OBAMACARE — UP OR DOWN?

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For The AUDIO Version Of This, Click On BELOW ——> (6-min. in length)

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The “smarmy” little weasle leading the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, Senate Leader Mitch McConnell Of Kentucky, is attempting to ram the Republican version of health care through that body, by Friday, in a take-it or leave-it fashion, with no more than a total of 10 hours set aside for floor debate.

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Here are just a few of the highlights comprising this piece of legislation:

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1.  The guarantee of coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions may or may not survive this piece of legislation, but even if it does, it’ll come with an exhorbitant price, making insurance for those individuals far greater than under Obamacare.  The Senate bill will include a provision allowing individual states to opt out of Obamacare’s unconditional guarantee for those with pre-existing conditions that will thereby allow such states the option of continuing coverage for this segment but with sharp hikes in insurance premiums.

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2.  A disaster for those lower income individuals whose only access to health care through Obamacare is via Medicaid. But if the GOP has their way, Medicaid will be severely curtailed in the next few years such that millions of folks will be left high and dry with no reasonable access to any health insurance coverage. The formula for “gutting” Medicaid” is a stealth-like tactic dreamed up by this current GOP leadership. Currently, Medicaid funding is increased each and every year based upon the increase in the costs of medical coverage. Under the new formula proposed by McConnell & “crew”, funding for Medicaid will be based upon the overall increase in the cost of all goods and services. It’s well-established that year-over-year price increases for just medical care is much greater than that for the general price increase for all goods and services. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that over 5-10 years and well beyond the funding level for Medicaid will fall further and further behind the needs of that part of the American population that needs it the most, the lower-income segment.

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3.  Planned Parenthood is likely on the chopping block. At the very least, funding will be severely curtailed forcing stark cutbacks of basic services to women of all ages.

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4.  Individual states will be able to “opt” out of the Obamacare guarantee of nondiscriminatory treatment of individuals based upon age whereby insurance companies will be free to charge higher premiums for for older, more ill-prone Americans than for younger & healthier folks.

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5.  In general, basic premiums will be higher, out-of-pocket co-pays will be higher, and life-time coverage will be capped at substantially lower levels.

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6.  And finally, the basic list of guaranteed categories of health services provided under Obamacare will be slashed back to just a few items. Currently under Obamacare there are around 10 different categories of health care services that are automatically/unconditionally provided for while under Trumpcare that number will be drastically scaled back/reduced.

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7.  The money saved by the reduced coverage and higher premiums under the Senate Republican health care bill will in turn pay for the massive tax cut to benefit the top 2% of individuals/families in this country.

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In short, the Trumpcare bill making its way through the U.S. Senate right now is a fraud perpetrated on voters simply to provide for an enormous tax break for the top 2% of Americans.

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The good news is that as of today — Sunday, June 25, 2017 — there are currently 7 Republican senators on the record as not sold on this health care legislation. They include, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Ted Cruz Of Texas, Rob Johnson Of Wisconsin, Rand Paul Of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Dean Heller Of Utah.  And just in today’s news — it’s been reported that Koch Bros./Charles + David are funding efforts at opposing the Senate’s Trumpcare bill as not being CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH!  They will be spending millions of dollars to force the U.S. Senate to come up with a far more draconian/conservative health care bill.

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The GOP can afford to lose only 2 votes from their caucus as they have only 52 GOP senators in the U.S. Senate.  In the event of a 50-50 tie, the Republican Vice President, Mike Pence, would cast the tie-breaking vote.

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Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said today that she did not envision how this bill could likely pass in its current form by the end of this week.

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Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell, wants to wrap this all up before July 4th.  Good luck Mitch.  Trying to get a health care bill shoved through Congress with a known disapproval rating among the American public at around 80% is going to be no small feat.

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