Mitch McConnell and his buddies have spent the last few weeks huddled together in secret drafting the new and improved health care bill. Aptly named Better Care Reconcilliation Act, it reconciles the rich with their money again. From my point of view this bill does one thing and one thing only…saves the smallest number of people the most amount of money! The one percent get all the tax breaks and the best care. It looks as if the middle class really get the worst part of the plan. Lower rates are coming but with higher deductibles and little, if any, prescription coverage the costs will be higher than ever. The neediest of the population will get some help but the idea is to move them to the open market by making premiums cheap enough for them to afford. Sounds great but when they can’t reach their deductible their out of pocket expenses will be even higher.
As someone who has to buy his own insurance I certainly want lower premiums but not at the cost of lower coverage. Right now I have to pay between $800 and $1000 per month just to get decent coverage and even that has pretty high deductibles. With the new BCRA I can see my premium dropping a bit but I also see the deductible rising. Which means more out of pocket. And as a person with pre-existing conditions and a past history of cancer I see even more problems obtaining coverage. There seems to be a guarantee that companies can’t charge more for people in my category but they may offer only coverage with fewer benefits and higher out of pocket expenses. Many may not include prescription drug coverage. This may affect not only those with pre-existing conditions but also the older population that tends to needs prescription coverage more than most.
There is also a possibility that states may remove the ability to compare premiums and benefits online. In today’s world how are people going to find the right policy? Government subsidies to guarantee that the insurance companies would not be burdened by excessive losses are included in the bill! Another golden egg for the largest corporations.
One other condition is that the bill will remove the individual mandate. Meaning that the young and healthy will delay purchasing health care. This puts less money in the pool and drives up costs because those that do have care are those who need it most. I don’t see why the insurance companies would go for this. After all they love to collect premiums and not pay benefits.
All in all the bill will cut Medicaid, especially to children, provide tax cuts to wealthiest Americans, lower benefits and raise out of pocket expenses. Once again the Republicans have shown they have no conscience, no heart and no concern for the average American. Their one and only thought is to line the pockets of the people and companies that line their pockets.
Oh, and by the way, it looks as though the Senate and Congress may have their own health care plan. And a really good one at that!
The Word By Namdoog Kir 