Cruel health care bill needed to die
Cruel bill needed to die
Editor’s note: The GOP health care bill did not make it through the Senate. President Trump said “something” would eventually get done.
“The Better Care Reconciliation Act” was a cruel proposal. It would have gutted medicaid, an insurance program that 70 million Americans rely on, including many seniors living in nursing homes. Several million others covered under the Affordable Care Act would have been subject to new skyrocketing premiums, higher copays and reduced coverage - if they could afford insurance at all.
Recent Congressional Budget Office estimates show that about 22 million Americans would have lost insurance coverage entirely if the bill passed. Lawmakers’ claim that the current system is financially unsustainable can be seen for the naked lie it is by further reading the CBO report. The CBO estimates the pending bill would have eventually transferred about one trillion dollars out of the existing health care system to cover tax breaks for the wealthiest.
The money is clearly available to help Americans have access to health insurance, but the authors of the bill would prefer that money go to the rich instead.
Mark Ross, Lumberton, North Carolina
This story was originally published July 21, 2017 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Cruel health care bill needed to die."