Obamacare

Senate pulls zombie ‘Trumpcare’ bill from a vote, another win for the resistance

by

Score another win for the resistance, with special thanks to the disability rights group ADAPT for their fearless opposition to the zombie “Trumpcare” bill. Protesters disrupt Senate health-care hearing, 181 arrested:

The Senate Finance Committee was forced to briefly delay its hearing on the Republican health-care bill on Monday after police were called in to remove loud protesters, many of whom were representing the disability rights group ADAPT. The demonstrators chanted “no cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty” and “kill the bill, don’t kill me,” and could still be heard in the hallways after they’d been removed from the room.

Growing frustrated with the noise, panel chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) snapped: “If you want a hearing, you better shut up.”

Update: A spokesperson for Capitol Police released a statement Monday night saying a total of 181 protesters were arrested.

This marks the first time in the history of the Senate Finance Committee that any protestor was arrested by Capitol Police.

On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its preliminary assessment of the zombie “Trumpcare” bill, because it does not have sufficient time to complete a full analysis up against the artificial deadline of September 30 imposed by the Senate’s use of the budget reconciliation rules. CBO finds ‘millions’ will lose coverage from repeal bill:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected Monday that the last-ditch GOP ObamaCare repeal bill would result in “millions” of people losing coverage.

The agency did not give a specific number given a lack of time to do the analysis before a vote, but said the “direction of the effect is clear.”

CBO said the reduction in coverage would be felt in three areas: in Medicaid, because the bill repeals ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid; in private coverage, because the bill repeals subsidies that help people afford it; and because the mandate to have coverage would be repealed.

After the CBO analysis was released, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told reporters she would vote against the zombie “Trumpcare” bill, providing the third declared vote against the bill along with Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rand Paul (R-Ky), effectively blocking passage of the bill. Collins said she hoped senators could return to the bipartisan ObamaCare stabilization negotiations that were abruptly cut off by GOP leadership last week.

Sen. Susan Collins is this week’s winner of the “zombie kill of the week” award.

Read more

John McCain puts zombie ‘Trumpcare’ bill on life support

by

All of your efforts have paid off with Senator John McCain. The Arizona Republic reports Sen. John McCain will vote against Graham-Cassidy health-care bill:

For the second time in two months, Sen. John McCain is giving the thumbs down to his fellow Republicans’ efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act.

“I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal,” McCain, R-Ariz., announced Friday in a written statement. “I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will effect insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it.

“Without a full CBO (Congressional Budget Office) score, which won’t be available by the end of the month, we won’t have reliable answers to any of those questions.”

McCain added that he took “no pleasure in announcing my opposition,” particularly because one of the bill’s authors, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, is one of his best friends.

“I know they are acting consistently with their beliefs and sense of what is best for the country. So am I,” McCain said.

Jimmy Kimmel tweeted his thanks to Senator McCain.

Screen Shot 2017-09-22 at 5.06.09 PM

Read more

Kochbot Governor Ducey supports harming health care for Arizonans

by

Governor Doug Ducey, the ice cream man hired by Koch Industries to run their Southwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Arizona, supports the zombie ‘Trumpcare” bill despite not knowing — nor caring — about what This Republican health-care bill that is the most monstrous yet.

Let’s be clear: Tea-Publicans do not care about health care — they have been trying to repeal Medicare/Medicaid since it was first enacted — this zombie bill is not about health care at all. It is about freeing up revenue to give “the biggest tax cut in history” (per our Dear Leader) to corporations and the Plutocrats whom Tea-Publicans serve. Senate Republicans Embrace Plan for $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut: Senate Republicans, abandoning a key fiscal discipline doctrine, agreed on Tuesday to move forward on a budget that would add to the already $20 trillion federal deficit in order to pave the way for a $1.5 trillion tax cut over the next 10 years.

The Koch brothers’ private political operation largely supplanted the Republican National Committee last year. It’s right-wing millionaire and billionaire donors do not give a damn about the health care of their fellow American citizens, they only care about one thing: they want the tax cuts they paid for through campaign donations to the GOP, so they can redistribute wealth from the undeserving poor to the elite Plutocrat class. Behind New Obamacare Repeal Vote: ‘Furious’ G.O.P. Donors. They want to accumulate all of the money. And Governor Doug Ducey is the loyal lickspittle servant of the Koch brothers. After all, it was unlimited  Koch dark money that got him elected governor.

The Arizona Capitol Times reported on how our clueless Kochbot governor Ducey defends support of Graham-Cassidy:

Gov. Doug Ducey is defending his support for the latest bid to repeal the Affordable Care Act even though he has no idea how much federal aid that would cost the state and how many Arizonans would lose health care.

But the governor said he remains convinced that what comes next will be better than what exists now, even without yet knowing the effect on the state and its residents.

The words “reckless” and “irresponsible” come to mind.

Read more

Little Lindsey Graham is lying his ass off about his zombie ‘Trumpcare’ bill

by

Senator John McCain’s puppet boy, Little Lindsey Graham, got his panties in a bunch yesterday when a reporter asked Senator Bill Cassidy about Jimmy Kimmel saying that he”lied to his face” about what he wanted in his health care bill, and that the Graham-Cassidy zombie “Trumpcare” bill fails the “Cassidy Test” (aka “Kimmel Test”).

“I do declare! How dare he impugn the honor of Senator Cassidy. He has offended my genteel Southern sensibilities. Hand me my dueling glove so I can challenge this scalawag to a duel!”

Even our Twitter-troll-in-chief took to Twitter to say Senator Cassidy “does not lie.” When the world’s biggest liar is your character witness as to your veracity, you have a serious credibility problem.

Caitlin Owens of Axiox.com reports, Repeal first, ask questions later: “If there was an oral exam on the contents of the proposal, graded on a generous curve, only two Republicans could pass it. And one of them isn’t Lindsey Graham,” a senior GOP aide told Caitlin.

So Little Lindsey Graham either doesn’t know what his bill will actually do, or he and Senator Cassidy are the lying sacks of shit that Jimmy Kimmel says they are. The fact checkers are going with the later. You want to duel you cracker, let’s duel!

ABC News reports Fact check: Sen. Bill Cassidy on his health care bill assertions:

Below are four statements by Cassidy about the legislation and our analyses of them, based on conversations with health care experts.

Statement: “There will be more folks covered under this bill than the status quo, and it protects people with pre-existing conditions.” — ABC News interview

Fact check: The Graham-Cassidy bill would scrap the individual mandate requiring people to buy health insurance — the crux of Obamacare, anathema to its opponents — meaning people would no longer be penalized for not having insurance.

James Capretta, a fellow with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, told ABC News that the absence of the individual mandate means it would be “highly, highly unlikely” more people would be covered under Graham-Cassidy than under current law.

Read more

A morally bankrupt political party hellbent on denying medical care to millions of Americans

by

The Trump administration has expanded its sabotage efforts of “Obamacare” into a full-scale undermining of the American healthcare system. Under Trump, Obamacare outreach groups face budget cuts as high as 98%:

The Trump administration has informed government-funded Obamacare outreach groups of deep impending budget cuts next year, with some nonprofits having budgets slashed by as much as 98 percent.

The Health and Human Services Department announced August 31 that it would cut funding for the health law’s in-person assistance program by 41 percent. Late Wednesday night, the administration sent each group its individual budget. It shows widespread variation in how big those funding cuts will be.

Last year’s budget for the navigator program ran out on September 1. This year’s grants were released just before midnight on September 13, meaning that the outreach groups went two weeks with no funding at all. This led to some groups laying off workers or shutting down operations entirely.

Last week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a new report showing that Trump is making Obamacare premiums more expensive:

The Trump administration’s management of Obamacare is causing higher premiums and lower enrollment in the individual market, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office finds.

The nonpartisan office estimates that average premiums in the health law marketplaces will be 15 percent higher next year “largely because of short-term market uncertainty — in particular, insurers’ uncertainty about whether federal funding for certain subsidies that are currently available will continue to be provided.”

The CBO also estimates that there will be less competition in the marketplaces next year, which it also attributes to the uncertain federal environment surrounding the health law’s future.

The subsidies the CBO refers to are the Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reduction subsidies, which cover copays and deductibles for low-income health care enrollees. The Trump administration has not said whether it will continue to pay these subsidies next year, causing many insurance plans to raise their premiums to prevent any possible shortfall in revenue.

The CBO also points to “announced reductions in federal advertising, outreach, and other enrollment efforts” as additional factors that will make Obamacare sign-ups smaller next year than they otherwise would have been.

President Trump has often described the Affordable Care Act as “imploding on its own.” The CBO report suggests this isn’t the case at all; rather, the Trump administration is making specific policy decisions that are leading to an individual market that will be less functional, with fewer people signed up and higher premiums for those who do enroll.

Read more