This is a plea to the Democrats in Congress: do NOT go along with Republicans on replacing the ACA. I have received health insurance through the ACA for the last several years. My present health insurance is not dream, but it beats what I had before, which I call The Nothing. Sadly, I fully expect my coverage to end. However, I do not want to see Democrats help give political cover to the demise of the ACA. Working to find a replacement to the ACA will not give me new coverage. It will only be pissing on the grave of the ACA.
Why do I say this? Wouldn’t I want to have “better coverage at lower costs”? Yes, I would. So wouldn’t the Democrats want to work with Republicans on replacing the ACA with something better? There is something better to the ACA. It’s called Medicare for all.
But Republicans do not want to expand Medicare. They want to eliminate it. So we are not going to get better coverage at lower costs that way.
And the conservative solution to health insurance reform — not health care but health insurance reform — is the ACA. When Obama embraced this conservative idea of the individual mandate, it suddenly became toxic. Republican voters think of it as some kind of government takeover of health care, so it has to go.
So without this conservative idea for health insurance reform, what else do Republicans have to replace the ACA with? Tort reform, medical savings accounts, and purchasing insurance across state lines. Republicans know that none of those ideas will address the problem of 20 million people such as myself losing my health insurance.
If I had enough income, do you think I would need premium support from the ACA to get insurance in the first place? And does Wyoming have some great insurance plan that they do not offer in Kentucky? And tort reform. For real?
So Republicans have nothing to offer in place of the ACA. But Republicans are willing to kill the ACA because some biracial guy embraced it. That doesn’t sound rational to me, so why would Democrats want to work with people who are not rational?
But Republicans are wiley enough to try and ensnare Democrats into giving them cover for killing the ACA. The Repeal and Delay vote that is coming up is a way to “blackmail” Democrats into going through the motions of replacing the ACA with something that will not provide better coverage at lower costs. The idea is that Democrats cannot idly stand by and watch tens of millions lose their health care, so they will come to the bargaining table and help the Republicans out. If you Democrats don’t play ball, we will tell all the voters you were responsible!
If Republicans get their way with Democrats, they will slap the word “reform” on medical savings accounts and buying insurance across state line and presto! Republicans will claim they fixed the problem when they made it worse. And they will have bipartisan cover if any Democrat tries to help them in this fraudulent effort. Democratic voters will be demoralized for the umpteenth time, and they will fail to show up come election time. This is a sure fire way of Democrats not picking up any seats in future elections.
IF Democrats hang tight on not helping Republicans fix what they have broken, they might actually stand a chance come election time. They could always argue, “We had something that worked, and Republicans took it from you.” It’s the old, “They took your health care away from you.”
Either way, I know one thing is for sure. I will be without health care coverage either way. So if I am without health insurance, what good would come from Democratic efforts of helping Republicans with their fraudulent scheme? The difference is that with Democrats growing a spine and not helping Republicans out of their coming health care crisis, I may someday get health care coverage again if they win some damn elections. The other alternative offers me nothing for years and years and is a cruel insult to boot.
I can go without the cruel insult.