Keller's column titled, Health Care Has Risks Politically, Even If Cassidy Succeeds This Year, dated 7/12/19 was the usual sad republican position on the ACA, only this time with Keller's own fairy tale twist. Forget about how important health care or the lack of affects people, Keller is only concerned with the issue being a win for the republican party. Keller falsely claims that Louisiana's U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy's far reaching health care plan to repeal and replace the ACA was scuttled by democrats and republicans in 2017.
Cassidy's plan was scuttled by his own republican controlled Senate who refused to take up his bill for debate and not by the democratic party who had no input on the republican bill that went down to defeat. (The U.S. republican controlled House passed their health care plan but Cassidy's Senate would not even take up their bill) Keller also talks about Cassidy and his fellow republican Senator John Kennedy who are working on a health care plan that would not repeal or replace the ACA but work around the edges and if what they offered could pass it would be a WIN for the republican
party. It should be noted that Cassidy is a doctor and his own party never put his ideas about health care on center stage. It should also be a reminder what former republican speaker of the House John Boehner said, "that the republican party has never been serious about health care and he predicted his party would not pass health care legislation when they voted in 2017 and he was right on target.
Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential campaign said if elected President, she would improve on the positive aspects of the ACA and change those areas that needed change and make it better. That would be the best way to deal with the ACA and it now appears Cassidy and Kennedy agree The republican attidude of repeal and replace represents unAmerican thinking on the issue. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden supports Hillary's thinking on how to make the ACA better and it is the most common sense way to deal with the health care issue. So far the republicans have had 15 years to come up with a workable health care plan and have failed. And now, Trump and his party has added an insult by saying they will not take up the issue until after the 2020 election.
One also needs to keep in mind how Trump lied on the health care issue when he said in March of 2017, if the republican party does not pass their own health care plan he would introduce his own. Well of course he never did because he never had a plan to begin with. Trump and his party have zero credibility on the health care issue. But Keller believes the republican party can come out a winner by following Hillary Clinton's ideas. If the democrats can win back the Senate and keep the House in the 2020 elections they will surely move to improve the ACA, make changes that are needed and make it better for all.
Ever since his election as President, the trumpet man and his party has tried every thing to sabotage the ACA since they failed at repeal and replacing the ACT. To his credit, President Obama gave the republican party every chance to come up with their own health care plan when the ACA was being debated. They never did because as John Boehner said years later the party was never serious about health care. And that really says it all.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
