Campaign Action
There's so much in Zombie Trumpcare that's a disaster that popular vote loser Donald Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan might never get the Republican party unified behind it. The 24 million, at least, who will lose health insurance in the next decade, the gutting of Medicaid, the end of protections for pre-existing conditions—it's all really horrible. But there's a few things that have been flying under the radar that are particularly awful, even if you're a Republican. Especially if you're a Republican. Like the one highlighted by Democratic Rep. Mark Takano on Thursday, that still hasn't been fixed. Trumpcare actually strips tax credits away from as many as 7 million veterans, with a technical amendment that has not been rectified. Here's the reporting from last month:
This year’s speed also risks unintended consequences, similar to the ones that spawned lawsuits and legislative fixes after the passage of the ACA. Using the budget reconciliation process for what Republicans call the first of three phases to repeal and replace Obamacare allows them to pass their first bill with just 51 votes, but it leaves it open to challenges that it does not meet the “Byrd rule,” which requires such bills to pertain only to budget matters. An amendment, expected to be added on the House floor Thursday to mollify conservatives, changed the language about group plans in a narrow way that might make many veterans ineligible for a tax credit.
House Republicans are hell-bent on ripping away our health insurance. Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121, and demand they vote NO on a renewed Trumpcare that is worse than the one before. Remind them they work for you.
VoteVets explained that: "Given a choice between running the bill through all the appropriate committees for oversight, or changing the tax benefits, Republicans chose the latter. An amendment was introduced that changes the application of tax credits." Meaning that the millions of veterans who qualify to get their care through the VA but choose not to wouldn't get tax credits for health insurance.
Trumpcare was done on the fly and on the cheap. Getting it done has been more important to Republicans than getting it right, and in doing so they've created a monster that hurts their own constituents more than anyone—including veterans! They had seven years to figure out a replacement plan. Seven years. Instead of doing that, they slapped together this monstrosity with a combination of cutting and pasting from Obamacare and the borrowing from the Freedom Caucus's fever dreams. This is what they decided to run with.