Republicans aren't stupid, at least the Republicans in Congress are smart enough to know they should not vote for any law which will cause pain before they are up for election any time soon.
So the new version of Trumpcare is not going to really hurt until after Trump's 2020 election.
It's like that cancer in the tip of the colon polyp, it doesn't hurt now, so it's really no problem. It'll take 5 years to work down that stalk and infiltrate into the wall of the colon. Until then. you'll be just fine.
Today's Senate plan will raise the cost of health insurance to citizens over 50 about 5 fold and it will eliminate health insurance to the really poor--but they don't vote much anyway. And those 50+ citizens are really past their prime, so who cares really? The fifty somethings in the audience in Iowa were just fine with Trumpcare.
And now the health insurance companies will gradually be able to reject people for "pre existing conditions" in any state which feels strapped for cash, but hey, you can keep your kid on your policy until he is 27, just like Obamacare.
The thing about making insurance companies insure people with pre existing conditions is you were making them do something their whole machine is set up to avoid doing--the last person you ever want to insure is somebody who you might actually have to pay out. Have you never heard of profit? If you have to spend money on "benefits" that means your profit goes down.
What was Obama thinking?
Fact is, as the customer, you'll never figure out how the law will affect your own particular pocketbook until you actually have to--when you get your bill, but that's what marketing is for.
Fact is, as President Trump realized, health insurance is complicated, at least with a profit driven system like ours. It's that old conundrum: you never want to insure a customer who might really benefit from the product you sell and the customer never wants to spend his money unless he thinks he needs to spend the money.
If we agreed to do what Bernie Sanders suggested: Simply offer "Medicare for All" then it would be simple, in most ways.
Medicare is simple because its mission is not profit. It's mission is paying for medical care, which is exactly what commercial health insurance companies do not want to do.
What would not be simple is what would happen if commercial insurance companies would had to compete with Medicare. The commercial insurance company CEO's are smart enough to know they cannot do this and customers would flock to basic Medicare.
That's only about 6% of the market, but the insurance companies have not been willing to allow that.
For most people, who get subsidized "Cadillac" plans through work, Medicare would be less attractive, bare bones coverage, and they would opt for their Cadillacs.
Paying for Medicare for all would be easy if you extended the current system which taxes payroll up to $118,000 but not beyond. If you taxed incomes up to say, $ 4 million, then the money would be there.
But, as Paul Ryan would say: Taxing wealthy people is just so unfair. That's like taxing healthy people, very unfair.
After all, you are taxing healthy people to pay for sick people, which he only recently discovered is what happens with Medicare and Obamacare, and that isn't just so outrageous.
And now you talking about taxing wealthy people for more money than you ask from poor people.
That's really just about Communism, right there.
So the new version of Trumpcare is not going to really hurt until after Trump's 2020 election.
It's like that cancer in the tip of the colon polyp, it doesn't hurt now, so it's really no problem. It'll take 5 years to work down that stalk and infiltrate into the wall of the colon. Until then. you'll be just fine.
Today's Senate plan will raise the cost of health insurance to citizens over 50 about 5 fold and it will eliminate health insurance to the really poor--but they don't vote much anyway. And those 50+ citizens are really past their prime, so who cares really? The fifty somethings in the audience in Iowa were just fine with Trumpcare.
And now the health insurance companies will gradually be able to reject people for "pre existing conditions" in any state which feels strapped for cash, but hey, you can keep your kid on your policy until he is 27, just like Obamacare.
The thing about making insurance companies insure people with pre existing conditions is you were making them do something their whole machine is set up to avoid doing--the last person you ever want to insure is somebody who you might actually have to pay out. Have you never heard of profit? If you have to spend money on "benefits" that means your profit goes down.
What was Obama thinking?
Fact is, as the customer, you'll never figure out how the law will affect your own particular pocketbook until you actually have to--when you get your bill, but that's what marketing is for.
Fact is, as President Trump realized, health insurance is complicated, at least with a profit driven system like ours. It's that old conundrum: you never want to insure a customer who might really benefit from the product you sell and the customer never wants to spend his money unless he thinks he needs to spend the money.
If we agreed to do what Bernie Sanders suggested: Simply offer "Medicare for All" then it would be simple, in most ways.
Medicare is simple because its mission is not profit. It's mission is paying for medical care, which is exactly what commercial health insurance companies do not want to do.
What would not be simple is what would happen if commercial insurance companies would had to compete with Medicare. The commercial insurance company CEO's are smart enough to know they cannot do this and customers would flock to basic Medicare.
That's only about 6% of the market, but the insurance companies have not been willing to allow that.
For most people, who get subsidized "Cadillac" plans through work, Medicare would be less attractive, bare bones coverage, and they would opt for their Cadillacs.
Paying for Medicare for all would be easy if you extended the current system which taxes payroll up to $118,000 but not beyond. If you taxed incomes up to say, $ 4 million, then the money would be there.
But, as Paul Ryan would say: Taxing wealthy people is just so unfair. That's like taxing healthy people, very unfair.
After all, you are taxing healthy people to pay for sick people, which he only recently discovered is what happens with Medicare and Obamacare, and that isn't just so outrageous.
And now you talking about taxing wealthy people for more money than you ask from poor people.
That's really just about Communism, right there.
All that you say is true - but the Republicans have proven to be much more effective communicators than the Democrats. Simple "three word" phrases: "Repeal and Replace", "Build the Wall", "Lock Her Up", etc. The Democrats are like academics - explore, explain in painful detail, nuanced, Appeals to some - but most who vote seem only capable of grasping three word phrases. To them I offer this: "Can't Fix Stupid". Let the Republicans pass their bills, let the people suffer - then perhaps they will realize that there really are consequences to elections - and they need to better inform themselves or pay the price for their ignorance!
ReplyDeleteAnon-agreed "Can't fix Stupid" has a lovely ring and is so fitting given the circumstances. Although I just saw that the bill may be in jeopardy since Rand Paul and three of his cohorts apparently think the GOP bill is too much like Obamacare and doesn't go far enough in stripping the poor and the middle class of their benefits, so they won't be supporting it..stay tuned..
ReplyDeleteMaud
Sounds like a campaign slogan to me. Not as brief as l like ike but still works.
ReplyDelete