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PPACA Repeal?

Source:- Los Angeles Times.

This page refers to the current chaos on the hill. (Not my words, by the way) A party has had 8 years to prepare a change in legislation. The Republican party opposed the PPACA from the start, over 8 years ago. The current POTUS, Donald Trump said he would do it the day after inauguration. So far he has failed, only doing a little tinkering. They have had EIGHT YEARS to come up with something better for Americans. To my mind, that means more not less Americans covered by full healthcare. Republicans, apparently do not agree with that, or among themselves. "Sad, very sad" to use a Trump style expression.

What do medics think? Apparently they agree with me	On Friday, the American Medical Assn., the nation’s largest physicians group, sent a letter to Senate leaders calling for a stop to the repeal campaign. “We urge you to reject efforts to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act and work instead toward improvements that will increase access to affordable, quality health care coverage for all Americans,” the group’s chief executive, Dr. James L. Madara, wrote.
What about Budget experts?	Even budget experts sounded an alarm Friday, as eight former CBO directors, including three appointed by Republican Congresses, sent a strongly worded letter to congressional leaders cautioning lawmakers not to ignore the agency’s independent analyses of legislation, as the White House has urged Congress to do.
More expert comment	“Relying on CBO’s estimates in the legislative process has served the Congress and the American people very well during the past four decades,” wrote the former directors, whose tenures stretch from 1975 to 2015. “We urge you to maintain and respect the Congress’s decades-long reliance on CBO’s estimates in developing and scoring bills.”

What about The House vote?

The frenzied Senate process parallels the way House GOP leaders pushed through their bill rolling back the Affordable Care Act, which lawmakers voted on before the CBO had even analyzed it. McConnell and other senior GOP senators once pledged that the Senate would take a more deliberative approach.

January and now?

We plan to take on the replace challenge in manageable pieces with step-by-step reforms,” the Senate leader said in January shortly after Congress convened But now, just days before voting could begin, senators face vastly different options, none of which have been considered in committee hearings or debated openly.

Coverage?

The GOP plan to repeal the current law now and replace it later would leave an estimated 32 million more Americans without health coverage over the next decade, according to the latest CBO analysis. At the same time, it would double healthcare insurance premiums by 2026, budget analysts concluded.By comparison, the current version of McConnell’s plan to repeal and replace major parts of Obamacare now would increase the ranks of the uninsured by 22 million, the CBO estimated in its latest evaluation of that option.

Premium reduction?

The plan would lower insurance premiums on average, but largely because health coverage would become less comprehensive, and many older, sicker Americans would not get coverage because they couldn’t afford it.

Page created 23rd July 2017.