Monday, June 26, 2017

Unfortunately, all that really needs to be said ...

in one cartoon. Apparently the Republican powers-that-be sent their flacks out on Sunday (I skipped reading news) to say that nobody will be hurt when they pass this thing -- but that is a lie.

For example that if you are over 50 (and too young for Medicare), and have to buy your own insurance, on average your insurance premium will rise by $4500 a year.

But hey, gotta cut taxes for a few rich people.

Wealthcare will rapidly and perhaps slightly less rapidly, cut and cut some more from federal funding for health care for poor people -- this bill aims to sink Medicaid by a thousand cuts.

But hey, gotta cut taxes for a few rich people.

A decimated Medicaid will force old people out of nursing homes. We live longer these days; people -- most often women -- who end up in long term care will simply be warehoused as funding for Medicaid shrinks.

But hey, gotta cut taxes for a few rich people.

The beating will continue until some of these greedy GOPers fail at re-election time.

4 comments:

Rain Trueax said...

Check what people have been paying for insurance now in some states or how catastrophic illness doesn't always end up covered now. The parties both lie or say what they need to say and neither party cares about the ordinary people. They talk up that they care but in the end nothing is done to keep costs down-- and who can afford $20,000 a year for insurance (both authors but not NYTimes best selling) with the first $6000 not covered.

With ACA still in effect, when I was setting up an appointment for a physical in late August, the first question the receptionist asked me was whether we had secondary insurance above Medicare. This whole thing is getting worse and worse with costs so high that who can afford to get sick-- now! If nothing is done, this will get worse. I read that California wanted to do health care for all and then came the dicey part-- how would they pay for it! The answer generally is-- somebody else will.

janinsanfran said...

Hi Rain: both parties can be pretty bad, and neither has been ready to simply tell the health care profiteers -- doctors, pseudo-non-profits, medical device companies, drug makers -- that they can't exploit people's needs with high prices.

But Democrats mostly believe and try to legislate that everybody should have some access to modern medical care, that in a wealthy society heath care is a human right. Republicans don't care about health care for poor people: their prescription is that you should stop being poor. And certainly, none of the one percent who benefit from living here should be required to help you out if you haven't figured out how to be rich. This is the death of the social contract.

At its most basic, we either share (not everything but some things) or die.

Rain Trueax said...

I wish I had your faith in the Democratic party but I think they mostly talk good but what they do is too much like Republicans. :( A lot of this is admittedly complex with no easy answers. Tuition costs for state colleges is a big one for me right now with our first grandchild about to go there in the fall. The middle is being priced out of going without huge debts that their jobs often can't cover once they are out. The more I think about what is going on with one issue after another, the more it depresses me. grrrrrrr

joared said...

This is the beginnings of the tax cut bill under the misnomer title of being a health care bill. I'm so relieved the wealthy are going to get their desperately needed tax breaks -- poor things! I always aspired to the U.S. becoming more like we labelled third world countries and we seem to be coming closer -- need more class division. Surely voters will want to keep all these wonderful legislators in office in 2018 and 2020. If we're really lucky our leader will have evolved to becoming an authoritative despot dictator with a rubber stamp legislature, justice dept., supreme court --- but, will those pesky Fourth Estate folk kow tow?