GOP Releases New Health Care Bill
Well we now have it, the new health care bill being submitted by the GOP from the house. This bill, being referred to as the American Health Care Act, is already being discussed on both sides of the aisle and it has only been out for a few hours. Rep Nancy Pelosi and Sen Chuck Schumer have pulled out their scripts and are reading what they wrote, or someone wrote for them a few weeks ago, today as if they had no know what they were gonna say. So the lines are already being drawn and those on the left are already saying none of them will vote for the bill. How this bill came about though is what should concern us.
Last week when this bill was being written there were a few things that alarmed many in the liberty movement, but truthfully shouldn’t have been all that surprising. The bill was written behind closed and locked doors and was kept a secret. Nothing about the bill was coming out to the public from official channels but through some media sites that had an ‘in’ as it were with some of those involved in the writing of the bill. When a sitting U.S. Senator, Sen Rand Paul, heard this bill was being put together in this fashion he wanted to get a copy of it and read it himself. I’m sure knowing full well what would happen, he went to the room where the bill was supposedly being written in the basement of the capitol building with several members of the media on his coat tails. When Sen Paul arrived he was barred entry into the room by armed guard. Yup, a sitting Sen was barred entry into a room where a bill was being written on health care by an armed guard. This is the Republican party, the party Sen Paul is a part of, refusing to let others see the bill because just like with the last health care bill, we will have to pass it to see what is in it. Surprisingly Sen Paul is not a fan of what the house presented today calling it “…Obamacare lite…” Sen Paul does have his own bill written, it remains to be seen at this time which will go forward, keeping my fingers crossed it will be the gentleman’s from Kentucky.
There is little we know about this bill at this time but what we do know will be discussed. We know that the mandates on the individual and employer are removed, thus removing fines for not having or providing health insurances. Those mandates are being replaced with an incentive though, if an individual is without coverage for more than two months that person would face a 30% surcharge on the premium for that year. We know that many taxes and fines will be removed and replaced with subsides, I guess they will have to borrow that money or print it. We also know that three measures that would actually lower the cost of health insurance are not included in the bill at this time. The preexisting condition mandated coverage on the insurance companies is staying, this forces the insurance companies to become subsidy companies and fork out a lot of money for people they would not insure. Secondly we know that the way insurance companies pool individuals is also not going to be reformed, thus further hampering insurance companies and how they can provide better and cheaper policies to people. Finally, at this time, there is nothing in the bill of allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines. If the GOP really wants to lower the price of health care in America they need to include these three measures. They need to vote and pass the health care bill drafted by Sen Paul.
Thank you reading and please don’t forget to like and share!
Keep that coffee warm for us.
LWS
