One powerful mantra

It is undeniable that the current health-care law (the Affordable Care Act) has problems. It took a long time over many congressional hearings and floor debates to get it passed in its present form. Why would any thinking person want to go through all that again?

Instead of reinventing the wheel, why not hold hearings and floor debates to fix the wheel that we’ve got now? To even the most casual observer this would seem to be the best thing to do. My understanding is that the Democrats in Congress are ready to engage in across-the-aisle discussions to do just that, but the Republicans are demanding total repeal as a first step. Why is repeal of the current law such a powerful mantra?

As for a replacement law, the proposals so far just seem to be the current law rewritten to accomplish two basic things. First, abolish the increased taxes on high-income earners and second, because of the loss of income from the taxes, reduce coverage for some of the poorest recipients. Then to disguise the lack of money from taxes, they give what funds they do have to the states as a block grant. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of the states to determine who gets left out of health-care coverage when the money runs out.

Aye, there’s the rub! The governors take the blame; Congress does a happy dance.

RICHARD PICARD Little Rock