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Breaking: House GOP Releases Obamacare Replacement Bill
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued the following statement on introduction of the American Health Care Act:
Obamacare is rapidly collapsing. Skyrocketing premiums, soaring deductibles, and dwindling choices are not what the people were promised seven years ago. It’s time to turn a page and rescue our health care system from this disastrous law. The American Health Care Act is a plan to drive down costs, encourage competition, and give every American access to quality, affordable health insurance. It protects young adults, patients with pre-existing conditions, and provides a stable transition so that no one has the rug pulled out from under them.
Working together, this unified Republican government will deliver relief and peace of mind to the millions of Americans suffering under Obamacare. This will proceed through a transparent process of regular order in full view of the public. I want to thank all of our members who have contributed their ideas, especially Chairman Walden and Chairman Brady, as well as Secretary Price and the Trump administration, for their commitment to keep this promise and get this right.
The complete text of the 66-page bill is available here. (PDF)
Published in General
It’s only because of the pressure Ricochet put on the administration.
I thought the Republicans didn’t have a plan. What is this?
Is it a true replacement if someone reads it?
Ha ha ha ha.
Disclaimer: I’m a physicist and thus fluent in several obfuscatory languages though legalese is not one of them.
Skimming the document I seem to find two relevant tidbits.
A good sign is that it is only 66 pages long.
They well know who to fear!
Is this a corollary to full repeal of Obamacare? If so, why does it quote sections of the ACA?
The last section also allows premiums adjusted by age to vary 5 to 1 instead of the 3 to 1 in the ACA.
You have to quote sections to repeal them. This is how legislation works.
The could have started with a blank slate by going for full repeal in the first line and then rewriting all the rules, this way I think is better as it is basically a short bill. However, it does require one to be an expert in the ACA to understand how far the repeal goes. There are lots of pieces that say strike section xxxx of the ACA.
Good job, Doc.
Republican brand goat rodeos are just as stupid.
One thing I find interesting is that the bill is under Energy and Commerce.
Only 66 pages! I still can’t get over that.
So we don’t have to pass this one to find out what’s in it?
I’ll wait till they pass it so I can find out what’s in it. </sarc>
You can read the bill in about 10 minutes. Understanding all the implications will take longer because much of it amends or strikes provisions of the PPACA.
It is kind of funny how it starts out by adding and “and” to the end of line and replacing a semicolon with a period.
Does it get more readable after that? I gave up after the sea of section numbers. (Not joking this time.)
Not a whole lot. There are some sections at the end that are more readable.
They should know better than to pick a fight with the semicolon lobby; they have deep pockets!
I’ll be curious what you think of it @docjay. Is it a cave to half measures or is it a serious start for fundamental reform. The over view I heard on NPR made it seem rather like a fresh coat of paint on the same darn crappy car.
Thanks, Z. I scanned through the document and it’s gibberish unless you have a mental photograph of the ACA. Has anybody published what is actually does, in summary form? There was a lot of crap in the ACA, involving regulations for healthcare providers, facilities, IRS involvement, etc. I’m dying to know exactly what provisions are actually repealed and what the new law mandates and spends.
Well, as you told me above, it calls out sections of ACA, so maybe saying it’s only 66 pages is misleading? I’m so mentally ready for the GOP to slyly screw us, so I’m anxious about the details, the abode of the devil, ya know.
I wonder if the helpful hardware folks at ace hardware will start putting together an angry villager toolkit. Get your pitchforks, torches, tar, and feathers all in one handy location. A box set no less.
I won’t know what to think about it until @DocJay looks through all 66 pages. We can trust him to tell us if it’s an improvement or not. We’re waiting for you Doc.
So it looks like my wife and I jointly get free healthcare up to $2,500 per month. I have no idea what to spend all that money on. My wife wants a Chanel handbag. She won’t take no for an answer.
Jon,
If half of what I just heard on Fox about this bill is true we are about to see an outpouring of Joy from across the country. If Speaker Ryan can follow through quickly and effectively as he said on a podcast on Ricochet a few days ago then I will be ecstatic.
Huzzzaaahhh!!!!
Regards,
Jim
If this is the price I have to pay for the rest of the trump agenda, then that wall had better be rated and warrantied as an effective barrier for upto 1 millenia of mongols or mongol equivilants.
I think the challenge will be getting it through the Senate. This is the opening bid from the House, various Senators will push their own agendas before signing on.
Joe,
Then let the games begin. This is the real uprising. This is for every single American man woman and child into the future for decades to come. If you claim to care about MAGA or just people in general then now is the time to get on board and give this a shove forward like nobody ever shoved before.
Regards,
Jim
Hey, waiting for Doc to bless this thing is like waiting for a junkie to endorse a “just say no” campaign.
Doc’s a doctor. He’s the problem! Greedy providers and their salaries!
Actually, you should ask someone who’s actually worked in the budget office of a large hospital, doing reporting and analyzing the payer mix and doing cost center budgeting to make sure the hospital hits its 3.4% margin and, well. Yeah.
But that thing needs a translation for the rest of the country that works for a living. I’m sure it’ll be summarized, fairly and unfairly, quickly.