Posted on 10/19/2017 7:43:26 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
PHILADELPHIA - Tom Westerman voted for Donald Trump in last year’s election but says he might not do so again after the president cut off billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies to health insurance companies.
Westerman’s change of heart reflects mounting fears among middle-class Democrats and Republicans that their health insurance costs will soar as Trump weakens former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, which extended insurance to more than 20 million Americans.
“It seems like he is trying to hurt the middle class,” said Westerman, who is retired from a manufacturing company in Pennsylvania, a state that Trump won.
Some people said they were encouraged to see Trump deliver on a campaign promise to dismantle Obamacare, after repeated failures by congressional Republicans to repeal the 2010 law.
“I support the president because I think Obamacare is imploding and it not only impacts those on Obamacare, but everybody,” said Roger Heuring, 58, who lives in New Jersey.
“Forget the president – it’s the Congress’s responsibility. They’re the ones that passed this mess to begin with,” Heuring said.
In addition to cutting subsidies, Trump signed an executive order last week that could eventually make it easier for Americans to buy cheaper, bare-bones health insurance plans than required by Obamacare.
Trump voter Stephen Lewis, 62, lost his job as a veterinarian in Wisconsin and bought a health insurance plan under Obamacare. Lewis still supports Trump although he said he fears that his premiums, now $309 a month, could rise further with the subsidy cut, making it harder for him to meet other expenses, including $611 in monthly mortgage payments.
“It is a concern obviously,” Lewis said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Another “some say” article form the paragons of journalism - Rueters.
but feelings matter more than anything, even doing the right thing. /s
I wonder how much the premiums would be if it didn't include mandatory maternity care as well as the other assorted junk that was thrown in as freebies for everyone..
And correct me if I'm wrong, not only are these direct payments to insurers illegal, aren't they also supposed to be distributed as tax credits to the taxpayer (as exemplified in the SCOTUS decision that it was a tax?)
Or are insurance companies getting rebates to issue insurance?
Now there is even a lawsuit asking President Ninth Circuit to abolish the electoral College. Restoring Healthcare subsidies are child’s play to President Ninth Circuit just like the travel ban was.
***that his premiums, now $309 a month, could rise further with the subsidy cut,***
Geez, my wife and I in our 70’s, are paying more per month than that between my retirement monthly insurance payments and our SS monthly payments into MediCare.
We recently joined Kaiser because their yearly $ caps are better for us versus our private coverage.
Well, they do see the need to win some middle class votes, so they need to sound concerned
Westerman, you are guilty of receiving stolen property. You should be arrested, tried, and convicted.
Good riddance to this ObamaCare sh!t.
my head hurts
America’s health-care system is a corrupt, debt-and-spending fueled cost-push bubble.
It needs to be popped, it needs to crash, and unfortunately, many people, both suppliers and patients, will be dislocated when that happens before something new and improved takes its place.
I have a small business, so I get ZERO subsidy. My family's monthly fee is $1200 and a $6500 deductible.
My kid went for stitches at the emergency room (4 stitches total + Xray). The cost was $3000. I had to pay every penny.
“Trump voter Stephen Lewis, 62, lost his job as a veterinarian in Wisconsin and bought a health insurance plan under Obamacare. Lewis still supports Trump although he said he fears that his premiums, now $309 a month, could rise further with the subsidy cut, making it harder for him to meet other expenses, including $611 in monthly mortgage payments.”
_________________________________________________________
This is totally FAKE News. Mr. Lewis’ premiums will actually stay pretty much the same, as his premium subsidy will increase to offset any hike his insurance company might impose. He will also continue to enjoy his lower co-pays and deductibles. The government has stopped these particular payments to the companies, but the companies are required by law to continue to provide them to low-income people like Lewis. In addition, if he is now making no income (having lost his job), he might be eligible for Medicaid which would reduce his premiums to ZERO.
The FAKE NEWS part of this is the media is equating these lower co-pays and deductibles with premium subsidies. They’re two different things entirely, and the premium subsidies are not threatened, but will actually increase to keep pace with the companies’ rate hikes.
The media’s goal is to do anything and everything to attack and weaken Trump. That’s the overriding objective and they will lie all day long to achieve it.
>. While the unconstitutional nature of the subsidies is certainly a reasonable consideration, it does not change the fundamental fact. You are a racist, homophobic, anti-muslim bigot. So there! <
I don’t care who you are, that there’s just funny! lol
Of course in trying to say Trump is incompetent, they are really saying Obama and democrats demanding to reinstate the subsidy are really hurting the poor and don't care about the suffering they are causing.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/trumps-health-subsidy-shutdown-could-lead-to-free-insurance/
Yes, I always get my healthcare information from somenone in the UK named
Yasmeen Abutaleb. She writes for Rooters as a sideline to goat tending, and do-it-yourself IED fabrication!
No click for Rooters.
This is risible stuff—that the non-subsidised middle class, hit by higher premiums and penalized to boot for being unable to afford Affordable Health care—is concerned about Trump cutting health care subsidies.
In 2017 the MSM has been like the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
Someone posted a ludicrous story here on FR a few months ago. They needed some kind of non-emergency surgical procedure. Between the deductible and his 20% copay it was going to cost him more than $20,000 out of pocket.
He thought about it for a while, then decided to deal directly with the medical facility where the surgery would be done. They did the surgery for less than $8,000, if I remember correctly. Just think about that one and ask yourself if this even makes sense anymore.
No they don’t! PURE fiction.
Throw enough Trump voters in Pennsylvania like Westerman in jail and you can get ready for President Bernie Sanders in 2021. The votes of the purists who don't care about the fate of people like Westerman are not nearly enough to win reelection for President Trump.
Funny. I have a small, chronic ailment which requires regular visits to a doctor for very basic blood/urine analysis or possibly X-ray. Its a doctor's group practice. I approached the administrator about simply paying CASH to them every time for this routine, 15 minute consultation and tests which are done on site. She looked at me like I was insane, and when I pressed, had no clue about how one might even approach it. I'm trying to work around this person now.
After many decades, this is what our crony, statist, corrupt, debt-fed medical system has created. Such bureaucrats, even in supposedly "private" practice, will be all ready to slip into a Marxist, single-payer system, without a peep.
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