf’s NSC-Gen Flynn- Has turned FBI informant against his former boss. So the rumours say.

  2. mike from iowa says:

    It is now official, Drumpf “I alone can fix America”, has thrown Paul Ryan under the bus via a surrogate at Fake Noize. Ryan couldn’t muster the votes to pass a wingnut bill in a wingnut controlled congress with a wingnut bogus potus. Ryan fell flat on Drumpf’s face. And we all knew Drumpf is never to blame. Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

  3. mike from iowa says:

    Drumpf don’t care bill got pulled today. Not enough votes again.

    Former CIA spook (Mike Flynn) and other officials met clandestinely in October with Turkish officials to plan the kidnapping of Erdogan’s enemy from New York and send him to Turkey illegally. Hopefully the end of this godforsaken regime will happen soon.

  4. mike from iowa says:

    When you have wingnut pols making fun of their constituent’s plight-see Pat Roberts (Shithead/Kansas) you realize that healthcare isn’t a big deal to them. It is just another means to get yoooge taxcuts to the insanely wealthy and poke more holes in the safety net for the rest of America.

    Regardless of the outcome of the vote today, tax reform is up next and that means more taxcuts fr the greedy and less services for the needy. Bank on that.

  5. WakeUpAmerica says:

    Republican governors have screwed over their constituents out of spite under the ACA in their efforts to make it fail. My daughter lives in GA where she is going to college while raising a 10 year old with no child support help. She makes $15k a year. Thanks to the governor in Dumbfuckistan where she lives, she can’t get medicaid. The healthcare exchange offered her a policy with an initial $6k deductible. Did I mention she only makes $15k and has a dependent? After the deductible is met, she still has a deductible on each service and prescription. So along with $6k she would also pay $238/mo or $2,856/yr for a total of $8,856/yr before she received any services. That is roughly 60% of her income. Thanks GOP! And it will be worse under TrumpDon’tCare. Now couple that with the fact that they are also trying to defund Planned Parenthood, which is where she could get some services, and we have a winner, the big “FUCK YOU” from the richest country in the world.

  6. mike from iowa says:

    Them poor suckers from Appalachia coal mining districts are taking it on the chin from Drumpf’s budget cuts and healthcare. They are finding out-like most other Drumpf voters-that wingnuts savor the flavor of poor people’s desperation. They feed on it and brag about it later. And the next election rolls around and we get the exact same results.

    The people that keep voting for wingnuts need counseling. They need to be told it is okay to escape the abuse and repeated abuse is not entirely their fault.

  7. mike from iowa says:

    Wingnuts are dismissing the first 14 million insurance losers as people who wouldn’t have been insured if not forced to pay a penalty for not being insured. They don’t count as losses in wingnutland because reasons.

    If you had it and lose it you are a net loss. No semantics necessary. Wingnuts are painting lipstick on a large ugly looking pig with their name all over it.

  8. mike from iowa says:

    CBO report is out and it don’t look good for Drumpf Don’t Care. Everyone who ever signed up Obamacare will lose their insurance. 24 million losers is estimated.

  9. mike from iowa says:

    https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwDdkJBF5Jc/WMWsrZX1XmI/AAAAAAABlb0/xMdT0B_cGtQKtNrenmm70HgFqhLErdztgCLcB/s640/access.png

    Most excellent as always. Ryan says wingnuts are offering access to healthcare. If the people can’t afford it, too bad. That is their fault. Besides the wealthy really need those new taxcuts.

  10. Frank says:

    Terrific piece. Keep up the great work.