GOP health care bill isn’t fake; it’s dangerous

Once again, our Republican Congress has failed to do their homework.

They rushed into a bill that replaces the Affordable Care Act only to say they have delivered on a Trump campaign promise. So sad, they never took time to assess the true medical needs of their constituents and communicate to the country how this new law would change people’s medical coverage prior to its passage.

They were definitely more interested in just getting it passed, meeting the special demands of their party factions and pleasing their lobbyist with big money. This should offend us. Do they think we, the American public, is blind to what is going on, too stupid to understand, and that they can completely ignore our demands?

Now that Republicans in the House have passed a repeal bill, a water-down version called the American Health Care Act, the poor, people with pre-existing conditions, and people between age 50 and 65 will all begin to experience higher premiums, less coverage, or potentially no coverage.

The new act slashes funding for Medicaid, a program that provides insurance for the poor. It eliminates much of Medicaid's expansion, which elderly people need when their funds are completely exhausted. A good example of coverage potentially lost is people with dementia. The law also allows states to opt out of insurance coverage for pre-existing coverage.

It is projected 20 to 30 states could take this approach and create high-risk pools for pre-existing conditions. The insurance premiums for this coverage could be very expensive if not subsidized by the government, or could have very high deductibles.

Does anyone know a person who does not have a pre-existing condition?

The new law also allows insurers to raise premiums by 30 percent for those who have a lapse in insurance coverage payments for two months or more. All of us, at one time or another (maybe not our wealthy representatives) have not been able to afford paying a bill for two months. And we have to be penalized thereafter with premiums 30 percent higher for life!

Let me have the Obamacare penalty back; it is cheaper.

Then, if you are age 50 or older, your premiums will automatically increase under the law. By how much, we can’t say, because no one knows for sure specifically in Congress.

And, lastly, we have no idea how the law impacts woman’s access and insurance coverage for birth control and prenatal care. No one from Congress took the time to explain these things before they voted on it.

So one might ask, where did all this information come from? It was compiled from different media and news sources that certain Republicans leaders refer to as Fake News.

This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 9:08 AM with the headline "GOP health care bill isn’t fake; it’s dangerous."