The Problem with Trumpcare
With Trumpcare, Republicans have somehow managed to take the core principles of Obamacare and twist it to serve themselves.
(Grudging and annoyed but necessary disclaimers:
1. I am by no means an expert on healthcare, so take this all with a HUGE grain of salt
2. Letting people stay on their parent’s healthcare until they are 26 is good
3. Banning insurers from denying coverage due to preexisting conditions is good
4. This looks much closer to Obamacare than what we thought we were getting)
[Okay, glad we got all of that out of the way. All of the above is true, but this bill is still bullshit! HATE HATE HATE HATE]
Trumpcare and its benefits
Trumpcare doesn’t end government support for healthcare. It firmly doubles down on it, actually! Everyone gets money for healthcare, straight from the government. That’s good, right? This is, inevitably, how this new policy will be portrayed by a media uncomfortably thirsty for any shred of respectability from the White House, and by cowardly liberals who have their own health insurance through work and desperately want to return to the time when we just politely debated about the marginal tax rate.
But WHO gets that money? Well, it’s a little hard to tell, because the CBO hasn’t released their estimates yet, and if House Republicans have their way they’ll push the bill through before the analysis is complete, because of course they will.
But the initial signs are not great.
Give me your wealthy, your well-off, your fully vested
Initial analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that healthcare support for low-income people will plummet. People note that the healthcare credits scale with age, but if you are low-income and older, things are actually still worse! Oh, but if you make between $75,000 — $100,000, you’ll get a brand new $2,000 — $4,000 tax credit, because lol nothing matters.
Essentially, this is a handout to the wealthy, and for those people who aren’t fortunate enough to actually, you know, AFFORD HEALTHCARE, this plan will make healthcare, much, much worse.
(Interactive map here! You can see how tax credits for lower-income people everywhere will plummet! Don’t worry though, the rich will be better off. Phew.)
Ooh, and just for good measure it slashes taxes, especially for households making over $250,000 a year. If you are part of the bottom 90 percent of America, these tax cuts will do nothing for you.
This isn’t just a rollback of a benefits program — it’s a blatant hijacking of a benefits program away from vulnerable populations and directly towards the wealthiest people in the country. The Republicans are literally pulling a Dennis Moore, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich.
This is probably a good time to point out that Republican voters lean older and wealthier.
It also doesn’t end Medicaid expansion, (which has been hugely popular in red states and which Republican governors have fiercely fought to preserve) immediately, oh no! It just moves to change funding to block grants, which would have the effect of strangling funding. Oh, and it ends the Medicaid expansion in 2020.
Why is that important? In 2018 there are governor’s elections in 36 states, including 12 Republicans facing reelection and 15 retiring/term-limited Republicans. All five of the Republican governors cited in that Politico article come from states having gubernatorial elections in 2018.
In 2020 there are elections in only 11 states, including four total Republicans.
By the time they’ve rolled back Medicaid expansion, most of these weasels will already be sitting pretty, safely two years into their terms, while their constituents die.
The Republicans hated Obamacare until they realized they could turn it around and use it to serve just themselves and their supporters. You have to admit, they did a lot while taking healthcare away from 4–6 million people.
Revenge of the Regulatory State
It’s just so, so cynical. Rand Paul is right, in a way, when he says that this is “Obamacare lite.” It’s the core lessons and programs of ACA twisted to serve cynical Republican priorities. The core message of the modern Republican party, it turns out, isn’t “End the Regulatory State.” It’s “Use the Regulatory State to Serve the Right People” — i.e. companies and mostly white, mostly older, mostly wealthy, mostly male, mostly straight, mostly Christian people.
I mean, at least the Freedom Caucus lunatics are consistent. They hate this plan! They don’t want anyone to get any healthcare help at all! Their ideal world is Mad Max: Fury Road — a few rich white men living the life of luxury, with beautiful women they keep as property while the poor and ambiguously ethnic struggle. Rand Paul sees Furiosa as a stupid leftist who RUINED EVERYTHING, bless his heart. I firmly believe that if you’re going to be morally appalling, at least be principled about it.
Although, in fairness, Trumpcare DOES defund Planned Parenthood for no reason, so, I mean, maybe the establishment Republicans do have SOME principles.
United in Opposition
So, where does this leave us? Well, no matter your personal political crusade, this healthcare debate should concern you.
Do you care about women? They need healthcare.
Do you care about poor people? They need healthcare.
Do you care about immigrants, refugees, disabled people and LGBTQ people? They need healthcare.
Finally, there is always the possibility that you will lose your job, and you would probably like to land in something resembling a functional healthcare system, as opposed to a rusty bed of nails next to an expired bottle of Ibuprofen with the words “heathcar” scrawled on it in crayon.
No matter who you are, you should be offended by this bill — unless, I mean, you blatantly support taking money from poor people and giving it to the rich. (In which case, hi Paul Ryan! I’ll be honest, did not expect to see you here. Go jump in a well.)
If the Republicans want to fix some of Obamacare’s problems, sure. But that isn’t even close to what this bill does.
You know what to do. Call your reps.
Xoxoxoxoxo,
Jefferson