New Republican bill would retain and retool Obamacare

[corbe]

New Republican bill would retain and retool Obamacare

by Kimberly Leonard

February 25, 2019 07:09 PM
 
A Republican congressman is taking another swing at overhauling Obamacare even as most members of the party have set their sights on reforming other areas of healthcare.

Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., will be introducing a bill Tuesday that pulls from different healthcare bills that lawmakers have weighed in the last two years, from the failed GOP "repeal and replace" bill to the floundered Senate bipartisan Obamacare stabilization package. It also keeps a good portion of Obamacare in place and codifies healthcare provisions the Trump administration has authorized through rulemaking.

The details of the bill, known as the Fair Care Act, suggest that Westerman is trying to grapple with the reality that Obamacare is unlikely to be repealed, and looking at ways to make it more conservative. Westerman said he hopes he can bring more Republicans on board even though many of them have moved on from the issue and are focused instead on tackling healthcare costs.

"Healthcare is still a huge issue," said Westerman, who started working on the Fair Care Act one week after the Senate failed to repeal Obamacare in a dramatic late-night vote in 2017. "Just because our healthcare bill fell in that infamous vote in the Senate doesn't mean the healthcare issue has gone away."

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/new-republican-bill-would-retain-and-retool-obamacare

[rustynail]

Not a dimes worth of difference.

[skeeter]

Not a dimes worth of difference.

They're all statists, its just a matter of degree.

Things will just continue to slide until we decide we've had enough.

[roamer_1]

Root_and_Branch.

[Wingnut]

This is good.  The dems will hate it and it will die.

[jmyrlefuller]

Things will just continue to slide until we decide we've had enough.

I think people have had enough of the current system... otherwise Obamacare would have never been seriously considered.

(For the record, I don't see a viable solution to the system. It's a fundamental problem: too little supply, too much demand, and too many barriers to meeting the demands.)

[Bigun]

I think people have had enough of the current system... otherwise Obamacare would have never been seriously considered.

(For the record, I don't see a viable solution to the system. It's a fundamental problem: too little supply, too much demand, and too many barriers to meeting the demands.)

If you think it's bad now, wait till it's "free"!   The VA provides "free" government healthcare to eligible veterans and it SUCKS! They have about 1/100 of 1% of the clients' full-blown universal government healthcare would have!

[edpc]

The details of the bill, known as the Fair Care Act, suggest that Westerman is trying to grapple with the reality that Obamacare is unlikely to be repealed, and looking at ways to make it more conservative. Westerman said he hopes he can bring more Republicans on board even though many of them have moved on from the issue and are focused instead on tackling healthcare costs.

Strange. I thought removing the mandate, as part of the tax cut bill, had killed Obamacare. Why would this be necessary?


“When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed. Because they get their money from the individual mandate,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “Obamacare has been repealed in this bill.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/20/trump-individual-mandate-repeal-tax-bill-308286

[WalkingLiberty]

Strange. I thought removing the mandate, as part of the tax cut bill, had killed Obamacare. Why would this be necessary?


“When the individual mandate is being repealed, that means Obamacare is being repealed. Because they get their money from the individual mandate,” Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “Obamacare has been repealed in this bill.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/20/trump-individual-mandate-repeal-tax-bill-308286

Strange also, I received my proof of health insurance form to include with my tax paperwork for the upcoming filing.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

Isn't this the campaign issue the GOP has been running on since 2010.  It was R&R something.  It wasn't "retain and retool?"

[corbe]

   Resuscitate & Rename *

   

* stolen from another Briefer, Texan I believe.

[Smokin Joe]

If you think it's bad now, wait till it's "free"!   The VA provides "free" government healthcare to eligible veterans and it SUCKS! They have about 1/100 of 1% of the clients' full-blown universal government healthcare would have!

"Indian Health" is no better.

[Bigun]

"Indian Health" is no better.

I'm sure!  And if they can't handle that, how in the hell does anyone think they are going to handle ALL of us?

[skeeter]

I think people have had enough of the current system... otherwise Obamacare would have never been seriously considered.

(For the record, I don't see a viable solution to the system. It's a fundamental problem: too little supply, too much demand, and too many barriers to meeting the demands.)

The solution is plain to see. It's that the government would never agree to implement it.

[txradioguy]

I think people have had enough of the current system... otherwise Obamacare would have never been seriously considered.

(For the record, I don't see a viable solution to the system. It's a fundamental problem: too little supply, too much demand, and too many barriers to meeting the demands.)

It never was seriously considered by the people.  It was rammed down our throats by the Dems who didn't give anyone a say in what they were doing.

[edpc]

It never was seriously considered by the people.  It was rammed down our throats by the Dems who didn't give anyone a say in what they were doing.

The good old ‘deem and pass’ maneuver the GOP used with regularity in the early 2000s came back to bite hard, after Dems took control.

[txradioguy]

The good old ‘deem and pass’ maneuver the GOP used with regularity in the early 2000s came back to bite hard, after Dems took control.

It sure did.  And the bait and switch Harry Reid pulled in the senate didn't help matters much either.

[jafo2010]

Easiest way to end Obamacare is to sue on the basis that Democrats violated long established policies to vote with a simple majority in the Senate.

And if that does not work, then again use the simple majority to remove it.  If they can change Senate policy to establish it, they can change Senate policy to end it.  But doing anything like we have done in the past is not the solution.  If you want viable healthcare in America, it must be designed by folks who know how to cut cost in healthcare, and not by the same usual suspects of stakeholders that have had a self interest through the decades.

I could create a system that cost one third less and provide healthcare for all Americans.  The solution is NOT having the government pay for it all.  That is the mindlessness of the Democommies.

[LMAO]

Isn't this the campaign issue the GOP has been running on since 2010.  It was R&R something.  It wasn't "retain and retool?"

@Once-Ler

 

[jmyrlefuller]

If you think it's bad now, wait till it's "free"!   The VA provides "free" government healthcare to eligible veterans and it SUCKS! They have about 1/100 of 1% of the clients' full-blown universal government healthcare would have!

Yet it's telling that most veterans use the VA because it's preferable to the commercial health care system, which sucks just as bad.

The whole system is broken.

[edpc]

Yet it's telling that most veterans use the VA because it's preferable to the commercial health care system, which sucks just as bad.

The whole system is broken.

No, in many cases, they were largely restricted to using VA facilities. It’s only been within the past couple years they had more flexibility.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-signs-bill-helping-vets-get-access-to-private-medical-care

[txradioguy]

Yet it's telling that most veterans use the VA because it's preferable to the commercial health care system, which sucks just as bad.

The whole system is broken.

Veterans use the VA because they have no choice for the most part.

They want more options which is why allowing them to be treated at civilian hospitals while still being covered by their VA medical plan is something the vets have been clamoring for.

[Cyber Liberty]

Root_and_Branch.

IKR? 

We all knew McConnell was lying through his teeth when he said that.   

[Cyber Liberty]

Veterans use the VA because they have no choice for the most part.

They want more options which is why allowing them to be treated at civilian hospitals while still being covered by their VA medical plan is something the vets have been clamoring for.

I understand that vouchers are happening for Vets that live away from population centers with VA hospitals, but it's denied to the vast majority of Vets living inside an hour's drive away.  McStain's handiwork.

[Cyber Liberty]

No, in many cases, they were largely restricted to using VA facilities. It’s only been within the past couple years they had more flexibility.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-signs-bill-helping-vets-get-access-to-private-medical-care

At first glance, that story is missing some flexibility.  Vouchers so a Vet can see a private Dr.  All the bill in the article seems to do is create more government facilities, which in turns denies more Vets that option.