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Obamacare Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 18, 2017 49 Comments
Monday night, Sens Lee and Moran effectively killing the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) when they announced they would not support the bill, leaving Senate Republicans with no foreseeable path forward to repeal and replace Obamacare. Sens Lee and Moran joined three other Republican Senators refusing to support the bill.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 18, 2017 27 Comments
Late Monday night, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) was pronounced dead when Republicans failed to whip enough support to debate the bill, much less ensure its passage. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) announced Monday night their refusal to support the BCRA in its current form, joining Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in opposition.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 16, 2017 21 Comments
A few days ago, Kemberlee provided an overview of what is new in the GOP's revamped health care bill.  One thing that has turned out to be absent from the new version is the Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) "Freedom Option" touted by conservatives and a lynchpin in scoring skittish conservative Senators' votes. On July 14th, the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and Blue Cross sent a letter to Senate leadership urging them to drop the Freedom Option.
As the U.S. Senate considers the Better Care Reconciliation Act, AHIP and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association urge the Senate to strike the “Consumer Freedom Option” from the bill. It is simply unworkable in any form and would undermine protections for those with pre-existing medical conditions, increase premiums and lead to widespread terminations of coverage for people currently enrolled in the individual market.
It appears that this advice was followed because the Freedom Option no longer appears in the Senate bill.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 13, 2017 21 Comments
Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee released a revamped version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or the Senate's version of the AHCA. The Senate GOP's first attempt (in this round of discussions) at the BCRA was met with mehs and groans across the caucus. A small contingent of conservative Senators opposed the bill saying it did little to repeal Obamacare. More moderate Republicans expressed concern over the bill's promise to eventually cut Medicaid. And others advocated for scrapping the whole bill for a clean Obamacare repeal.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 11, 2017 33 Comments
Republicans have gained historic electoral wins across the board in the past eight years, and one of the driving issues behind these victories has been their repeated promise to repeal ObamaCare. In case anyone's forgotten, the initial outcry from voters was first to reject and then, once it was passed in the middle of the night, to repeal ObamaCare. It was the Democrats who started the "what will you replace it with?" narrative.  Suddenly, the mantra became "repeal and replace," but the American public didn't want ObamaCare.  On principle.  And we didn't want it "replaced" with some other central planning disaster. And we still don't.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on July 06, 2017 67 Comments
The Senate GOP's latest effort to fix Obamacare failed to garner support from the conservative wing of the party. The fractured caucus led Sen. Sasse (R-NE) to call for the complete repeal of Obamacare followed by a completely separate replacement. Sasse suggested leaving Obamacare intact as is for one year to protect its current consumers while the Senate hashes out a replacement.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 30, 2017 21 Comments
Congressional Republicans cannot agree on health care reform, which has caused frustration and anger among the American public. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) sent a letter to President Donald Trump with a suggestion in the event members cannot reach an agreement when they return from Independence Day break: Repeal Obamacare now. Work on the replacement later.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 26, 2017 9 Comments
Thursday, Senate Republicans released their long-anticipated health care reform bill. We discussed highlights of the legislation here. It's worth reiterating that this bill is only the first step (so we're told) in repealing and replacing Obamacare. The Senate GOP bill is limited in what it can accomplish for one reason — reconciliation. Senate Republicans are relying on the budget reconciliation mechanism to pass their first health care overhaul with a simple majority vote. Reaction on the right has been mixed. Some are calling it one of the Republican's greatest policy achievements and others are less than thrilled about kicking the Medicaid can down the road.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 22, 2017 10 Comments
Thursday, Senate Republicans finally unveiled their version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). It's almost as much of a stinker as its House counterpart. If you were hoping the GOP would make good on their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, then I have some disappointing news: the latest Republican health insurance brainchild does neither. As we discussed when dissecting the unimpressive House AHCA, the Senate GOP bill is also limited in what it can accomplish for one reason -- reconciliation. Senate Republicans are relying on the budget reconciliation mechanism to pass their first health care overhaul with a simple majority vote.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 20, 2017 6 Comments
We at Legal Insurrection have documented the damage Obamacare has done to the insurance market, with costs skyrocketing to the point that companies have pulled out. If they cannot make a profit they cannot provide coverage. For the last few weeks, Iowa's individual health insurance market showed signs of collapse as companies pulled out one after another. The state started to panic, even asking "the federal government to let it alter parts of the Affordable Care Act in an effort to entice insurers into selling plans in the state." The small insurance company Medica has come to save Iowa after the company's officials decided to remain in the state, making it the only company in the market. But officials said it has to charge higher premiums in order to stay afloat.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2017 12 Comments
Anthem Inc, a prominent national health insurance company, has decided to leave Ohio's health insurance exchange citing a volatile market. It's another example of Obamacare's collapse, especially since Anthem became "a major player in the individual insurance market created by the federal health care law." From The New York Times:
Ohio state insurance officials said they were reviewing their options but put the blame squarely on the federal health care law. “For the past few years we have seen a weakening in the federal insurance marketplace as a number of companies have withdrawn from the exchange,” the state agency said in a statement. “We have always argued the private insurance market is the most severely impacted by the federal law and that is where Congressional action is needed to restore stability.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 24, 2017 13 Comments
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released their score of the American Healthcare Act. In their analysis, the CBO indicated 23 more Americans would be uninsured if the Senate were to pass the AHCA.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 19, 2017 32 Comments
I will never understand how the Republicans managed to screw this up so badly. And let's be clear, this is the fault of Republicans in Congress, not Donald Trump. The talk of repealing Obamacare started years before Trump was even a candidate. Their first attempt a couple months ago fell flat on its face. The second time, it passed in the House on a squeaker vote. Now, they may have to vote on it again. Billy House reported at Bloomberg:
House May Need to Vote Again on GOP Obamacare Repeal Bill House Republicans barely managed to pass their Obamacare repeal bill earlier this month, and they now face the possibility of having to vote again on their controversial health measure.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 12, 2017 8 Comments
Aetna, one of the nation's largest health insurers announced Wednesday it would completely withdraw from Obamacare marketplaces in 2018. Nebraska, Delaware, Virginia, and Iowa are the only Obamacare exchanges where Aetna currently participates. A month ago Aetna announced plans to leave the Iowa market, followed by yet another announcement of a Virginia marketplace exit. With Aetna's withdrawal, Delawareans and Nebraskans will be left with one insurer on the exchange.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 07, 2017 24 Comments
In today's episode of "Democrats can't be blamed for anything" the lead role will be played by Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, who famously credited the stupidity of the American voter for the law's passage. While appearing on FOX News Sunday, Gruber argued that the collapse of Obamacare must be blamed on none other than President Trump. Chuck Ross reports at the Daily Caller:
Jonathan Gruber Blames Obamacare Failures On Donald Trump [VIDEO] Gruber, an MIT economics professor who is considered one of the architects of Obamacare, made the bold claim during an interview with Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
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