Posted on 03/07/2017 7:06:17 PM PST by ForYourChildren
Thomas Massie does not mince words. For more than six years, Republicans have promised to repeal Obamacare and after reviewing the long-awaited replacement package for a few hours, the Kentucky libertarian wasn't impressed. Massie thinks "it's a stinking pile of garbage."
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(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
It is surprising, isn’t it ? No plan that doesn’t primarily benefit health care providers and insurance companies at tax payer expense.
The tax credit is nothing but a welfare scheme to benefit insurance companies. They say the goal is to give individuals who purchase insurance the same tax reduction that businesses get when they provide for their employees, but that would be done by making insurance tax deductible, not by refundable fixed-amount tax credits. The dirty little reason they want the tax credit is that DEDUCTIONS only help people who actually PAY INCOME TAXES while tax credits go to anyone, and they really want to subsidize people who don’t even pay income taxes to begin with.
Medicaid and Medicare between them mean the government is already paying for health care of 75 million Americans, and it is all done on a fee-for-services scheme that incentivizes health care providers to perform (or at least bill for) as many tests and procedures as they can. It also creates a lot of make-work for government and provider office employees to handle the billing and payments.
Tax credits to insurance companies do nothing to change that incentive for health care providers, and neither would tax deductions. Changing Medicare and Medicaid to the HMO model where the health care provider is paid a fixed amount per year and obligated to provide whatever care is necessary DOES disincentivize excess testing and procedures, yet that never seems to come up in these plans. Just be sure you have co-pays to discourage hypochondriacs from overusing.
The government could then offer enrollment into this combined Medicaid/Medicare plan to people regardless of age or poverty level if they have pre-existing conditions or high risks that make premiums from private insurers cost more than 5% of their income, by paying that 5% of income. That would remove the high-risk people from private insurers’ risk pools and lower the cost for everyone else. It would still cost tax payer money, but nowhere near as much as these tax credits would.
This is JebCare. KasichCare. EstablishmentCare. SwampCare. LobbyistCare. McConnellCare. RyanCare. PelosiCare. SchuemerCare. ObamaCareLite. GovernmentCare.
Take your pick.
maybe look again.
Trump has a tweet yesterday he expects some thing better to come (from Rand Paul) Trump also tweeted it’s time for negotiation.
walk but not get weary, run but not faint :)
UNLESS THE COST SIDE IS ADDRESSED THIS IS EVEN WORSE GARBAGE THAN OBAMACARE.
Republicans, still in the pockets of the medical-industrial complex. Very nice.
Cost caps like TRICARE on all drugs and services FIRST. Then let open market capitalism competition fight for the customers money, which eventually will get below the caps.
The current bill won’t pass. Ryan and his weasel globalist buddies think they can ram this one through. No, it will be DOA if put to a full house vote today. Back to the drawing board folks.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The e-GOP wants to test to see whether those who voted for president Trump have gone back to sleep?
I hope they are all prepared to have new anal orrifices bored into their respective butts.
This is same old, same old, an Insurance lobby bill.Watch the Freedom Caucus join with the Dems to vote it down. Can’t say as I blame them much.
Good to see the GOPe folks taking so much flak - they want to maintain federal controls and can’t seem to figure out that is where 99.999% of the problems have come from.
If you notice the timestamps, the comment pressuring Paul came later.
That’s the only hope to counter Priebus/Ryan
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