GOP HEALH CARE BILL
Readers react to AHCA’s passage
Re: “House passes health bill,” May 5 news story.
Someone, or should I say some group, is hijacking our country. This group, known at the House Freedom Caucus or Tea Party, is small but very powerful. Their message is simple: Less taxes and less government. They believe everyone who is onMedicaid is a deadbeat. It couldn’t possibly be bad luck. They believe all government regulations are “government overreach.” It couldn’t possibly be that these rules are protecting our health, our safety, or our finances.
The vast majority of Americans want good health care at a reasonable price. The vast majority of Americans want the government to protect them from those businesses that put their bottom line above the safety and welfare of American citizens. It is time for the majority of Americans to stand up to these selfish, uncaring Americans and their puppet president. Call your senators and congressmen. Stand up for all Americans and our rights. Jeff Cole, Englewood
Re: “Coffman stood up on health care bill,” May 5 editorial.
The Denver Post praises Rep. Mike Coffman for his “no” vote on the American Health Care Act. The ACHA now moves on to the Senate for consideration. Obamacare did not not accomplish its policy goal of affordable health care. Individuals, families and businesses in fact have seen their premiums and deductibles rise steadily and dramatically. A weakness of Obamacare has been all major health care decisions are decided by public officials. Another flaw is Obamacare did not increase competition as hoped; in fact, the opposite happened. That the average family would save $2,500 was a political talking point that ended up being a false expectation. The Post scolds local House members for voting on this proposed legislation without being informed by a Congressional Budget Office score. The CBO can only score based on numbers given to them by others— those proposing new legislation. Knowing projected costs is necessary. Knowing government’s limitations is critical. ForrestMonroe, Lone Tree
While I also applaud Rep. Mike Coffman’s vote against the American Health Care Act, I take exception to several points in The Denver Post’s editorial. There was no mention of the pressure that Coffman received from his constituents. Numerous grassroots groups had his constituents call to urge a “no” vote. In addition, giving the Republicans credit for “trying to fix America’s broken health care system” while criticizing Democrats for the ACA is laughable.
By passing the ACA, the Democrats provided health care to millions of Americans, reduced the costs of health care, and significantly decreased the personal bankruptcy rate. The AHCA, in contrast, will strip coverage from more than 24 million Americans and will require the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions to pay significantlymore for coverage all to provide a tax cut for thewealthiest. Thiswas not an attempt to “fix health care”; itwas a giveaway to billionaires. Vicky Putsche, Denver
We should all be proud of Rep. Mike Coffman for taking a courageous stand under undue partisan pressure. He should be commended for not engaging in strict party politics and putting the needs of the people first. At the same time, Reps. Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn and Scott Tipton should be ashamed of themselves for their careless and reckless votes jeopardizing low-income, elderly and infirm people. Robert Silber, Centennial
When will our representatives in Congress address the real problem with health care in America? It’s just too expensive compared with costs in other developed countries, and individuals have little control even though we are the ultimate purchasers of services.
Health care costs this country more than $3 trillion a year, and we pay more than double what most other developed countries pay per person for similar levels of care. This is a huge gorilla on the backs of individuals, businesses and the U.S. economy overall.
There is almost noway for an individual to control health care costs. Even with medical procedure codes in hand, an individual cannot get pricing information from the doctor, hospital or insurance company. To have amarket, prices have to be widely available so suppliers will compete and consumers can choose.
We need our representatives to address the real problem. Lowering costs by reducing benefits doesn’t fix anything. Eduardo Oteiza, Denver