Freedom Caucus backs ACA repeal and replace that counts on private health care

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Freedom Caucus backs ACA ‘repeal and replace’ that counts on private health care

By David Weigel February 15 at 11:26 AM

House conservatives, frustrated by GOP leadership’s slow and tentative approach to replacing the Affordable Care Act, have gotten behind legislation by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that would repeal most of the law and move millions of Americans Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

“We were tired of waiting,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a Wednesday press conference on the legislation, “and that’s why we said: Let’s go. Let’s go now.”

The plan, endorsed by the House Freedom Caucus, would end the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, de-couple health insurance from employers, offer a tax credit of up to $5000 to fund HSAs, and eliminate most regulations on what health plans must cover. Insurers would be able to sell policies across state lines; regulations that mandate birth control coverage would be nixed.

“What if 30 percent of the public had Health Savings Accounts?” said Paul. “What do you do when you use your own money? You call up doctors and ask the price… if you create a real marketplace, you drive prices down.”

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/15/freedom-caucus-ready-for-obamacare-replacement-that-expands-hcas-bans-abortion-funding/?utm_term=.905e23fe6c30

[SHRED]

1. Who has enough disposable income for this?

[Angry Dragon]

2. it is time to take health insurance from congress

and they have their own clinic in there

[VMA131Marine]

3. Has Rand Paul ever called up a doctor to get a price?

It's next to impossible because the 'price' depends on the discount negotiated by the insurance company. If you go in for surgery, you are likely to get multiple bills from the different specialists who attend to you. If you have a medical emergency, you don’t have the luxury of shopping around for the cheapest option.

Also, the employer contribution to my family policy is over $12,000/year. What is the likelihood that they increase my salary by that amount if employer sponsored plans go away?

[procon]

4. No, you idiot! People will put off getting medical treatment until they're

too sick to go on. And then because you let them buy junk polices with poor coverage, high deductibles and fewer patient protections they'll get dropped. If they manage to survive, their unpaid medical bills will bankrupt them. That's not a plan you bunch of psychos, it's a death sentence!

[PsychoBabble]

5. So let's imagine there is a ....

Oh ... say, a DROUGHT. A lonnng one.

If you have SAVED enough food to last for years, you live.

If you haven't, you either die, or subsist on the kindness of strangers.

A pretty f**king cruel vision of our future ~ similar to their REPLACE PLAN. Straight up, on it's face, unrealistic.

As noted by others, these guys have clearly never faced catostrophic illness, major surgeries, etc while earning a "normal" income.

They are cruel, poor excuses for human beings, and I am starting to get tired of "working with" and "understanding" them.

Just because you HAVE an idea/ideology ... doesn't mean it is a GOOD one -- or that anyone should pay you a damn bit of attention.

[Doreen]

6. What if you live in a small town that has only one option

and the others are just to far away to use? By the way they can't tell you how much because it always depends on each individual situation. There IS NO base price!! What an idiot. Yes, there is a base price for walking into the door and sitting in the office but the moment the doctor walks in the price starts going up. He may have never asked the price when he goes to the doctor but maybe someone should ask if he has ever taken a pet to the vet because it works the same exact way.

[d_r]

7. what if you are 50

and all of your working life your younger self has been supporting the insurance risk of your older co-workers, and now that you are 50 you are going to have to go out and find your own health insurance?

[Docreed2003]

8. How very republican of them...

Health Savings accounts work well if you have disposable income, something the vast majority of this country does not have. And tax benefits?? Seriously? How many people affected by the repeal of the ACA would be able to itemize their deductions in order to get the benefit in the first place??