Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell cancelled Thursday's vote on the Senate health care plan until after the July recess. McConnell did not have the votes to pass the plan from his own party who did not know the plans contents or its effect on health care until the CBO released its devastating report. Only a hand full of republican senators knew what the plan contained because it was done in secret with out any debate or outreach.
The CBO report said the plan would leave 22 million Americans with out insurance, one million less than the recently passed House plan and 15 million fewer people would be covered in the next year alone. The plan would also cut $772 billion from medicaid and premiums would increase. CBO also reported the plan would help insurance companies, business and the wealthy the most with major tax breaks.
The $772 billion cut to medicaid would go beyond the medicaid expansion of the ACA and would be devastating. Medicaid also covers adults with disabilities, residents in nursery homes, children with disabilities, births, only to name a few. It touches all walks of life in need. The states would have to pick up the difference in any medicaid cuts and they will not do that because they would have to raise taxes and governors promised not to raise taxes. That is the reason many governors, including republicans accepted and are enjoying the benefits to their people and state of the medicaid expansion under the ACA. Republican governor John Kasich said it best when he said his state does not have the financial resources to pick up any cuts in medicaid to his state. In fact he used the word LAUGHABLE that republicans in congress thinks the states have the financial means to pick up those cuts.
The CBO report confirms what President Obama said earlier that the republicans have no health plan, only a plan to reward insurance companies and the wealthy. What is happening with the Senate plan is more evidence of the republican BIG LIE for the past seven years that they had a workable plan to repeal and replace the ACA. And of course the greatest LIE was Trump's support for the House passed health care plan that he and house members celebrated after it was passed which Trump now says was mean. Yeah, after the fact and only after it was in trouble.
The senate will probably pass their bill after adjustments to satisfy their various factions because they want to destroy any thing connected to President Obama. They know the ACA is working and will not crash and burn or implode like the bill of goods Trump is trying to sell. They also know their plan is a fraud and a scheme and the party has no interest in health care reform. Seven years of republican LIES have identified what the republican party is all about.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
