I don't know about smashed, I'm just quoting the Breitbart headline. It still needs to get through the Senate. We're still not out of the woods yet, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm all for baby steps as that's how government works. The naysayers will undoubtably complain it's not enough not perfect. They are like the boxer sitting back waiting for the perfect punch while the enemy peppers him will little shots and takes the round. IMO, Republicans needs to start settling for smaller victories. They add up.
Gage Skidmore
Gage Skidmore
by SEAN MORAN 4 May 2017
Not only have we made good progress, we have to get give a good shout out to Tom MacArthur and the President and the Vice President for their efforts in the last couple of weeks. It would be a mistake to suggest that had Tom MacArthur, the President, and the Vice President have not gotten involved in this process, then we would not have the options now for everyone to consider. Tom has worked closely hard with Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden and the committee to make sure that what we do is keeping in line with repealing and replacing Obamacare and drives down premiums and keeps pre-existing conditions.
The agreement, brokered by the House Freedom Caucus chairman and Tuesday Group co-chairman Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), would allow states to eliminate Obamacare’s community rating system — a rule that prohibits health insurers from pricing health care plans based on age, gender, or health status. States that repeal Obamacare’s community rating rules would have to join a high-risk pool to obtain the waiver.
The deal, known as the MacArthur amendment, would also reinstate Obamacare’s Essential Health Benefits, although states could waive these if they were to prove that eliminating those regulations would lower premiums, increase the number of people insured, or “advance another benefit to the public interest in the state.”
Essential Health Benefits require that health insurance plans must cover certain services such as doctors’ services, inpatient or outpatient hospital care, prescription drugs, pregnancy, childbirth, and mental health.
The American Health Care Act replaces a number of Obamacare’s taxes and subsidies with age-based tax credits to help people buy health insurance on the individual market. Freedom Caucus members, including Congressman Jim Jordan, previously said that the tax credits would create a new entitlement program. The AHCA repeals Obamacare’s employer mandate, while it replaces the individual mandate with a 30 percent insurance premium surcharge for those who forgo health insurance. The bill will also cap Medicaid per capita starting in 2020.
If the bill passes the House, it will most likely see changes in the Senate. Sens. Bob Portman (R-OH) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) remain concerned about a provision in the American Health Care Act that freezes Medicaid expansion. Senator John Thune (R-SD), the third highest-ranking Republican in the Senate, has crafted a measure to better compensate older Americans for the high cost of health insurance.
Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Breitbart News that he will work with Senate colleagues to push for a more conservative version. “I am having conversations with my colleagues in the Senate,” he explained, “where we can push for even more conservative solutions, because it was more difficult to push amendments procedurally in the House.”
Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) were the strongest opponents of the American Health Care Act. Senator Paul crafted his own conservative plan for repealing Obamacare and worked with the Freedom Caucus to push for an even more conservative Obamacare repeal bill. The Freedom Caucus endorsed Sen. Paul’s plan.
Meadows told Breitbart News, “I fully expect that we will repeal most aspects of Obamacare by the end of May. It may have been a deterrent in the first 100 days, but by the end of the first 120 days or so it will be seen as a significant accomplishment. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, as the as song used to say. We will have an excellent finish.”
Not only have we made good progress, we have to get give a good shout out to Tom MacArthur and the President and the Vice President for their efforts in the last couple of weeks. It would be a mistake to suggest that had Tom MacArthur, the President, and the Vice President have not gotten involved in this process, then we would not have the options now for everyone to consider. Tom has worked closely hard with Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden and the committee to make sure that what we do is keeping in line with repealing and replacing Obamacare and drives down premiums and keeps pre-existing conditions.
The agreement, brokered by the House Freedom Caucus chairman and Tuesday Group co-chairman Tom MacArthur (R-NJ), would allow states to eliminate Obamacare’s community rating system — a rule that prohibits health insurers from pricing health care plans based on age, gender, or health status. States that repeal Obamacare’s community rating rules would have to join a high-risk pool to obtain the waiver.
The deal, known as the MacArthur amendment, would also reinstate Obamacare’s Essential Health Benefits, although states could waive these if they were to prove that eliminating those regulations would lower premiums, increase the number of people insured, or “advance another benefit to the public interest in the state.”
Essential Health Benefits require that health insurance plans must cover certain services such as doctors’ services, inpatient or outpatient hospital care, prescription drugs, pregnancy, childbirth, and mental health.
The American Health Care Act replaces a number of Obamacare’s taxes and subsidies with age-based tax credits to help people buy health insurance on the individual market. Freedom Caucus members, including Congressman Jim Jordan, previously said that the tax credits would create a new entitlement program. The AHCA repeals Obamacare’s employer mandate, while it replaces the individual mandate with a 30 percent insurance premium surcharge for those who forgo health insurance. The bill will also cap Medicaid per capita starting in 2020.
If the bill passes the House, it will most likely see changes in the Senate. Sens. Bob Portman (R-OH) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) remain concerned about a provision in the American Health Care Act that freezes Medicaid expansion. Senator John Thune (R-SD), the third highest-ranking Republican in the Senate, has crafted a measure to better compensate older Americans for the high cost of health insurance.
Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Breitbart News that he will work with Senate colleagues to push for a more conservative version. “I am having conversations with my colleagues in the Senate,” he explained, “where we can push for even more conservative solutions, because it was more difficult to push amendments procedurally in the House.”
Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) were the strongest opponents of the American Health Care Act. Senator Paul crafted his own conservative plan for repealing Obamacare and worked with the Freedom Caucus to push for an even more conservative Obamacare repeal bill. The Freedom Caucus endorsed Sen. Paul’s plan.
Meadows told Breitbart News, “I fully expect that we will repeal most aspects of Obamacare by the end of May. It may have been a deterrent in the first 100 days, but by the end of the first 120 days or so it will be seen as a significant accomplishment. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, as the as song used to say. We will have an excellent finish.”
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