Obamacare won’t be repealed, because it can’t be repealed - or, more exactly, it can’t be repealed without ushering in huge Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.
Members of Congress don’t know much, but they can count votes like a pimp in a whorehouse can count money.
Yes, the voters “hate Obamacare and want it repealed”. That is absolutely true.
It’s also true that they want the ability to buy insurance for pre-existing conditions, want insurance companies to be forbidden to cancel policies for non-payment, want zero payment at the point of service, want their adult children who are smoking dope in a dive in Oakland to stay covered, want their States to expand Medicaid without taxes going up, and so on.
In other words, the only two things they hate about Obamacare are paying for it, and the name.
Republicans in Congress understand this perfectly well, which is why there’s no plan.
And, not coincidentally, Obamacare (and Romneycare) were the culmination of fifty years of “reform”, all of which had the purpose of destroying the private sector or making it impossible for the private sector to function, except for boob jobs and a few other things. And, by 2009, the mission was largely accomplished.
Obamacare was merely a temporary mop-up operation, until full nationalization was possible.
And now, it is.
Like Nixon to China, Trump will propose single payer within the year. It’s really the only way out at this point.
And before you accuse me of favoring it, realize that it will destroy a lifetime of work for me. I don’t like it - I hate it.
But it’s coming, because it’s what the voters, bless their pointy little heads, want.
“Obamacare won’t be repealed, because it can’t be repealed - or, more exactly, it can’t be repealed without ushering in huge Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate.”
Medical “insurance” is not like food stamps.
Most people wouldn’t know the difference if they lost their ~$5,000 deductible “bronze” boondoggles - too expensive to use, never pay anything at all in any particular year for ~98% of bronze plan “covered” persons.
I have carefully crafted a plan that increases freedom, expands coverage to millions more and has a total plan cost to Uncle Sam of about what the PPACA does.
Version 4.6:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~briangriffin/
no employer or individual mandates or fines
Drug coverage and health care service coverage would have separate subsidies.
The federal monthly care subsidy base amount for a US citizen age 23 and over would be:
(age factor*$30) - (’normally attainable annual income estimate’**2/20000*(105-3*age factor))
[At age 64, the maximum subsidy would be $439.20/month and eligibility would end at $24,187/year.]
[At age 40, the maximum subsidy would be $142.80/month and eligibility would end at $16,432/year.]
[At age 26, the maximum subsidy would be $83.25/month and eligibility would end at $13,145/year.]
The federal monthly drug subsidy base amount for a US citizen at least 26 years of age would be:
(age bracket multiplier*$8) - (’normally attainable annual income estimate’**2/20000*(350-10*age bracket multiplier))
[At age 64, the maximum would be $116.76/month and eligibility would end at $21,909.]
[At age 26, the maximum would be $27.82/month and eligibility would end at $14,085.]
Square-law falloff subsidies are used instead of linear falloff subsidies to better serve lower income recipients.
extraordinary mandatory issue open season - every 4 years, exchange only
employer tax credits for optional annual open seasons
no coverage mandates - only federal subsidy reductions based on coverage limits & co-pay/co-insurance/deductibles:
The monthly care subsidy amount of a person shall be:
(monthly care subsidy base amount of a person)*
(the person’s plan care scope factor*the person’s policy financial quality factor)/10000
state PPACA Medicaid expansion contributions 10% -> 28%,
(or block grants, on a 80/20 [and 70/30] federal/state matching basis)
[This helps provide the money to cover millions more individually.]
hospital block grants to help exceptional cases with premium payments
80% maximum federal subsidies, except via hospital block grants
loss ratio tax on non-employer plans
small premium increases possible in case of insurer need
My proposal would have drug coverage other than grandfathered PPACA plans on a coverage provider negotiated or consumer market basis.