President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid.
Trump declined to reveal specifics in the telephone interview late Saturday with The Washington Post, but any proposals from the incoming president would almost certainly dominate the Republican effort to overhaul federal health policy as he prepares to work with his party’s congressional majorities.
Well, if this isn’t conservatism at it’s finest.
But wait… it’s not just President Trump who’s gone off the rails.
In general, congressional GOP plans to replace Obamacare have tended to try to constrain costs by reducing government requirements, such as the medical services that must be provided under health plans sold through the law’s marketplaces and through state’s Medicaid programs. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and other Republicans have been talking lately about providing “universal access” to health insurance, instead of universal insurance coverage.
Well, isn’t this exciting!?!
I know this might sound like calling off the honeymoon before the wedding, but I’m wondering if the American People couldn’t possibly marry one of the bridesmaids instead. I’m also surprised how little howling and screaming I’ve heard from folks who swore we’d never go in this direction. What’s the TEA Party going to do when the GOP rolls out Obamacare 2.0 (The Trump/Ryan Edition)?
Or are we going back to the early 2000s, when Big Government was perfectly alright so long as the Republicans were managing it?
All I can say is that Republicans, if they continue to moon their free-market base, are going to lose control of Congress in 2018 and the White House in 2020. I’ve seen administrations get off to a bad start before, but it appears like this Administration is going to go full stupid, full speed; and what worries me the most is that Republicans will just keep their mouths shut while their party piles on 9 Trillion more dollars of debt, dozens of Trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, with no game plan, no strategy, and no hope of ever turning the dial in the other direction.
You’ve got to love these open primaries don’t you?
Once made public, Trump said he is confident his plan could get enough votes to pass in both chambers but he declined to discuss how he would court wary Democrats.
Of course Trump is going to get enough votes. The Democrats will vote for this. The Democrats will love this. All Trump, Ryan, and McConnell are going to do is to make Obamacare slightly less horrifying. This is yuge!
Is this how we Make American Great Again?
Good Grief. Are there any more slots open for protests on the 20th? Room for one more?
