Republicans are reading the signs on health care
The president tweeted Monday that congressional Republicans would wait until after the 2020 elections to vote on a GOP replacement for Obamacare. The Washington Post's Robert Costa explains why the party appears to be waiting.
Donald Trump started by ripping into Obamacare, which he says everyone agrees doesn’t work because of its high premiums and deductibles.
He also notes that the Democrat Medicare for all replacement plan would completely remove private health insurance:
Everybody agrees that ObamaCare doesn’t work. Premiums & deductibles are far too high - Really bad HealthCare! Even the Dems want to replace it, but with Medicare for all, which would cause 180 million Americans to lose their beloved private health insurance. The Republicans.....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019
Trump then notes the Republican plan will have far lower premiums and deductibles, which will make it far less expensive and more usable than Obamacare.
But he also rightly notes that Republicans need to win back the House before there can be a vote on it:
But he also rightly notes that Republicans need to win back the House before there can be a vote on it:
....are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare. In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win......— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019
....back the House. It will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America. Also, Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions. The Republican Party will be known as the Party of Great HealtCare. Meantime, the USA is doing better than ever & is respected again!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 2, 2019
It looks like Trump is already trying to create incentives for people to vote Republicans back into power in the House.
With Democrats becoming quite radical these days and going all in on presidential harassment, it’s not a bad plan. Obamacare is absolutely terrible. The problem lies with the people who are on the subsidy side of Obamacare, because they really don’t have incentive to change the plan. They are getting the good premiums and deductibles because everyone else is paying for it.
In any event, I like what Trump is doing here. But at the same time we know how much of a fight there was within the Republican Party just to repeal Obamacare when they had the opportunity. They promised us, and yet we know how that went. It’s going to take a lot of convincing for the American people to trust that Republicans will do what needs to be done this time around.
I think historically, one of the decisions with the worst impact on healthcare was employer-paid coverage; making my health care part of my employment package. When my health coverage is linked to my employment, there's not much I can do to control what coverage I get and how I pay for it. My employer decides. Plus, I start from ground zero with every job change.
ReplyDeletei had a very rough 2016, and wound up having 4 different employers over the course of the year. Every time I started with a new company, I got a new plan, with new deductibles and copays. None of the money I had already spent on deductibles and copays at my previous jobs counted at all. So if I had paid $9000 of a $10,000 deductible and then changed jobs, I would be starting at $0 of the new deductible.
Now, if I OWNED my own plan, bought on a state-wide or national exchange, I would take it with me from job to job. My employer could offer to reimburse me for some of my costs, as part of their incentive package to get me to take the job, but I would still own my own coverage. Since my wife and I are in our late 50's, I would pick a plan that didn't include maternity care, but possibly included options for long-term care coverage. And competition and market forces would drive the creation of better, more flexible plans.
Having someone else "take care" of my healthcare coverage reduces my need to manage it myself and make the most informed choices.