RepubliCare: On Life Support?

English: Paul Ryan, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now that the Republican Party controls the three legislative branches of government, they are presently trying to jam through a new health care law through Congress to replace the one that already exists, which they say they couldn't wait to get rid of since the law's founder was in the White House.

It's called the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a repudiation of the current Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare.  The AHCA has gotten lousy reviews from not just Democrats, medical associations, AARP and other progressive groups, but also from conservative Republicans who don't think the proposed law goes far enough.  But President Donald Trump, who once promised the greatest health care bill in the history of mankind with everyone covered, is on board with it.  So is Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, who as Speaker of the House has the unenviable task of trying to sell this thing.

This is part of what the AHCA (also known as Trumpcare, RepubliCare and other unflattering names) is all about:

• It keeps the ACA provisions of folks with pre-existing conditions from getting their insurance dropped, and dependents continuing to stay on their parents' plans until age 26.  It does not continue the mandate that everyone needs to be insured or else pay a stiff fine, which was a sticking point with Obamacare.
• It makes major cuts to Medicaid, the federal program that offers health insurance to low-income people, resulting in the number of enrolees being capped after 2020.  When that happens, it becomes the states' problem.
• It includes age-based tax credits on premiums for those who make $73,000 or less ($150,000 for joint tax filers).  Not to mention substantial breaks for what could be called "favored individuals" in the health care industry.

The Congressional Budget Office had its own conclusions of the bill.  They said that, among other things, 14 million would lose their coverage in 2018, 21 million by 2020, and 24 million by 2026.  The AHCA would reduce the deficit  by $337 billion over a decade.  Insurance premiums would rise initially, then start to go down.  The money spent on Social Security would go down due to people who die early.  And there would be reduced access to birth control, resulting in more money spent on Medicaid.

Naturally, the Trump White House disputes those figures.  The CBO is supposed to be non-partisan in its findings.  But these days, if your numbers don't match the administration's world view, don't be surprised if your budget's cut.

No wonder everyone's up in arms.  The Republicans had seven years to come up with a better plan than Obamacare, and they came up with this?  It's further evidence that the ACA needs tweaking, and is not to be thrown out with the bathwater.  This "repeal and replace" stuff is making the GOP look like Snidely Whiplash to the millions of Americans who would not have had health care if it weren't for the Affordable Care Act.

The American Health Care Act faces an uncertain future in Congress.  It'll have trouble passing the House, let alone the Senate, with all the reported opposition to the bill.  Unless the Republicans and President Trump do something quick to make the AHCA more palatable to the lawmakers, it's time to go back to the drawing board.

UPDATE 3/24/17:  Obamacare lives, at least for now.  Rep. Ryan pulled the AHCA bill from a certain defeat in the House Friday, having failed to secure enough votes to pass it.  President Trump, whose reputation was riding on this, is blaming everyone but the Republicans and himself and is going to wash his hands of the whole thing.  He says he's going to let Obamacare go down in flames, THEN put together a new law.  Time to move on.