Our Government is dysfunctional . No repeal , no Replace ..

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
No repeal no replace .

Our Government is dysfunctional . Both Democrats and Republicans . Political disintegration plagues Congress, too. House Republicans barely managed to elect a speaker last year. Congress did agree in the fall on a budget framework intended to keep the government open through the election—a signal accomplishment, by today’s low standard, hard-line conservatives had revoked the deal, thereby humiliating the new speaker and potentially causing another  crisis . As of this writing, it’s not clear whether the hard-liners will push to the brink, but the bigger point is this: If they do, there is not much that party leaders can do about it. They can't do nothing.   (1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . Republicans could not "repeal or replace" Republican destructiveness is even worse than it ever was —and the party is paying for it with a surge of anti-establishment populism that is tearing apart its coalition base. Trump's win has in reality forced the party of No into finding a solution for healthcare , which is something the majority of the GOP has hated since President Obama fostered the issue of healthcare reform on the platform. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the Republicans would abandon their replacement plan efforts and instead focus on just repealing the existing law. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay to allow Republicans time to draft a replacement plan with more support.  The lack of response from Trump came after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) announced Saturday that he is recovering from a surgery and would be absent from votes, depriving Republicans of the support they need to advance the legislation. The development temporarily dashed McConnell’s hopes of wrapping up the health-care debate by passing a reworked version of the (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act this week. The bill, which would roll back much of President (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law, has been one of the party’s top priorities for years, and the delay is a major embarrassment to Trump and McConnell. At least five GOP senators — conservatives and moderates — have said they would vote against even beginning debate, and the bill would be derailed if just three of the 52 Republican senators voted against it. (2)>>Back in 2009 - Republicans refused to coalesce around the Democratic effort to create a decent Health Care product for the public? Remember the Tea Party whose members didn't even know that Medicare and Medicaid ARE government programs? Actually, I do believe that when someone doesn't believe that a product that is being offered to the public is good, it is that individual's moral responsibility to NOT vote for it. And what is being offered as Trumpcare ISN'T a good idea because it will deny millions of folks any kind of health coverage. The fact of "denying coverage" to millions of Americans goes against the Market Based system that has held back the tides of reform for decades . (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits , this is the problem . You would think with such a pool of people in a insurance group would bring down costs . Its never worked . Monthly premiums have gone up for decades .Health insurance premiums will increase by 5 percent in 2017 for employees, according to a recent study from the National Business Group on Health, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that represents large employers.That's about on par with employers' predicted expenses. The 133 companies polled expect their own health-care expenses would rise by an average of 5 percent in 2017, once they have put through plan design updates for the new year.Without those plan changes, employers' expenses would rise by 6 percent in 2017. In the end . House Democrats are are happy that the Republican healthcare replacement is DOA . Both parties will not come to the table. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's two year delay for example is a sneaky way to let the Insurance Companies get away with more increases . It is more than ironic that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that they may need to “shore up the individual market” when the Congress has been the main reason for the instability.

NOTES AND COMMENTS: 

(1)>>Could not come to the table over Obama-care . The Cruz amendment undermines basic supports of any insurance program. This bill will force insurers out of markets, if not out of business. Medicare for All can be the answer to this problem if you let it be. One track for people 65+ who have paid in advance for decades for anticipated coverage and another track for all others, who are paying for current coverage. The insurers will get many more lives to cover, market stability and a huge risk pool of over 300 million covered lives. Both employers and employees will pay less than they do now. People will be able to leave jobs and move to other states without worrying about losing their coverage. Pre-existing conditions and 10 Essential Elements are covered, rendering those debates moot. CMS professionals know how to do this. Since 2009, 10,000 Americans a day have been turning 65; meaning this program is scalable. If the politicians would stop worrying about a "win" or sullying Obama's name and legacy, maybe they could do the right thing for the American people. (1.1)>>The bill would include a two-year delay.  Delay of the repeal is extremely ludicrous , and it endangers millions of Americans . Obama-care as "claimed" by the Republican party led by Pres. Trump is that Obama-care is failing and heading for collapse.  If its going down , either way , still  Republican Congress  understands that they would get (metaphorically) 'tarred and feathered' by those folks they represent who would lose the Health Care/Medicaid coverage - suggested to be something in the neighborhood of 23,000,000. GOP defections increased after Congress’ budget referee said Monday.  The measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than Obama’s 2010 statute. I don't HONESTLY believe that a government fix as being outlined by the government , or the Obama-care system is NOT going to make healthcare affordable . Controlling costs means putting the Healthcare Insurance industry on notice for gouging prices . Which is making costs going through the roof , leading to bankruptcies . This the problem . Since the Healthcare Insurance industry lobby  has held sway Congress of both parties .  (1.2)>>Better Care Reconciliation Act .   The Senate bill aimed at repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act would irreparably weaken Medicaid, significantly increase the number of Americans without health insurance coverage and allow states to waive essential health benefits, such as mental and behavioral health care and substance use treatment, according to the American Psychological Association.   Kaiser Foundation has a complete summery of the entire "replace" law if you like to read it here { http://kaiserf.am/2u9vgBq } . FORBES has this to say otherwise about it : "A major criticism of the draft Republican Senate healthcare bill, the "Better Care Reconciliation Act," has been that it will destabilize the individual health insurance marketplace. The amendments recently suggested by Texas Senator Ted Cruz were said to make that possibility much more severe. The revisions released today to the BCRA, however, clarify that the "Cruz amendment" is not nearly as problematic as supposed. In fact, the revisions substantially reduce the risk of market instability and may well permit a Obamacare-like market and a substantially deregulated market to coexist. The wise GOP decision to abandon tax cuts for the wealthywill help fund the changes needed to permit this dual market situation. That decision also liberates Republicans credibly to cite the need for serious deficit reduction to rebut arguments that their healthcare bill actually reduces the number of uninsureds."  (1.3)>>Barack Obama’s health care law.  President Obama went behind closed doors with interest groups to put the package together; no sane person would have negotiated in full public view. In 2013, Congress succeeded in approving a modest bipartisan budget deal in large measure because the House and Senate Budget Committee chairs were empowered to “figure it out themselves, very, very privately,” as one Democratic aide told Jill Lawrence for a 2015 Brookings report. TV cameras, recorded votes, and public markups do increase transparency, but they come at the cost of complicating candid conversations. “The idea that Washington would work better if there were TV cameras monitoring every conversation gets it exactly wrong,” the Democratic former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle wrote in 2014, in his foreword to the book City of Rivals. “The lack of opportunities for honest dialogue and creative give-and-take lies at the root of today’s dysfunction.”   (2)>>Back in 2009 . The healthcare nonsense is only enhancing the dysfunction, has he forgotten the last 8 years? I thought this was all supposed to stop when Obama was out, thanks for proving it wasn't Obama with the problem. The American healthcare system is driven by capitalism and greed. Companies that are directly connected to your well-being are sold on the stock exchange. Your needs are met after the CEO gets his millions, lobbyist are funded, the politicians are bribed, and dividends are paid. And if you can’t pay for your medical care the system will drive you and your loved ones into poverty.    2018 can't come soon enough.  (2.1)>>The Insurance companies need millions of consumers for profits . Obamacare continues to be a slow-motion train wreck. An analysis by Charles Gaba (an ACA supporter) shows that average premium increases in the non-group market will average 24% for 2017.  Last month's decision by Aetna AET +0.61% (the nation's third largest insurer) to dump 80% of its Obamacare subscribers for 2017 came on the heels of the decision by UnitedHealth (the nation's largest health insurer) to likewise cut back enormously on its participation in the Obamacare exchanges (3 states in 2017 vs. 34 states this year). Yet another of the nation's "big 5" health insurers,Humana HUM +0.50%, will offer coverage in just 156 counties in 2017, 88 percent fewer than this year.