The City Has a New Law to Repeal Obamacare (but Hopefully Not for Long)
Republicans in Congress must pass the Affordable Care Act repeal by September 30, or it won’t. This means that Zombie Trumpcare is on the rise again, and at least a few lawmakers think it has a chance. See what’s in this bill, because you might want to make some phone calls.
The deadline applies because that’s when the budget reconciliation rules expire . You see, Republicans have a small majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but not enough votes to defeat the pirate. As part of the budget loophole, they can only pass legislation with Republican votes if they can get more than 50 percent of each house and if the law can be framed as a money reshuffle rather than an entirely new policy. These goals are theoretically possible, although so far no ACA abolition law has fulfilled them. After September 30, this option will disappear, and both houses will need 60 percent of the vote to pass the new health care law.
As the deadline approaches, some Congressmen are leaving. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill that outlines a single-payer system in which everyone will receive free or near-free health care in exchange for someone – who knows who – pays higher taxes. And a bipartisan bill is on the way that will provide a patch to stabilize insurance markets. (These markets are unstable because the president continues to threaten to waive the legally required cut-back payments .)
Last ditch attempt
Here are the details of the bill to repeal the law. It is known as the Cassidy-Graham Bill , sponsored by Senators Cassidy, Graham, Heller and Johnson.
The score is similar to what you saw before. Here are the highlights:
- You will no longer be able to buy subsidized insurance on exchanges; everyone who buys private insurance pays the full price.
- Medicaid expansion will disappear; it saves millions from insurance.
- The money that is currently going to 30 states with Medicaid expansion will now be split among all 50 states. In effect, this means that the expanding states (mostly blue states) will receive less federal money to insure their citizens; states (mostly red) that have not expanded will now receive an increased share.
- The states could “keep their Obamacare” if they were able to put in the extra money to pay for it.
- States can opt out of ACA protection on pre-existing conditions and substantial benefits.
People will lose their insurance – $ 32 million, unofficially – and the law will make it harder for states that currently insure low-income people to do so. This bill is bad and it is not a biased statement. Democrats hate it, and at least some Republicans do too:
To learn more about the Cassidy-Graham Bill, read this explanation from Vox, or read the full text of the bill here .