Passions are high in the national health care debate. Some supporters of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have taken to asserting that hundreds of thousands of “people will die” if it is repealed or significantly altered. These claims do not withstand scrutiny, and those who wish their policy arguments to be taken seriously would be well advised to avoid them.
“Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free”. From a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath.
In the next week or so, the U.S. Senate may vote on a health care bill that would repeal and replace some parts of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. This 1993 lecture by FEE president Lawrence Reed is full of important fundamentals about both health care and government.
This summary of the bill in bullet points shows that it is not a repeal of Obamacare, but instead tinkers with the definitions - business as usual in Washington, DC. [...]
Senator Rand Paul says the new healthcare bill creates a brand new federal entitlement program to give insurance companies money when they already make $15 billion per year. [...]
ObamaCare's premiums more than doubled over the past four years and rose by an average of 105% in 2017. He added that insurance companies make $15 billion a year, and the government should stop subsidizing them. [...]
President Trump and congressional Republicans have a second chance to take a whack at the Obamacare piñata – and the beauty of it is that this time, Democrats may want to take a swing at it, too. “It” being the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). As soon as the actuary for Medicare/Medicaid Services issues a report – already overdue for 2017 – that the "targets" have been exceeded, the IPAB automatically rises to life – in order to dispense death.
Politicians in California, unfazed by the disaster of Obamacare, want to create a “single-payer” healthcare scheme for the Golden State. In one fell swoop, California politicians would more than double the fiscal burden of government and cue a mass exodus out of the state.
The problems are getting more intense. A new report shows that the whole program is unraveling very quickly. If some dramatic reform is not passed soon, premiums will continue to rise, options will dwindle, and access to health care will effectively shrink and dramatically so. This whole program is a massive failure.
Donald and Melania Trump wave to reporters before boarding the Air Force One to Brussels, at the end of a 2-day visit to Italy, May 24, 2017. (AP/Riccardo De Luca)
In his speech in Saudi Arabia on Sunday during his first foreign trip as president, Trump claimed to have accomplished record spending on the armed forces, even though Congress has yet to pass a budget that reflects his plans and promises. Trump releases a detailed budget proposal Tuesday after having come up only with an outline before, and nothing is achieved until and unless Congress passes something.
