A sickening display
At least Republicans are consistent in their fiscal and moral recklessness. On Thursday, the GOP-controlled House, pushed by President Trump, passed the American Health Care Act, officially repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.
This vote came two months after House committees okayed the legislation without benefit of a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of how much the plan would cost or how many Americans would be impacted.
Two weeks after those March 9 votes, the CBO figures were released, and they were devastating: 24 million stood to lose coverage under the new law. Premiums on the individual market would rise in the short term.
And older and poorer Americans would suffer — as far less generous tax credits replacing Obamacare subsidies would leave yawning gaps between the cost of insurance and what people could reasonably afford.
History repeated itself Thursday, as Republicans squeezed out a narrow “win” on a new version of the bill in the full House, losing 20 of their own members, not getting a single Democrat.
Amazingly, they did it again without a CBO analysis, despite huge changes grafted on to win over reluctant conservatives and moderates.
Public hearings on this bill? Zero. Republicans voting for its passage? 217.
To get past the qualms of members uncomfortable with jettisoning the guarantee that individuals with preexisting conditions be covered, the bill adds $8 billion over five years to help fund high-risk pools that those with preexisting conditions will be tossed into. Simple math shows the folly of that fig leaf. The bill simultaneously cuts $800 billion over 10 years from Medicaid, the program offering health care for the poor that Trump promised not to cut, and another $200 billion in subsidies for private insurance. The $8 billion represents 1% of the overall bill’s cuts in premium supports.
All to pave the way for huge tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy, coming down the pike.
For New York, a bad bill gets worse: A baldfaced bribe to buy off upstate congressmen Chris Collins and John Faso would open a $2.3 billion hole in the state budget to cover Medicaid payments previously picked up by counties.
The AHCA also bars tax credits from being used on any state plan that mandates abortion coverage — meaning New York residents would not qualify.
Obamacare is a flawed law in need of serious fixes. But its core protections are deeply popular. And the assistance it offers Americans struggling to afford insurance is vital.
The House GOP and Trump have run headlong toward a cliff — wearing blindfolds.
The Senate must save the day.