Sen. Cruz said he wouldn't vote for GOP health bill as is

[libertybele]

The bill may pass the House but it looks doubtful that it's going to pass the Senate.  Cruz, Lee, Paul and Rubio have all expressed that they aren't voting for it as is and I don't see the DEMS getting on board. I happen to be one of the 'older' people that Obamacare lite would hurt.  Thank God for people like Cruz, Lee and Paul. 

Sen. Cruz said he wouldn't vote for GOP health bill as is



Senator Cruz criticizes Republican Healthcare plan. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Sunday, March 19, 2017 11:53PM
WASHINGTON DC --

Days before a pivotal vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he will seek changes to a GOP health care bill to provide more help to older people. The new willingness to compromise was a bid for more support from moderate Republicans, who expressed continuing unease about the plan to replace Barack Obama's health law unless significant changes were made.

Ryan insisted that he felt "very good" about the bill's prospects but acknowledged that House leadership was "making fine-tuning improvements to the bill to reflect people's concerns."

A House vote was scheduled for Thursday.

"We believe we should have even more assistance. And that's one of the things we're looking at for that person in their 50s and 60s because they experience higher health care costs," the Wisconsin Republican said.

Under the GOP plan, older people who are not yet eligible for Medicare stand to be the biggest losers. It would shrink the tax credits they use to help buy insurance and it would increase their premiums because the bill allows insurers to charge more as people age and become more susceptible to health problems.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis last week said a 64-year-old with income of $26,500 would pay $1,700 out of pocket for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, compared with $14,600 under the GOP plan. It estimated that 24 million people of all ages would lose coverage over 10 years.

On Sunday, Ryan said he believed the CBO analysis was not accurate because Obamacare wouldn't be able to last 10 years. But he allowed the additional assistance was one of several House revisions to be discussed in advance of Thursday's vote, along with possible changes to help low-income people more with tax credits and require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to meet work requirements.

"We think that we should be offering even more assistance than what the bill currently does," he said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price also said legislative revisions were possible....

..."I cannot vote for any bill that keeps premiums rising," Cruz said.

Rep. Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who serves as majority whip, sent out a message late Sunday to encourage House Republicans to support the health care measure. "These next few days could define us for years to come," he said. "The American Health Care Act needs to pass the House of Representatives so the American people can be rescued from Obamacare."

He encouraged fellow Republicans pushing for support from House colleagues to "remind members that attacks from the Left are nothing new, and rarely accurate." He told them: "This is our moment to make history."...

http://abc13.com/politics/sen-cruz-said-he-wouldnt-vote-for-gop-health-bill/1808710/

[corbe]

   Here's what the Freedom Caucus, Sen. Cruz and millions of Americans want.

Cruz, Freedom Caucus chairman lay out health plan demands: 'The time to act is now upon us'

 Mar 16, 2017   
BY NIKITA VLADIMIROV - 03/16/17 10:01 AM EDT 69


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, argue in a new op-ed that the current GOP effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare does not go far enough.

 "After years of talk, we know that the Republican repeal-and-replace effort will soon be judged by three criteria: Does it make health care more affordable? Does it give consumers more choices? Does it provide Americans more control over their families’ health care?" the lawmakers wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

 "As of now, the House’s bill neither fully repeals ObamaCare nor passes these three tests," they added.
 
Cruz and Meadows, however, argue that there is "a path forward" toward consensus in the House and the Senate.

 "First, we must lower insurance premiums. Nothing matters more. The current House bill would not achieve this, because it doesn’t repeal all of ObamaCare’s insurance mandates," the lawmakers wrote.

 The lawmakers say Republicans risk a backlash from the voters who will blame the GOP for lack of meaningful reform.

 "We cannot give voters a procedural excuse for why we couldn’t get the job done," they wrote.

Second, the lawmakers say Republicans "shouldn’t replace ObamaCare’s subsidies with yet another health-care entitlement."

 "Instead, we should implement nonrefundable tax credits, which can be deducted from payroll taxes for lower earners," they wrote.

 Lastly, Cruz and Meadows advocate for an immediate freeze to ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion.

 "A freeze wouldn’t take away coverage from any person currently enrolled—it wouldn’t pull the rug out from anybody—but it would prevent states from adding more enrollees to the expansion population, which the federal government would be responsible for funding," the pair wrote.

 "The time to act is now upon us. If Republicans join together with united purpose and tackle these areas of concern, we will have finally delivered on our promise."

https://meadows.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/cruz-freedom-caucus-chairman-lay-out-health-plan-demands-the-time-to-act-is

[skeeter]

First, we must lower insurance premiums. Nothing matters more.

There are not enough in Washington who seem to grasp this simple truth.

All they talk about are the grifters sucking up other peoples' earnings, as if they are the only people deserving of representation.

[XenaLee]

The bill may pass the House but it looks doubtful that it's going to pass the Senate.  Cruz, Lee, Paul and Rubio have all expressed that they aren't voting for it as is and I don't see the DEMS getting on board. I happen to be one of the 'older' people that Obamacare lite would hurt.  Thank God for people like Cruz, Lee and Paul. 

Sen. Cruz said he wouldn't vote for GOP health bill as is



Senator Cruz criticizes Republican Healthcare plan. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Sunday, March 19, 2017 11:53PM
WASHINGTON DC --

Days before a pivotal vote, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he will seek changes to a GOP health care bill to provide more help to older people. The new willingness to compromise was a bid for more support from moderate Republicans, who expressed continuing unease about the plan to replace Barack Obama's health law unless significant changes were made.

Ryan insisted that he felt "very good" about the bill's prospects but acknowledged that House leadership was "making fine-tuning improvements to the bill to reflect people's concerns."

A House vote was scheduled for Thursday.

"We believe we should have even more assistance. And that's one of the things we're looking at for that person in their 50s and 60s because they experience higher health care costs," the Wisconsin Republican said.

Under the GOP plan, older people who are not yet eligible for Medicare stand to be the biggest losers. It would shrink the tax credits they use to help buy insurance and it would increase their premiums because the bill allows insurers to charge more as people age and become more susceptible to health problems.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis last week said a 64-year-old with income of $26,500 would pay $1,700 out of pocket for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, compared with $14,600 under the GOP plan. It estimated that 24 million people of all ages would lose coverage over 10 years.

On Sunday, Ryan said he believed the CBO analysis was not accurate because Obamacare wouldn't be able to last 10 years. But he allowed the additional assistance was one of several House revisions to be discussed in advance of Thursday's vote, along with possible changes to help low-income people more with tax credits and require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to meet work requirements.

"We think that we should be offering even more assistance than what the bill currently does," he said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price also said legislative revisions were possible....

..."I cannot vote for any bill that keeps premiums rising," Cruz said.

Rep. Steve Scalise, the Louisiana Republican who serves as majority whip, sent out a message late Sunday to encourage House Republicans to support the health care measure. "These next few days could define us for years to come," he said. "The American Health Care Act needs to pass the House of Representatives so the American people can be rescued from Obamacare."

He encouraged fellow Republicans pushing for support from House colleagues to "remind members that attacks from the Left are nothing new, and rarely accurate." He told them: "This is our moment to make history."...

http://abc13.com/politics/sen-cruz-said-he-wouldnt-vote-for-gop-health-bill/1808710/

I trust Cruz re: this.  I do NOT trust the establishment GOP pushing this ObieCareLite BS.   And since Trump is pushing it also, perhaps I was correct to not trust him either.

This bill will not negatively effect me per se, but it's enough to know that it will target older folks (ie five times higher cost) for me to be against it.  It's just another gimmick.  And I loathe gimmicks.

[libertybele]

I trust Cruz re: this.  I do NOT trust the establishment GOP pushing this ObieCareLite BS.   And since Trump is pushing it also, perhaps I was correct to not trust him either.

This bill will not negatively effect me per se, but it's enough to know that it will target older folks (ie five times higher cost) for me to be against it.  It's just another gimmick.  And I loathe gimmicks.

I trust Cruz on this as well.  Trump himself stated that he was going to 'repeal'.  The biggest problem in this whole mess seems to be Paul Ryan. 

[Cyber Liberty]

I trust Cruz re: this.  I do NOT trust the establishment GOP pushing this ObieCareLite BS.   And since Trump is pushing it also, perhaps I was correct to not trust him either.

This bill will not negatively effect me per se, but it's enough to know that it will target older folks (ie five times higher cost) for me to be against it.  It's just another gimmick.  And I loathe gimmicks.

"Gimmick" is too nice a term for it.  We're being sold a shit sandwich again.  We've been served so many fecal sandwiches over the years I know damned well what one looks like.

[XenaLee]

   Here's what the Freedom Caucus, Sen. Cruz and millions of Americans want.

Cruz, Freedom Caucus chairman lay out health plan demands: 'The time to act is now upon us'

 Mar 16, 2017   
BY NIKITA VLADIMIROV - 03/16/17 10:01 AM EDT 69


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, argue in a new op-ed that the current GOP effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare does not go far enough.

 "After years of talk, we know that the Republican repeal-and-replace effort will soon be judged by three criteria: Does it make health care more affordable? Does it give consumers more choices? Does it provide Americans more control over their families’ health care?" the lawmakers wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

 "As of now, the House’s bill neither fully repeals ObamaCare nor passes these three tests," they added.
 
Cruz and Meadows, however, argue that there is "a path forward" toward consensus in the House and the Senate.

 "First, we must lower insurance premiums. Nothing matters more. The current House bill would not achieve this, because it doesn’t repeal all of ObamaCare’s insurance mandates," the lawmakers wrote.

 The lawmakers say Republicans risk a backlash from the voters who will blame the GOP for lack of meaningful reform.

 "We cannot give voters a procedural excuse for why we couldn’t get the job done," they wrote.

Second, the lawmakers say Republicans "shouldn’t replace ObamaCare’s subsidies with yet another health-care entitlement."

 "Instead, we should implement nonrefundable tax credits, which can be deducted from payroll taxes for lower earners," they wrote.

 Lastly, Cruz and Meadows advocate for an immediate freeze to ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion.

 "A freeze wouldn’t take away coverage from any person currently enrolled—it wouldn’t pull the rug out from anybody—but it would prevent states from adding more enrollees to the expansion population, which the federal government would be responsible for funding," the pair wrote.

 "The time to act is now upon us. If Republicans join together with united purpose and tackle these areas of concern, we will have finally delivered on our promise."

https://meadows.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/cruz-freedom-caucus-chairman-lay-out-health-plan-demands-the-time-to-act-is

A few comments on these three points....

First - HOW can they lower insurance premiums?  How, exactly, will that work without putting the insurance companies in a bind?  Seems to me they need to somehow lower healthcare costs first (horse before the cart).  Then the insurance costs will come down accordingly.

Second - And yet, the tax credit the GOP is proposing is yet another subsidy by taxpayers.

Lastly -  A freeze on Medicaid makes no sense in this chaotic interim period between ObamaCare and Whatever.  Lots of folks will fall through the cracks as they lose what health insurance they had, and if they need to use it, they'll be SOL.  That will be yet another opportunity for the Democrats to point and say "Heartless Republicans".  I say don't even give the rats that option (again).


 

[XenaLee]

"Gimmick" is too nice a term for it.  We're being sold a shit sandwich again.  We've been served so many fecal sandwiches over the years I know damned well what one looks like.

True dat.  As I previously stated, this one has a better quality of mustard.  And while I do like Grey Poupon......

I don't like it 'that' much....lol.

[corbe]

  Lowering Costs? @XenaLee   

  Tort Reform MUST be included in this and Sen. Cruz agrees.  Here's some of his previous advances in this area.

Sensible Lawsuit Reform

Ted Cruz defended the landmark tort reform legislation implemented in Texas in 2003. He protected the constitutionality of that effort, which has led to greater access to health care and expanded economic opportunity.
•Argued Robinson v. Crown Cork & Seal Co. before the Texas Supreme Court, the first case addressing the constitutionality of HB 4, the landmark Texas tort reform legislation;
•As the head of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, lead efforts for the FTC to intervene in defense of consumers in several class action lawsuits, with the FTC successfully opposing insignificant coupon settlements and excessive attorneys fees;
•As Domestic Policy Advisor to President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, responsible for developing the President’s lawsuit reform proposals.

http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Texas/Ted_Cruz/Views/Health_Care/

[XenaLee]

  Lowering Costs? @XenaLee   

  Tort Reform MUST be included in this and Sen. Cruz agrees.  Here's some of his previous advances in this area.


http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Senate/Texas/Ted_Cruz/Views/Health_Care/

I totally support Tort Reform, always have.  But that alone won't be able to lower healthcare costs.  It would help, though.  My question is.... how do they intend to lower healthcare costs other than via Tort Reform (which the RINOs always oppose)?  Doctors have to spend mega bucks on legal protection from lawsuits.  But that's not the main reason why it costs so much to get healthcare. 

I think we need to trash ObamaCare (where it belongs) and go back to free market and employer-based health insurance with the emphasis on catastrophic policies vs. insurance against common ailments.  It's just common sense.  Which is why the left is against it.   

[Cyber Liberty]

I totally support Tort Reform, always have.  But that alone won't be able to lower healthcare costs.  It would help, though.  My question is.... how do they intend to lower healthcare costs other than via Tort Reform (which the RINOs always oppose)?  Doctors have to spend mega bucks on legal protection from lawsuits.  But that's not the main reason why it costs so much to get healthcare. 

I think we need to trash ObamaCare (where it belongs) and go back to free market and employer-based health insurance with the emphasis on catastrophic policies vs. insurance against common ailments.  It's just common sense.  Which is why the left is against it.   

Interstate purchase of health insurance.  Those two things would take care of at least 75% of the problem.