Rivers

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Your World,” Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) argued the revised American Health Care Act is “the first time that Republicans have affirmatively put their stamp of approval on a program where federal money, taxpayer money, is paid to insurance companies.” He later characterized subsidizing insurance companies as “deplorable.”

Rand said the House Freedom Caucus “made the bill a lot less bad.” He added, “But what I’m still concerned with is, this’ll the first time that Republicans have affirmatively put their stamp of approval on a program where federal money, taxpayer money, is paid to insurance companies. … And it boggles my mind how that became a Republican idea.”

Rand further stated, “It’s going to take a little bit of work to get me to a yes vote, but I do have an open mind. I mean, there’s not been a louder voice up here for repealing Obamacare. I really want to repeal it. I just don’t want to replace with Obamacare-lite, or another federal program. The programs they put in place will be there forever. So the refundable tax credit, which is a subsidy by another name, will be there forever. And this — these buying — these high-risk pools they want to create, Republicans used to hate the idea. They hated the idea when they were called risk corridors, and there were giving money to insurance companies. They were bailouts, when it was a Democrat idea. Now that it’s a Republican idea, they keep sweetening it up.”

He later argued that the bill offers people who won’t get subsidies anymore “Santa Claus-lite.”

Rand also said, “I want everybody in the individual market to be protected against pre-existing conditions, by getting into the group market, and let market forces work. It can work, but the current bill acknowledges that it doesn’t work, and then we just subsidize the insurance companies, which I think is deplorable.”

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/05/04/rand-ahca-first-time-gop-has-supported-deplorable-practice-of-subsidizing-insurance-companies/

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

What market forces? They keep saying that, without explaining what that market is, where it is, or how it works. Know why? There IS no market. Health insurance companies negotiate with every single healthcare provider, who decide how much will be paid, by and to whom - without consulting the policy holder/patient.

The GOP/insurers want to go back to the days when policies were sold that paid for - nothing. What better way to make huge profits? Sell a policy, collect premiums and don't pay out a dime. Once again, the Federal Government failed to address the reason health insurance is so expensive - the cost of healthcare. An MRI everywhere in the world costs about $250 per scan, here it costs anywhere between $1800 and $2500 depending on where you go.

How is it, that hospital lobbying firms can afford millions to influence Congress? They made that extra money off OUR backs, off our children's illnesses, our parents ailments, using our own money to ensure they continue to make insane profits. BTW, there is absolutely no healthcare market either.

Rivers

Getting the government out of the health insurance racket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's NOT health insurance now, it is health welfare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

I agree with Rand on this one. This country is headed towards single payer. I believe people who want to choose freedom when dealing with their health are now in a minority. These healthcare bills from the ACA to whatever we end up with now is nothing but take from one and give to another. One sixth of the economy will be in the hands of bureaucrats'. Your health, your families health, and your choices will be owned by the government. I am in the process of putting enough away so I can make my own choices, even if that includes leaving the United socialist States of America.

Rivers

You're correct in a sense in that Obamacare destroyed the free market. The free market needs to be restored is what Rand Paul is saying. There is no such thing as health insurance anymore....not since the government got involved. We have health welfare now....another entitlement program.

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

By the way you are correct!

buffalo Loc: Texas

Yessir! The American Health Care Act is going to make health CARE a privilege that only the rich can afford. Cut Medicaid funding, hurting children and the poor and is now just a republican subsidy to big health INSURANCE instead of a democrat subsidy, allows for higher charges for pre-existing health conditions. The AHCA would end the individual mandate — but charge higher prices to people who have a break in coverage or people like me with no coverage because I couldn't afford ocare in the first place and just paid the penalty.

So, the next step is to start another TRILLION $ taxpayer money wasting, illegal, unConstitutional immoral war to benefit the rich, give the rich another tax break, fuck the middle and poor working classes and yank the rug out from under the truly poor and least among us CHILDREN.

Rivers

Get off your class envy, will ya! It's getting boring, and stupid!

buffalo Loc: Texas

Class envy? LOL Health CARE should be a Right for all! Not just a privilege for the rich that can afford it and for the poor that can't. What would you do with a poor person with no insurance or money that presented to the Er that was having a life threatening massive heart attack or was critically injured in an accident? Huh? What would you do if that decision was yours? Is that the class envy your talking about. Or what about a dying child whose parent/s cannot afford the ridiculously high premeiums charged by the bloodsucking health INSURANCE corporations? Huh? What are you going to do with that child?

Instead of your feeble, childish attempts at insulting me, ANSWER THE GODDAMN QUESTIONS!!! If you think health CARE should only be a privilege, then goddamn it SAY SO!!!

Poor people have no money with which to buy their monkey politicians' legislative favoritism like corporations and the wealthly.

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

There is an analogy between healthcare costs and college costs.

Healthcare costs sky rocketed when the assignment of benefits was invented to allow insurance companies to pay doctors directly. It the "before" times, patients paid and were reimbursed by insurance companies. People had a direct involvement in healthcare costs and would shop around for the best priced doctor or they would think twice for going in for minor problems.

In college tuition, when the gov started its "give everybody" a loan to pay for college while insuring the banks against default, college tuition shot up 10 to 20 fold.

Its a weak analogy, I know, but the point is, when people have a direct involvement in paying up front, they are much more likely to choose the more efficient and basically the cheaper approach. It is only then that there is a "market" in healthcare and education.

Rivers

Bullshit! Healthcare IS NOT A RIGHT!

buffalo Loc: Texas

Then tell me what are you going to do with that poor uninsured schmuck that presents to the ER with a life threatening injury or health problem such as a massive heart attack or how about a child with a life threatening condition or a pregnant woman in labor if , as you say medical CARE is not a right? A. Let them die in the waiting room or B. Kick their ass out in the street to die or C. Give them the medical treatment they require. It's easy, just answer A, B, or C.

Are you old enough to have Medicare Rivers? If so, how do you like it?

Rivers

You are throwing a hypothetical question based on the current system, so of course you can't turn them away. But, who pays for it? The taxpayer, if they can't pay themselves, that's who. I'm for medical savings accounts, and getting the government out of the healthcare system. Now, this would take several years to implement as the mind set has to be changed. The current system, and foreseeable system (Obamacare, Trumpcare, or single payer), like Medicare, will get more and more expensive, and we already have something like $28T in Medicare unfunded liabilities. Under the current system, nobody expects to pay that much out of their pockets, because of Medicaid, Medicare, etc. Remember, Medicare turned out to cost something like ten times what it was initially projected. People are living longer, and getting more benefits out of the system then they ever paid in.

Socialism (and government healthcare) only works until you run out of other peoples money.

To answer your question, yes, I'm on Medicare and Tricare for life. And, the wife and I pay something like $275 a month each for part B. We're fortunate enough to live near a small town with excellent healthcare clinics and an excellent hospital. But we still pay for some things out of our pocket, like $3300 for better lens for duel cataract surgery than what Medicare pays for. And, $530 for glasses over what Medicare pays for. Plus, I have to pay for vision care and dental care.

buffalo Loc: Texas

So, you would implement a system where they could be turned away because they were to poor to pay or afford the ridiculously expensive premiums of a private, for profit health INSURANCE corporation that may or may not pay their claim, especially if they can come up with a loophole in the complicated INSURANCE policies that they pay a whole herds of lawyers to write that is ALL in the INSURANCES corporations' favor.

Health Savings? LOL How is a family that lives pay check to pay check just to keep the bills paid and food on the table going to save for some unexpected medical need? The average cost of an appendectomy is $15,000. According to an article from the National Business Group on Health, the average total cost of a severe heart attack--including direct and indirect costs--is about $1 million. Direct costs include charges for hospitals, doctors and prescription drugs, while the indirect costs include lost productivity and time away from work. The average cost of a less severe heart attack is about $760,000. Health Savings accounts are a JOKE with today's high costs of medical CARE thanks to health INSURANCE corporations, Health corporation providers merging and gaining monopolies in many areas, over treatment and duplication of diagnostics to cover for lawsuits, high cost of malpractice insurance. Funny how most of what drives the cost of medical care beyond reason has to do with INSURANCE.

But you think health care should be a right and if your too poor to afford to save $1000/month and/or pay ridiculous premiums equal to 3 car payments with a deductible as big as a down payment on a house EACH year, then tough shit, huh?

Medicare for ALL (HR676) is the answer with slightly higher taxes on ALL incomes. I don't give a shit what you think because you don't think when it come to medical CARE.Because of heartless people like you and an iron grip in the balls of the monkey politicians by big health and big pharma preventing it, the US is the ONLY industrialized country in the world that does not provide UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE to ALL its citizens. Without the health INSURANCE corporations extraction of $500 BILLION in annual profits from the health CARe system the US could well afford UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE for ALL.

Rivers

Why did I even bother to respond....sigh. A total waste of time debating a socialist moron like you....like spitting into the wind. Oh, BTW, I don't give a shit what you think!!!!!!!