The Electoral College will vote in a Republican President. We’ve elected a Republican Senate and House. Whatever changes/gains we made during the Obama years, well you can kiss them goodbye.
Health Insurance
I’m sure most of you have heard about the Health Insurance changes that are coming. In the nutshell, our health insurance will be entirely private. You see the health insurance companies did such a bang up job prior to ObmaCare that we need a new health insurance law. What does Trump come up with, the same old same old. Insurance companies have been raising premiums each and every year for the last 30 years, increasing deductibles, and covering less and less services/prescriptions. Do you think this is going to stop? Come on, man. Now, I’m glad to hear Trump won’t be getting rid of “Pre-existing conditions”, so if you get sick you can get insurance, saying you can afford it.
I think Congress and Trump should be on the same health insurance as the rest of us. If they think their plan is so good for us they should have no problem getting the same shitty insurance that we’re all going to have. This is the real test, practice what you preach. I’d bet that if congress had the same insurance as us our insurance would be better than what they are going to propose to us common folk.
Trump will ask the insurance companies to include “Health Savings Accounts (HSA)”. If it works the same way that it works with your employer it will be no wonder that premiums may go down. Let me explain. Each individual will be allowed to put money into an HSA with pre-tax dollars, within the limits set by the IRS. Most employers allow employees to do the same by taking money out of your paycheck. You have to declare to your employer how much you are going to save. If you don’t spend all of that money most employers keep the money. You have no recourse to get your unspent money back. I suspect Trump’s HSA program will be the same. After all, it was the Republicans that came up with the employer plan in the first place. Why would they change?
Now that the insurance company has your HSA money they are going to earn interest on your money. Who gets to keep that? I suspect the insurance companies. So, if premiums get lowered (at first) we will know where they are getting the money from. However, this does not stop insurance companies from lowering coverage and increasing deductibles. I hope we’ll be able to afford to put money into an HSA.
And now that we have a Republican government Medicare will be going bye bye. This has been the most successful medical insurance program ever created in the U.S. So instead we are going to get a voucher system. A voucher system means you, in essence, will be getting money from the government to buy insurance, in the form of a voucher. This puts the burden of cost controls on the insurance companies. That will mean less services at a higher cost. After all, we know how good the insurance companies are at controlling costs. Let’s look at the last 30 years. Premiums have gone up, far out-pacing inflation, services have decreased, and the profits of insurance companies have increased 10 fold.
Does Paul Ryan have an inkling of what it’s like for someone who is elderly to have to shop insurance every year. Insurance companies make it difficult to wade through the facts of any one policy. The elderly have neither the patience or latitude to delve into “The Paper Work/Fine Print”. Therefore most get screwed. This is a system designed for failure on the part of the elderly and success for the insurance companies.
Mr. Ryan, if you want to cut the deficit stop doing it on the backs of the elderly, indigent, and poor. Yet, you allow the tax breaks for the rich so they can get richer. Man I don’t get it. What planet are you from? What happened to giving a shit about your fellow man? What happened to empathy, to being grateful and respectful of the elderly.
But this is what we elected (sort of). Or at the very least, the electoral college will elect, but that is another discussion.
One last thing. We are going to have to live with the mistake of this election for the next 4 years. We’ve got a battle ahead of us. We have to be strong, diligent, and unbending. We must elect a democratic congress and president in order to get anything done. Make the next election ours. Take the government back.