The White House Just Totally Admitted It Has No Idea What Impact the ObamaCare Repeal Bill Will Have
‘We Really Aren’t Sure What the Impact Will Be’
Republicans are making one last-ditch effort to repeal ObamaCare. Thanks to Senate rules, they have until September 30 to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a simple majority vote. After September 30, repealing ObamaCare will take 60 votes.
They absolutely do not care what is in the bill, the latest before them is known as Graham-Cassidy, as long as it repeals ObamaCare, or let’s them say they have repealed ObamaCare. All they care about is being able to tell their base that after seven years of promising to repeal it, they finally have.
Graham-Cassidy is a nightmare. It’s also being rammed through so quickly even the Congressional Budget Office has not been given enough time to score it fully. Some reports from private entities say it will kick tens of millions of people off their health care.
And if you have a pre-existing condition, chances are you’ll end up spending a fortune for the same coverage you have now.
“How much more?” The New Yorker asks. “According to a new analysis by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, opioid addicts and people with rheumatoid arthritis would face surcharges of more than twenty thousand dollars a year. (That’s in addition to the regular premiums.) For people with serious heart conditions, the surcharge would be more than fifty thousand dollars a year. And for those with metastatic cancer, it would be more than a hundred and forty thousand dollars.”
But despite all of this disastrous news, President Trump and most House and Senate Republicans, especially Rep. Bill Cassidy, the legislation’s co-author, are pushing it big time. And lying through their teeth about it.
Except for one honest soul in the White House.
“We really aren’t sure what the impact will be†of Graham-Cassidy, a White House official told Politico, as TPM reports.
And there you have it.
By comparison, President Barack Obama, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, along with almost every House and Senate Democrat, and countless progressive and medical advocacy groups, spent 14 months educating themselves and the public about ObamaCare. And it was a big lift, but they did it.
Instead, Republicans are literally pushing through a monstrosity that will cost most Americans a small fortune, and many just won’t be able to afford what they have come to regard as essential medications and treatment.
“Several White House officials described the president as determined to sign something — anything, really,” Politico adds. “And they noted that the bill has drawn concerns from conservative groups for enshrining some parts of Obamacare and taking attention away from tax reform.”
It is not a stretch to say that people will die if Graham-Cassidy becomes law. It is not a stretch to say that people will go bankrupt if Graham-Cassidy becomes law.Â
And yet, even the White House just doesn’t know what’s in it, what its impact will be.
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