On health care, Republicans don’t represent the people

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price defended proposed Republican legislation to reform how Americans obtain health insurance, saying they are moving to keep the healthcare marketplace from collapsing. The proposed plan is preposterous.

Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), who is also a member of the Freedom Caucus, told Politico he would vote against the GOP plan as it is because it “maintains numerous federal features, including a new entitlement program, as well as most of the insurance regulations”.

In recent weeks, Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers have criticized what they said were overly optimistic estimates from the CBO of the number of Americans who would sign up for health insurance on government-run exchanges.

That, effectively, was the method of operation in both the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee, which pushed the GOP legislation ahead on party-line votes.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin greeted the Obamacare replacement bill – she calls it “Trumpcare” – with a sharp retort. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., warned the plan would never pass as is due to opposition from moderates.

The act has already provoked the ire of the American Medical Association, which says it “cannot support” the move in its current guise. Supporters say they expect a vote on the house floor by the end of the month. It shifts the risks from insurance companies to the consumer.

Analysts have concluded that the Republican plan, the American Health Care Act, would in fact drastically cut tax credits for many people who buy health insurance on the open market; allow insurance companies to charge older people more; and sharply cut Medicaid, the government program that provides free or low-priced healthcare to the poorest Americans.

“Once the CBO numbers come out, then we can really start crunching locally and statewide what we believe would be the impact”, Monoian said. You get George Stephanopoulos asking Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, how he squares Trump’s promises not to touch Medicaid and to give everyone health insurance with independent think-tank analyses showing the AHCA will result in the exact opposite of those outcomes.

GOP leaders wished and wished for the ACA’s failure, and they got one wish granted when the program’s rollout had technical problems.

How can President Trump and the GOP Congress escape the political damage from their failed pledge to produce a better healthcare plan than ObamaCare – one that covers more people, offers more choice and is cheaper?

Trump, who spent part of Saturday golfing in Virginia, told reporters that he spent part of the day strategizing with his White House team on the health care overhaul. Accessibility isn’t the same as having coverage he said. “If you are on Medicaid today, you’re going to stay on Medicaid”. They are going to defund Planned Parenthood.

This week, the president will meet with members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus in hopes of wooing some skeptical republicans.

Also, it is not at all clear whether this switch from subsidies to tax credits saves the government any money.

The Healthy Michigan Plan now covers over 600,000 beneficiaries, many of whom are in rural areas that voted for Trump.

‘I can’t answer that question, ‘ he said.

Democrats say they are willing to work on a better bill, but some doubt the two sides can get anything done.

“We must repeal and replace and replace Obamacare”, the president urged.

“It’s not like we love Obamacare”.