Everyone agrees, I do believe, that the concept of 'affordable health care for all Americans' is a really nice idea. The devil is in the details, however. The biggest complaints that I have witnessed about Obamacare, (aside from the morally-bankrupt and thuggish way that it was passed, through coercion, intimidation, and open bribery) have been: * It was passed in such a frantic hurry that most 'lawmakers' admit that they never even read it * It doesn't actually cover EVERYONE, it merely covers, in theory anyway, thousands more than before * It stands up more than a hundred and fifty new government bureaucracies * The law is full of pork, new taxes, and frivolous spending programs unrelated to actual health care * The thing is projected to cost the American taxpayers trillions of dollars AND is already driving up the cost of health care for the middle class taxpayers * The law is demonstrably causing many business owners to scale back and drop coverage for their employees, simply because they can't afford it Here's the question for you, and it is an important one; When Obamacare is repealed next year, and it is looking more and more like that is likely to happen, what elements of 'the affordable health care act' need to be eliminated, and which elements of the law need to stand? Your elected officials will have a hell of a time turning this sow's ear into a silk purse, so to speak. They will need your input, and clearly your voice matters. (It will this time around, anyway.) What say you? What will be your specific recommendations for 'repeal and replace'? Thanks in advance.
It will not be repealed next year or any year in the near future. Conservatives have used social legislation for election fodder for decades now. It works extremely well in terms of politics. But let's be honest. There will be no repeal.
Thanks for your comments and perspective, ObamaSuperStar, but perhaps you missed the point of the thread; When (or, okay IF) Obamacare is repealed this next year, I would like for posters to list the things they want to keep from the original law, and which things they would like to eliminate or change. I appreciate your cheerleading for the incumbent president, and it is really charming and all, but that discussion is totally off-topic. EVERYBODY PLEASE, if you wish to post 'I hate Republicans and I love Obama' nonsense, please just go to one of the many nonsensical threads dedicated to such nonsense. If you wish to post 'I hate Democrats and I love Romney' nonsense, please go now to one of the many nonsensical threads dedicated to that nonsense. Please post in this thread if you wish to describe the elements of Obamacare that you would advise your elected officials to keep, and those elements you would wish for them to eliminate or change. Let's keep it simple. Thanks!!
Okay facts as I see it. 1. The Republicans have no plan to replace the ACA with and further seem to ignore the fact those poor enough for expanded Medicaid can't afford insurance premiums so any "market solution" without government help significant enough won't matter. So they need exchanges and some form of low income coverage if not expanding Medicaid. There are options expand Medicaid based on income and if one has two or more major medical issues with some kind of low premium insurance with decent out of pocket costs for the rest of the low income. 2. Repealing is going to be a nightmare they could ,one time next year, use reconciliation if they take the Senate to remove all funding and spending in the ACA that would leave the dangerous parts open for a filibuster the mandate insurers take anyone and the reason the bill is as it is to make that work. That they cannot add in if they do the repeal can be filibustered. I know on paper they could vote the filibuster away but would the Reoublicans remove that for their party to use in the future it would be unprecedented and hurt the parties options indefinately. Its a no-win situation. Reforming it is more practical since they can claim bipartisan efforts then. Now as for the ACA lets say they do a new bill for me it would have to cover: 1. The poor. 2. Those with serious medical issues that are hard to insure (the mandate to cover all patiants). 3. No lifetime caps. 4. Exchanges with subsidies for those of less means. 5. Some way to compel getting insurance that is constitutional I would do it through a simple option states can opt into the new law and have to set-up exchanges and expand Medicaid (likely to a narrower group) with government help OR lose access to discretionary Federal funding and get a penalty when state entities private or public seek contracts and grants from Federal agencies as the means. 6. A tax structure to pay for this. 7. Reforms to make it hard to sue doctors and other primary care providers ,quite hard, who take patiants with government funded health care in public programs mainly Medicare, Medicaid and Tri-Care say for every 1% of patiants they get a 1% reduction in malpractice and if they treat only such patiants can get a low cost government malpractice plan that is very very affordable. I would set the bar to sue "gross incompetance outside any standard of care that leads to a significant threat to the patiant and could not be statistically expected to occur". For example cut off wrong foot fine you can sue but a child is born with cerebral palsy and all ordinary testing was done you can't sue. Have a judge panel decide this it a lawsuit can go ahead or not. The rules should make lawsuits rare. I would also do this for drugs, medical devices and the like with the only measure was it FDA approved or not if so you cannot sue save for actual harm done no punative penalties or pain and suffering. 8. I would make Tri-Care and VA benefits limited to those that served actively in war, served twenty years in the armed forces, were disabled while on peacetime duty and not cover dependent spouses (we could replace the group not covered then in a HMO plan or something). 9. Federally make a list of low cost tourist hospital networks that are on par with a good US hospital and allow patiants ,require if on Medicaid or VA Coverage, to go overseas for care when there would be a suitable cost savings say 80%+ over an American provider for expensive care this including all costs. And require the government negotiate deals to lower these costs. 10. Have to have government rules as to when to cut off care if on Federal funded support the end of life cases where more treatment will have no benefit as in curing the condition is unlikely and who can refuse expensive care someone must do this if you want to keep costs down. I would however allow people to sell kidneys and other body materials for medical transplanting including something for the deceased for donating to go to their estate (I find it sad you can't get a profit from your organs used when dead when they don't put them in the other party for free why should your organs and bone marrow be free?). As in something like the ACA since anything else won't work IMHO to provide the goal of covering most Americans.
