Here’s the health coverage implications of President Trump’s proposal to repeal Obamacare, as assessed by the CBO:
Figure 1: Effects of H.R. 1628, THE Obamacare Repeal Reconciliation Act of 2017, on health insurance coverage of people under age 65, in millions, by calendar year. Source: CBO, Table 4.
So, at least for part of one day, the President was content to let an additional 32 million be uncovered by 2026.
CBO predicts that the big jump in uninsured would occur before the 2020 election. I guess the silver lining would be that Trump would have no chance to be reelected assuming we still have a democracy by then.
Obama did something very smart . He created an entitlement. The Republicans really missed a trick in not fighting this thing tooth and nail with every political trick (“socialized medicine, “who wants to be like France”, “cradle to grave”, etc.). It is much harder to change the status quo.
Can you provide evidence that the Republicans did not in fact fight the ACA tooth and nail? Something that would overcome the 0 R votes for PPACA (cloture or enactment), or things like the “DEATH PANELS!” lie?
Because I can’t. It looked to me like they knew that it would be hard to get rid of once passed, harder once implemented, and that consequently they did everything they could to prevent its enactment.
We need a massive scale-back of government influence in health care to bring costs down substantially.
Insurance premiums and deductibles will drop like a rock after allowing the free market to work.
For those unable or unwilling to buy insurance, they can get free health care at the VA, after giving veterans better choices.
We need to stop forcing people to buy expensive insurance through mandates and limited choices, along with making lawyers rich.
Free health care at the VA for everyone! Sounds great bro. Hahahahaaaaaahaha.
VA hospitals will need to expand to accommodate them, e.g. beds in hallways instead of private rooms and bedpans rather than private bathrooms, to free-up space at other hospitals for those who have insurance. It’ll be like the government hospital I saw in Scotland, except there will be better access to specialists, equipment, new drugs, etc., since the U.S. is more abundant. Of course, not everyone will need a safety net or want free health care.