Second AHCA vote underway: Update - Vote Done; Exemption denied; ACHA passed in the House 217 - 213

On Passage of the ACHA and removal of congressional exemption

  • Yea to ACHA and Nay to removecongressional exemption

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nay to ACHA and Nay to remove congressional exemption

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    20
  • Poll closed .

DEAD7

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How post like this survive a heavily moderated thread in HL i'll never know.:mjpls:
 

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Dem senator warns GOP: Medicare for all ‘on the table’ if you rip insurance from 24 million

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) has a stark message for the Republican Party: If you pass a health care bill that rips away insurance from millions of Americans, then it will be time to push for Medicare for all.

In a conversation with the New Republic’s Brian Beutler, Murphy ripped the GOP for not being honest about the contents of the recently passed American Health Care Act, and he warned that the Democrats would do everything in their power to restore health benefits to Americans who lost them as a result of the GOP’s legislation.

“If Democrats get control of the House and the Senate, and Republicans rip away health care from 24 million people, we are going to do whatever it takes to restore health care to the people who had it taken away,” he said. “If they actually allow insurance companies to discriminate against sick people, then they’re going to lose majorities of the House and the Senate in 2018, and we’ll have the numbers potentially necessary to restore those benefits.”

Murphy then mused about what shape the Democrats’ new health package could take, and said that they would have to seriously consider a universal option to join Medicare as the easiest and most politically popular route.

“Clearly extending Medicare to everyone is much more easy to explain and much easier to comprehend,” he explained. “It’s probably most easy for the public to stomach if they’re given the choice to sign up for a Medicare program or stay on their private plan; I think you would see, if they were given that choice, a pretty massive gravitation over to a Medicare-for-all type vehicle, because it would likely provide better benefits and at lower cost.”

Because of this, Murphy said that Medicare for all is “clearly… going to be on the table” if Trumpcare passes.

Dem senator warns GOP: Medicare for all ‘on the table’ if you rip insurance from 24 million
 

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tru_m.a.c

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Jimmy Kimmel Left Out Some Important Stuff About Obamacare

What I would like to address is his premise, delivered on his show, that “those born with congenital heart issues like his son could be turned down for health insurance because they were deemed as having a pre-existing condition.”

First, a baby born to parents with health insurance will be covered under the parents’ plan. Pre-existing conditions in this case are moot. The child can remain on his parents’ plan until age 26, something not likely to change in any replacement bill. After age 26, the situation changes, but who knows what the insurance landscape will look like in a quarter of a century?

Second, a newborn baby with a health emergency would not and legally could not be turned away from the hospital, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Billy Kimmel would have had his surgery even if his father were poor and uninsured.

Jimmy Kimmel praised Obamacare but left out a few important bits, quite relevant in his circumstance. How might little Billy have fared if his parents had a standard Obamacare insurance plan?

First scenario. Suppose that the Kimmels had a bronze plan with a $12,000 deductible – pocket change for Jimmy Kimmel, but one quarter of the average family income, currently $52,000. To be paid up front. And that’s each year, for a child likely to need regular cardiology appointments, ultrasound and stress tests, catheterization, and possibly medication. Unaffordable to the average family.

Second scenario. Regardless of which type of Obamacare plan the Kimmels had, suppose their particular plan had a narrow network of providers – physicians and hospitals. Not an issue for Billy Kimmel as he was turning blue and needed urgent surgery. What if, instead, he had a heart murmur but was otherwise stable, not turning blue, oxygenating well? He would have been discharged a few days after birth with instructions to see a pediatric cardiologist.

Suppose Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles were all out of network for his insurance, with the only in-network hospital being one with a mortality rate for pediatric open-heart surgery three to five times the national average.

This is not fear-mongering, but reality, as mortality rates indeed vary widely between hospitals. Now what? Accept lower-quality care by necessity because the top-tier hospitals won’t take his insurance? How different is that from the issue of pre-existing conditions?

Obamacare may provide insurance, but what good is it if it is still unaffordable in terms of premiums, co-payments, and deductibles? Or if the doctor or hospital you want to use won’t accept your insurance? And the one that does may be of below average quality?

What happened to “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor”? That part is conveniently overlooked by Jimmy Kimmel, who, based on his economic status, won’t ever have to contend with such issues.

I’m happy that Billy Kimmel received the same level of care my son did for his heart defect. And that he will have the potential to be the next Shaun White. But please don’t tell us about the virtues of Obamacare, which you don’t need or use, and which doesn’t serve desperate children and their families as well as you think it does.

-----------

Jimmy Kimmel Left Out Some Important Stuff About Obamacare | THCB

@Hood Critic you might like this article. Fair and balanced.
 
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Jimmy Kimmel Left Out Some Important Stuff About Obamacare

What I would like to address is his premise, delivered on his show, that “those born with congenital heart issues like his son could be turned down for health insurance because they were deemed as having a pre-existing condition.”

First, a baby born to parents with health insurance will be covered under the parents’ plan. Pre-existing conditions in this case are moot. The child can remain on his parents’ plan until age 26, something not likely to change in any replacement bill. After age 26, the situation changes, but who knows what the insurance landscape will look like in a quarter of a century?

Second, a newborn baby with a health emergency would not and legally could not be turned away from the hospital, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay. Billy Kimmel would have had his surgery even if his father were poor and uninsured.

Jimmy Kimmel praised Obamacare but left out a few important bits, quite relevant in his circumstance. How might little Billy have fared if his parents had a standard Obamacare insurance plan?

First scenario. Suppose that the Kimmels had a bronze plan with a $12,000 deductible – pocket change for Jimmy Kimmel, but one quarter of the average family income, currently $52,000. To be paid up front. And that’s each year, for a child likely to need regular cardiology appointments, ultrasound and stress tests, catheterization, and possibly medication. Unaffordable to the average family.

Second scenario. Regardless of which type of Obamacare plan the Kimmels had, suppose their particular plan had a narrow network of providers – physicians and hospitals. Not an issue for Billy Kimmel as he was turning blue and needed urgent surgery. What if, instead, he had a heart murmur but was otherwise stable, not turning blue, oxygenating well? He would have been discharged a few days after birth with instructions to see a pediatric cardiologist.

Suppose Cedars-Sinai, UCLA, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles were all out of network for his insurance, with the only in-network hospital being one with a mortality rate for pediatric open-heart surgery three to five times the national average.

This is not fear-mongering, but reality, as mortality rates indeed vary widely between hospitals. Now what? Accept lower-quality care by necessity because the top-tier hospitals won’t take his insurance? How different is that from the issue of pre-existing conditions?

Obamacare may provide insurance, but what good is it if it is still unaffordable in terms of premiums, co-payments, and deductibles? Or if the doctor or hospital you want to use won’t accept your insurance? And the one that does may be of below average quality?

What happened to “If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor”? That part is conveniently overlooked by Jimmy Kimmel, who, based on his economic status, won’t ever have to contend with such issues.

I’m happy that Billy Kimmel received the same level of care my son did for his heart defect. And that he will have the potential to be the next Shaun White. But please don’t tell us about the virtues of Obamacare, which you don’t need or use, and which doesn’t serve desperate children and their families as well as you think it does.

-----------

Jimmy Kimmel Left Out Some Important Stuff About Obamacare | THCB

@Hood Critic you might like this article. Fair and balanced.

Stupid article. fukking idiot author. He's mad at Kimmel for "politicizing" his kid's situation when he wasn't. The fukk?!

The ACA needs a lot of improvement but to think that this make-believe pretend family would be better off with the shyt insurance pre-ACA is dishonest.
 

tru_m.a.c

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Stupid article. fukking idiot author. He's mad at Kimmel for "politicizing" his kid's situation when he wasn't. The fukk?!

The ACA needs a lot of improvement but to think that this make-believe pretend family would be better off with the shyt insurance pre-ACA is dishonest.
:skip: the "author" is a MD and perfectly describes how health insurance and the medical system intersect

As I said a few posts ago, how many of y'all actually knew how pre-existing conditions worked in the marketplace. Read the posts carefully. they are dropping knowledge on the complex nature of premiums, deductibles, and provider networks.

The very beginning is solid gold, "First, a baby born to parents with health insurance will be covered under the parents’ plan. Pre-existing conditions in this case are moot."

Like guys, most people didn't even know the medicaid expansion was a part of the ACA :russ:. We got a lot of explaining to do. We have hospitals closing down and major health systems consolidating and most folks have no idea how their insurance networks play into this.
 

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At Town Hall Meeting, Republican Lawmakers Get An Earful Over Health Care

On Monday night, a few days after voting in favor of the House bill to repeal and replace major parts of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Elise Stefanik, 32, from Northern New York, held a town hall at a public television station.

Stefanik is a moderate Republican in her second term. She's also the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. After refusing for weeks to say how she planned to vote, she was one of a handful of last-minute "yes" votes for the GOP health care bill.

Also on Monday, the Washington Post reported that the crowd at Republican Rep. Rod Blum's town hall in Iowa drowned the representative out as he tried to reassure them that "if you're getting your insurance through the group health insurance, nothing changes."


townhallprotest-170508-a_sq-5cf42c907b21fadb6ebd55f6c86e3ae4fc1af748-s400-c85.jpg

Protesters outside a town hall meeting held by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., in Plattsburgh.

"That's not true, that's not true!" the crowd shouted, at one point drowning him out, according to the Post. He also received boos and the audience held up red sheets of paper to signal they disagreed with him.

Back in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Stefanik got an earful about her "yes" vote from her constituents. Because of limits on space, 100 people chosen by lottery were allowed in for the taping. Many of those who weren't selected — about 250 of Stefanik's critics — protested outside.

"Shame. Shame. Shame," they chanted. A few protesters were dressed as the angel of death, and they carried a fake coffin with a list of pre-existing conditions scrawled on it.

The protesters got there early to greet Stefanik, but the congresswoman arrived even earlier.

Stefanik welcomed the audience in the studio, saying she looked forward to "a respectful give and take."

"I know there's a lot of questions on people's minds and many people particularly want to hear about health care. So I'm looking forward to answering those questions," she said.

The room felt icy and tense. The event remained orderly — it was taped and livestreamed, which seemed to help keep a lid on things. Still, outrage kept rumbling to the surface.

When Stefanik answered one question about "why the rich are getting tax breaks" under the House Republicans' health care bill, some in the crowd detected a dodge and they started heckling.

"It is true — Obamacare increased taxes on Americans across the board on cost of health care," Stefanik said before the crowd interrupted. Moderator Thom Hallock asked them to quiet down.

"Our legislation repeals the Obamacare taxes, whether it's the medical device tax, the tax on high quality health care plans. We repeal the tax, the health insurance tax. That will help lower costs," she said.

"You didn't answer the question," someone called out.

No one other than Stefanik had anything good to say about the bill. Nina Matteau, a breast cancer survivor, said the GOP plan includes loopholes that threaten people with pre-existing conditions.

"Can you explain how this constitutes better health care at lower premiums as promised?" Matteau asked.

"There is language in the American Health Care Act that explicitly prohibits insurers from not accepting patients that have pre-existing conditions," Stefanik said, pointing people to a House GOP website for the bill. "That was an important provision."

The Republican plan does give insurance companies more flexibility when dealing with customers with pre-existing conditions. It also rolls back federal support for the Obamacare Medicaid expansion, something that also prompted jeers from the crowd.

The audience wasn't completely critical — some applauded Stefanik for taking climate change seriously — but she didn't win over the room. Several people on their way out said Stefanik wasn't really listening, and her answers seemed canned.

Stefanik said she heard the frustration. She also said repealing Obamacare was one of her earliest campaign promises.

"I know there are certain areas where we're going to disagree, but it's my job to listen," she said. "And I think I did that tonight."

 

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The Washington Post: Iowa Congressman Walks Out Of A TV Interview And Into An Angry Town Hall Meeting
An Iowa congressman walked out of a television interview on Monday, declining to explain why his staff is prescreening constituents who plan to attend his town hall meetings this week. A few hours later, Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) showed up at his town hall meeting where most of the prescreened audience screamed at him. It was a rough start to a recess week for Blum, a second-term lawmaker representing a swing district that voted narrowly for President Trump last year after supporting Barack Obama in 2012. Blum is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who initially declined to support the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act but ultimately voted last week for the American Health Care Act. (O'Keefe, 5/8)

The Associated Press: Rep. Raul Labrador Says Health Care Answer Wasn't Elegant
U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador says his answer to a question on health care at a recent town hall in northern Idaho wasn't very elegant. Labrador has received criticism for his comment Friday that no one has died because they didn't have access to health care — a claim disputed by medical experts because they counter that patients without health coverage often risk waiting until their conditions have advanced too far for effective treatment. (Kruesi, 5/8)

The Washington Post: Obamacare Cost Him A Seat In Congress. Can It Make Him Governor Of Virginia?
An hour after House Republicans voted to gut the Affordable Care Act last week, Tom Perriello released a viral ad that showed him in front of an ambulance being compacted in a scrapyard, shouting above the din that he’d stop Republicans from crushing health care in Virginia if he is elected governor. Never mind that Perriello is competing for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination against a pediatric neurologist, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who supports Obamacare as much as he does. Or that the GOP House bill may never become law after the Senate gets to work on its version. (Nirappil, 5/8)

The Hill: Healthcare Vote Puts Heller In A Bind
Thursday’s House vote to repeal and replace ObamaCare puts Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in the hot seat. The House GOP’s American Health Care Act (AHCA) would largely eliminate ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, which has enrolled hundreds of thousands of Nevadans since 2013. Heller, seen as the most vulnerable GOP senator up for reelection after his state backed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and freshman Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) in 2016, quickly distanced himself from the current version of the bill. (Hagen and Kamisar, 5/9)
 
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Left adopts shock tactics in Obamacare repeal fight
Mock funerals and possibly even shipping people's ashes to GOP lawmakers are among the brazen moves the left is embracing.

One newly formed progressive super PAC is planning to cart caskets to Republican lawmakers' districts and hold mock funerals for their constituents. Another activist is encouraging protesters to ship their own ashes — should they die without health care —to GOP lawmakers. And other progressive groups are planning graphic "die-in" protests as they work to derail GOP plans to repeal Obamacare.

Democrats, already frothing with anger over losing the White House to Donald Trump, are seething anew over the advancing Republican plan to gut Obamacare. Now, many on the left want to translate that fury into political tactics meant to exact maximum pain on Republicans.

Now, some liberal groups and activists are hoping to use macabre theatrics to gin up voter frustration toward Republicans over what Democrats view as a disastrous change in health care policy.

It’s a far more in-your-face tack than that being taken by more establishment organs of the Democratic Party, and the liberals behind it say that’s exactly the point.

“We must be far more visceral,” said Jason Haber, a Manhattan real estate investor who started a super PAC that he said will host mock funerals — including “tombstones, coffins, even eulogies” — later this month for “the constituents that will be killed as a result of losing access to health care.”

Haber, who has worked in New York Democratic politics, said “in the age of Trump, nothing short of blunt and brute force will work as a counterweight,” adding, “We can’t win based on the merit of our ideas but rather on the way in which we deliver that message.”

In another effort going viral, an American University student has begun collecting requests from people to ship their remains to members of Congress — should they die without access to health care. The student, Zoey Jordan Salsbury, told the Washington Post that she’s received a lot of interest in shipping remains to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Indivisible, the group of activists that have flooded Republican town hall events to protest the proposed Obamacare repeal bill, is also planning to stage "die-ins" at the offices of lawmakers who supported the GOP health care bill.

To some progressives, the tactics are a break from what they see as the timidity Democrats have displayed on health care politics in the past. And they're more in line with the level of anger that many Democrats feel as they cope with Trump in the White House and an all-Republican-led government.

Most of the efforts on the left — from both activist groups and the Democratic Party — focus on the 16 congressional districts carried by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, but represented by Republicans who voted last week to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

That’s where “Flip the House Now,” the super PAC created last weekend by the Manhattan real estate investor Haber, intends to focus in planning its first round of “funerals” — possibly as soon as a House recess planned for the end of May.

Left adopts shock tactics in Obamacare repeal fight
 
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