Free Republic

NEW YORK—President-elect Donald Trump said that, after conferring with President Barack Obama, he would consider leaving in place certain parts of the Affordable Care Act, an indication of possible compromise after a campaign in which he pledged repeatedly to repeal the 2010 health law. In his first interview since his election earlier this week, Mr. Trump said one priority was moving “quickly” on the president’s signature health initiative, which he argued has become so unworkable and expensive that “you can’t use it.” Yet, Mr. Trump also showed a willingness to preserve at least two provisions of the health law after...

House Speaker Paul Ryan has his eyes on privatizing Medicare. The Wisconsin Republican leader, who has long expressed his disapproval of the Affordable Care Act, will also be the leading voice in health-care reform. “What people don’t realize is that Medicare is going broke, that Medicare is going to have price controls. Because of Obamacare, Medicaid is in fiscal straits,” Ryan said in an interview with Fox News Thursday. “So you have to deal with those issues if you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare. Medicare has got some serious problems because of Obamacare. Those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare.”

Trump-backing congressman says GOP will use budget 'reconciliation' to repeal Obamacare in first 100 days – depriving Democrats of the chance to filibuster it * Rep. Chris Collins, the first Republican to endorse President-elect Trump, says the GOP will move legislation to repeal Obamacare within Trump's first 100 days * Party would use budget procedure that would let them jam it through on a simple majority vote, depriving Senate Democrats of the filibuster * Medical device tax, 30-hour workweek for coverage, employer mandate, employee mandate all could go, gutting the plan * Says there would be a 'transition' for 2017...

Since the campaigns are over and electioneering can cease, let's take a realistic look as the lay of the land and understand what is likely to occur under Trump's administration and what is not likely. Indeed, Obamacare repeal legislation has been floated numerous times by the Republican House over the past several years, only to find an unwilling Senate or Executive roadblock to kill all possibility. I contend that we are in a similar situation now. A perilously bare "R" majority in the senate will be the death knell for any repeal for at least the next two years. Democrats...

Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) blamed Republicans for the major premiums hikes under Obamacare set to hit next year while speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday. . . . “The people they should be mad at, really, are Republican officeholders who refused to do anything other than vote to repeal the [Affordable Care Act],” he said.

The GOP’s long-discussed dreams of repealing Obamacare became closer to reality early Wednesday morning when Donald Trump was elected president. Six years after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law and after more than 60 attempts to repeal it, Republicans now have a good chance to advance their own agenda. While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised voters that he would repeal Obamacare if he was elected president and even called on congressional Republicans to call a “special session” to move forward with rolling back the law. “Obamacare has to be replaced,” Trump said earlier this...

Senate Republicans, flush with victory and defying the odds, have maintained their majority in the upper chamber and vowed to move quickly on repealing Obamacare. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, “It's pretty high on our agenda as you know. I would be shocked if we didn't move forward and keep our commitment to the American people." President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal President Obama’s signature domestic achievement. McConnell did not discuss whether reconciliation would be used, though the chances of that are likely since the GOP majority is slim. And there is virtually no chance that Senate Republicans...

"We're going to have one party ruling this country, and Obamacare is done. Dodd-Frank is done," Carville said on MSNBC. . . . The Democratic operative conceded that Trump would have the authority of an election behind him, stating it's "the biggest thing you can have in a democracy." "I'm distraught about the entire thing," added Carville. "I feel terrible for a lot of my friends."

Thanks ObamaCare, 385 People laid off at New York Presbyterian and associated Hospitals this morning.

Highmark Inc. is canceling individual health plans in more than half of the Pennsylvania counties in which it has sold the plans on the Affordable Care Act's marketplace, reducing the competition that some experts say is necessary to make the market sustainable. The Pittsburgh-based insurer is no longer selling the plans in 27 of the 49 counties in which it sold them for 2016, according to a Tribune-Review analysis of federal marketplace data. About 70 percent of the insurer's individual marketplace members in Pennsylvania will lose their plans, according to a Highmark spokesman. The plans expire at the end of...

“Disaster” sums up the skyrocketing premiums and lack of choice facing many of the 11 million people enrolled in the exchange plans. The plans are unaffordable, unless you’re a low earner getting a free ride. ObamaCare enrollees aren’t the only people being clobbered. If you get insured at work — as 155 million people do — your deductibles are up a staggering 49 percent since 2011 thanks to ObamaCare. Part-timers are working fewer hours, so business owners can avoid the law’s employer mandate. Taxpayers are on the hook for some 50 new taxes. Seniors get hit the hardest. More than...

Obamacare is now a tale of two health insurance programs. For the 85% of enrollees with lower incomes, federal subsidies make the premiums somewhat more affordable. Those even closer to the poverty line can get additional subsidies that reduce the deductibles, which can run into the thousands of dollars. But for many middle class Americans -- a single person earning more than $47,520 or a family of four with an income of $97,200 -- the pricey premiums and deductibles mean health care coverage remains out of reach. "The middle class are getting squeezed," said Larry Levitt, senior vice president at...

No need for nose-holding I realize a lot of conservatives are wringing their hands about voting for Donald Trump. Some are doing so reluctantly to stop Hillary. Some remain in the #NeverTrump camp and are either voting third-party, writing someone in as a protest or not voting at all. I have been consistent since the primary season, when I named Trump as one of my Pick Six, in saying that I believed Trump was among the best Republican candidates of this season. This was long before electing Trump was the only way to stop Hillary, and I didn’t have to...

Lies passed ObamaCare legislation, lies supported its implementation. As its death spiral begins, angry and panicked lies by Democratic apologists attempt to deflect accountability for its economic devastation. ObamaCare’s economic wreckage will insure President Barack Obama’s now classic promises regarding ObamaCare will eventually scar his legacy. History is written usually by the victors. In the case of ObamaCare, the economic losers are so numerous their bitter complaints will write the titles, fill the chapters and pack the footnotes. …

Our outgoing president was on the campaign trail in Florida today, where he served up some high-octane flaming garbage about Obamacare.  He didn't merely voice disagreements with Republicans -- or mount a nuanced, if self-serving, defense of his law.  He flat-out lied.  Repeatedly and unconvincingly.  This is really embarrassing stuff: "They don't even have a pretense of a plan," @POTUS says of Republicans' health care plan. "Nothing, zero, nada."— Emily Cahn (@CahnEmily) November 3, 2016 “None of what they said has happened” Obama says, referring to Republican warnings about Obamacare— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) November 3, 2016 In fact, the GOP has proposed a very detailed Obamacare replacement...

Barack Obama took a break from interfering in FBI investigations today to interfere with reality on ObamaCare. Speaking at a rally in Miami for Hillary Clinton, the president scoffed at Republican promises to repeal ObamaCare, and then insisted that most consumers won’t see premium increases in the exchanges at all. Mediate has the sound bite of that claim, but Obama’s string of nonsense should be read in context for full appreciation of his talents. Scalp micturation level … peak Lebowski, man: Obama - Only ‘ A Handful of People ’ Are Seeing Obamacare Premiums Go Up - 11/3/16 Can I...

On the heels of the postman’s delivery of an estimated 1.4 million insurance cancelation notices, the Obama administration announced last week the 2017 rates for insurance policies sold on Obamacare exchanges. Predictably, the escalation in rates continues unabated. As CNN.com reported, rates for 2017 will increase on average 22 percent, and as much as 116 percent in Arizona. CNBC.com highlighted the further cost increase consumers will face from higher deductibles: “[d]eductibles for individuals enrolled in the lowest-priced Obamacare health plans will average more than $6,000 in 2017.” Consumers also face fewer options. Seventy fewer companies are participating in the exchanges...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fl. - It was the first day of open enrollment for plans for 2017 under the Affordable Care Act and Floridians are looking at a hefty price increase. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, premiums in the Sunshine State are set to go up by as much as 27 percent. Other states are looking much worse. Oklahoma is looking at a 75% increase. Lyne Holue will lose her coverage on Dec 31st because her current carrier dropped out of the market, leaving only three to choose from and leaving her unsure where to...

...Our premium has tripled to a crushing cost of $1,288 per month, over $15,000 a year. Just this year’s increase alone will be $467 a month, $5,600 a year. Remember, my entire premium was less than $5,000 before Obamacare. And what do we get for the crushing cost? We pay money in order to pay money. The deductible has gone from $5,000 to $13,100, and unlike with our previous plan, nothing but the dubious “annual well visits” are covered prior to meeting the deductible. That means one must shell out roughly $28,000 in a given year before one red cent...

Donald Trump and Paul Ryan share common ground on at least one thing — repealing and replacing Obamacare posthaste. A guest on conservative host Hugh Hewitt's radio program, Ryan on Wednesday fully endorsed Trump's call for a special session of Congress after Trump wins the election next week. "Imagine if we had a Republican president," Ryan told Hewitt. "This is what Donald Trump is talking about. A special session, we've already proven this year with a Republican House and a Republican Senate we can have that special session, and we can repeal, and we can replace Obamacare. It's unclear why...