The Super Secret Healthcare Bill

[hootch1]

Under glaring lights of the Comey testimony, a group of Republican senators are marking up a bill to replace the ACA. Only a handful of people know what it contains. Mitch McConnell has invoked a a Senate rule that allows a bill to move directly to the floor without hearings, witnesses or debate.

These thirteen old men, shamed into inviting a woman into the process, are planning to send a secret request for scoring by the CBO. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, leaks of some details can cause a firestorm. This is ridiculous. No hearings. No expert testimony. No time to understand what the language means for an issue that is literally a life and death discussion.

Clair McCaskill asked Orrin Hatch when there would be a hearing.

“Will we have a hearing on the healthcare proposal?” she asked committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the working group. A befuddled Hatch replied, “We’ve invited you to participate and give your ideas.”

“For what?” McCaskill shot back. “We have no idea what’s being proposed. There’s a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions… We’re not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy…. It is all being done with an eye to try to get it by with 50 votes and the vice president.”

Republicans decried the process of passing the ACA. Politifact notes that Jost added that "there was very significant Republican participation early on on the Senate side. There were dozens of hours of debate, and Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Finance Committee were very engaged." The engagement ended in September. There were hearings and amendments, expert witnesses and many other things that we are not likely to see this time around.

Bill Hoagland, a longtime Senate Republican staffer now at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said it was “unusual” that the healthcare bill would not go through the Senate committees of jurisdiction.

Pat Roberts commented, when asked about committee markups, “I can’t imagine” there wouldn’t be, he said, but Orrin Hatch confirmed there would be no such thing.

 

[37Hoosier]

Under glaring lights of the Comey testimony, a group of Republican senators are marking up a bill to replace the ACA. Only a handful of people know what it contains. Mitch McConnell has invoked a a Senate rule that allows a bill to move directly to the floor without hearings, witnesses or debate.

These thirteen old men, shamed into inviting a woman into the process, are planning to send a secret request for scoring by the CBO. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, leaks of some details can cause a firestorm. This is ridiculous. No hearings. No expert testimony. No time to understand what the language means for an issue that is literally a life and death discussion.

Clair McCaskill asked Orrin Hatch when there would be a hearing.

“Will we have a hearing on the healthcare proposal?” she asked committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the working group. A befuddled Hatch replied, “We’ve invited you to participate and give your ideas.”

“For what?” McCaskill shot back. “We have no idea what’s being proposed. There’s a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions… We’re not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy…. It is all being done with an eye to try to get it by with 50 votes and the vice president.”

Republicans decried the process of passing the ACA. Politifact notes that Jost added that "there was very significant Republican participation early on on the Senate side. There were dozens of hours of debate, and Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Finance Committee were very engaged." The engagement ended in September. There were hearings and amendments, expert witnesses and many other things that we are not likely to see this time around.

Bill Hoagland, a longtime Senate Republican staffer now at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said it was “unusual” that the healthcare bill would not go through the Senate committees of jurisdiction.

Pat Roberts commented, when asked about committee markups, “I can’t imagine” there wouldn’t be, he said, but Orrin Hatch confirmed there would be no such thing.

Scary stuff, but I am not sure why you, or any
thinking person should be surprised.

The GOP has basically sold out on any concepts of commons sense or decency. They have no captain at the helm, they have no dignity, and cower and follow a hopeless liar for a leader.

Their only mantra is if President Obama passed it, we will repeal it with no introspection or though process at all. The GOP has spend 8 years crying .... and nothing else. Not a thought in their collective heads or any real strategy for our country at all. They appear to be hell bent lemmings to follow this buffoon wherever he leads them with no questions asked. Pathetic, I would be embarrassed to call my self a Repub...since it means virtually nothing anymore.

 

[Ladoga]

Under glaring lights of the Comey testimony, a group of Republican senators are marking up a bill to replace the ACA. Only a handful of people know what it contains. Mitch McConnell has invoked a a Senate rule that allows a bill to move directly to the floor without hearings, witnesses or debate.

These thirteen old men, shamed into inviting a woman into the process, are planning to send a secret request for scoring by the CBO. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, leaks of some details can cause a firestorm. This is ridiculous. No hearings. No expert testimony. No time to understand what the language means for an issue that is literally a life and death discussion.

Clair McCaskill asked Orrin Hatch when there would be a hearing.

“Will we have a hearing on the healthcare proposal?” she asked committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the working group. A befuddled Hatch replied, “We’ve invited you to participate and give your ideas.”

“For what?” McCaskill shot back. “We have no idea what’s being proposed. There’s a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions… We’re not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy…. It is all being done with an eye to try to get it by with 50 votes and the vice president.”

Republicans decried the process of passing the ACA. Politifact notes that Jost added that "there was very significant Republican participation early on on the Senate side. There were dozens of hours of debate, and Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Finance Committee were very engaged." The engagement ended in September. There were hearings and amendments, expert witnesses and many other things that we are not likely to see this time around.

Bill Hoagland, a longtime Senate Republican staffer now at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said it was “unusual” that the healthcare bill would not go through the Senate committees of jurisdiction.

Pat Roberts commented, when asked about committee markups, “I can’t imagine” there wouldn’t be, he said, but Orrin Hatch confirmed there would be no such thing.

Keep an eye on them. First thing you know they'll conjure up a 2500 page bill that no one has read and expect it to work out just fine.

 

[MrBing]

Under glaring lights of the Comey testimony, a group of Republican senators are marking up a bill to replace the ACA. Only a handful of people know what it contains. Mitch McConnell has invoked a a Senate rule that allows a bill to move directly to the floor without hearings, witnesses or debate.

These thirteen old men, shamed into inviting a woman into the process, are planning to send a secret request for scoring by the CBO. Normally that wouldn't bother me too much, leaks of some details can cause a firestorm. This is ridiculous. No hearings. No expert testimony. No time to understand what the language means for an issue that is literally a life and death discussion.

Clair McCaskill asked Orrin Hatch when there would be a hearing.

“Will we have a hearing on the healthcare proposal?” she asked committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the working group. A befuddled Hatch replied, “We’ve invited you to participate and give your ideas.”

“For what?” McCaskill shot back. “We have no idea what’s being proposed. There’s a group of guys in a back room somewhere that are making these decisions… We’re not even going to have a hearing on a bill that impacts one-sixth of our economy…. It is all being done with an eye to try to get it by with 50 votes and the vice president.”

Republicans decried the process of passing the ACA. Politifact notes that Jost added that "there was very significant Republican participation early on on the Senate side. There were dozens of hours of debate, and Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Finance Committee were very engaged." The engagement ended in September. There were hearings and amendments, expert witnesses and many other things that we are not likely to see this time around.

Bill Hoagland, a longtime Senate Republican staffer now at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said it was “unusual” that the healthcare bill would not go through the Senate committees of jurisdiction.

Pat Roberts commented, when asked about committee markups, “I can’t imagine” there wouldn’t be, he said, but Orrin Hatch confirmed there would be no such thing.

A major problem with the popularity of the ACA was it was totally partisan. Republicans should be blamed for most of that but anything that is passed with vote of only one side is never going to have the popularity to last. The Pubs are going to have the same problem. Maybe after this goat rope and their law being just as unpopular the two sides can get together and pass something that will work and last. I think that is something like Medicare for all but they will have to finally resolve this issue in some way. I don't think the ACA is the solution and what the Pubs pass won't be the solution but there has to be one.

 

[dahldc]

Keep an eye on them. First thing you know they'll conjure up a 2500 page bill that no one has read and expect it to work out just fine.

It doesn't surprise me that you're the one that would make that comment. It's almost like you think it's ok now that your side is doing it. (Cue the "quit putting words in my mouth that I didn't say" whine from you.)

Your comment here should be something along the lines of:

This is stupid. It was stupid when the Dems did it, and it's stupid now that Pubs are doing it. This is bad for America. Any time we try to ram bills through without public input is the antithesis of Democracy.

Some how I think you will fail to understand this.

 

[twenty02]

It doesn't surprise me that you're the one that would make that comment. It's almost like you think it's ok now that your side is doing it. (Cue the "quit putting words in my mouth that I didn't say" whine from you.)

Your comment here should be something along the lines of:

This is stupid. It was stupid when the Dems did it, and it's stupid now that Pubs are doing it. This is bad for America. Any time we try to ram bills through without public input is the antithesis of Democracy.

Some how I think you will fail to understand this.

Yeah, except the Dems didn't do it.

That bill was marked up in public hearings of different committees for months (I watched most of the 14 hr long Senate Finance committee hearing, due to my work at the time). The details of the general make-up of program was debated for nearly a year. The CBO scores were public for weeks prior to votes.

When Kennedy died, it changed how they were going to get a conference bill passed, so it got into a rather messy reconciliation bill. And that wasn't pretty sausage making.....but that was right towards the end, and was basically just tweaks of things like the specific subsidy levels and age ratings.

Anyone telling you this is the same thing over again are giant liars.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

I think the Republicans (and, more importantly, the country) would be better off to just wait things out and use the ACA's deteriorating financial condition as political leverage to force bipartisan action. So long as the Republicans don't touch the thing, the Democrats still own it.

And, ultimately, I think the country would be better served with a general healthcare policy that has bipartisan equity. Replacing one single-party healthcare policy with another one isn't going to do anything but make it into a game of political tennis.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

A major problem with the popularity of the ACA was it was totally partisan. Republicans should be blamed for most of that but anything that is passed with vote of only one side is never going to have the popularity to last. The Pubs are going to have the same problem. Maybe after this goat rope and their law being just as unpopular the two sides can get together and pass something that will work and last. I think that is something like Medicare for all but they will have to finally resolve this issue in some way. I don't think the ACA is the solution and what the Pubs pass won't be the solution but there has to be one.

I agree with a lot of this -- although I don't really agree that the Republicans should be blamed for not going along with the ACA. Part of that was just situational -- the bill was being debated at a time when the Democrats either didn't need or didn't expect to need any Republican votes. And they (understandably) deliberated accordingly.

But, yes, I very much do agree that the best solution is a policy that can gain some meaningful level of bipartisan support. Clearly, single-payer isn't going to happen -- not anytime soon, anyway. But that doesn't mean policymakers can't hatch out policy that's better than what we have now...rather than just volleying back and forth along party lines.

The question is what's going to motivate them to do so. And I think the answer to that is a realization that the ACA is, on its own, not sustainable.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

A major problem with the popularity of the ACA was it was totally partisan. Republicans should be blamed for most of that but anything that is passed with vote of only one side is never going to have the popularity to last. The Pubs are going to have the same problem. Maybe after this goat rope and their law being just as unpopular the two sides can get together and pass something that will work and last. I think that is something like Medicare for all but they will have to finally resolve this issue in some way. I don't think the ACA is the solution and what the Pubs pass won't be the solution but there has to be one.

The ACA did accomplish one thing, and it was the main thing it promised to do: it dramatically reduced the number of people without coverage. I agree that the ACA is not the long-term solution to healthcare, but that's one aspect that can't be rolled back. Any GOP alternative that results in uninsured numbers going back to what they were will be political suicide. That's why I think some form of single-payer is now virtually guaranteed and closer than it was before.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

The ACA did accomplish one thing, and it was the main thing it promised to do: it dramatically reduced the number of people without coverage. I agree that the ACA is not the long-term solution to healthcare, but that's one aspect that can't be rolled back. Any GOP alternative that results in uninsured numbers going back to what they were will be political suicide. That's why I think some form of single-payer is now virtually guaranteed and closer than it was before.

Did you see a bill is before Nevada's Governor that is Medicaid for all? If signed it needs a government waiver. The idea is Medicaid has even lower reimbursements and drug prices than Medicare. It will be at cost plus 1-2% for admin costs. Of course, if signed and if a federal waiver us given.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Did you see a bill is before Nevada's Governor that is Medicaid for all? If signed it needs a government waiver. The idea is Medicaid has even lower reimbursements and drug prices than Medicare. It will be at cost plus 1-2% for admin costs. Of course, if signed and if a federal waiver us given.

I did not read about that. Vermont tried to do something similar, but never applied for their waiver, because they dropped the plan as being too expensive to implement. I'll keep an eye on what happens in Nevada. If the states can find the solution to fix Congressional deadlock, that should make for some interesting debate on the subject.

Here's the LA Times story on it: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nevada-health-coverage-20170607-story.html

 

[Ladoga]

The ACA did accomplish one thing, and it was the main thing it promised to do: it dramatically reduced the number of people without coverage. I agree that the ACA is not the long-term solution to healthcare, but that's one aspect that can't be rolled back. Any GOP alternative that results in uninsured numbers going back to what they were will be political suicide. That's why I think some form of single-payer is now virtually guaranteed and closer than it was before.

What if no agree program can be accomplished and the law remains as is? It is failing and will ultimately become a financially untenable circumstance with carriers not participating. Who wins when there is no coverage or no affordable coverage? We are rapidly descending into that abyss right now. Who wins when subsidies fail to attract purchasers. Eventually, there will be a dead plan with no participation, no coverage and a mountain of debt.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

What if no agree program can be accomplished and the law remains as is? It is failing and will ultimately become a financially untenable circumstance with carriers not participating. Who wins when there is no coverage or no affordable coverage? We are rapidly descending into that abyss right now. Who wins when subsidies fail to attract purchasers. Eventually, there will be a dead plan with no participation, no coverage and a mountain of debt.

Ignoring your hyperbolic insistence that the system is about to collapse, I'll stand by what I said. If no one can come up with an alternative system that doesn't result in an increase in uninsured people, the demand for single-payer (which is already hovering right around or even above 50%, depending on how the question is posed) will only grow. Eventually it will be the only viable option. The public will not accept reverting to the pre-ACA system.

 

[hootch1]

Keep an eye on them. First thing you know they'll conjure up a 2500 page bill that no one has read and expect it to work out just fine.

Only in this case only the old thirteen old men will have read it. Hours of testimony. Hours of discussions. None of that will happen if Mitch has his way. Your comparison is the same BS that you always spout.

 

[hootch1]

Many of the issues with the ACA is the adjustments that Republicans have made. The elimination of risk of risk corridors increased risk to insurers driving up rates. Trump is now playing with the guarantees on subsidies now further raising premiums.

Republicans will claim that the ACA imploded on its own rather than admitting the sabotage they initiated. The backlash on the ACA energized the Republican base. I may be wrong, but it looks like it might go the opposite way.

Mitch has done more damage to the Senate than anyone else in my lifetime.

 

[bawlmer]

Trump could go a long way toward reversing his growing unpopularity by admitting that R&R is a failed strategy and it's time to 'repair and restore'. His radical base would go nuts, but his working class supporters would be the biggest winners. And independents would have to stop and reevaluate their current assessment that he's incapable of actual leadership. Which is exactly what he needs right now.

I wouldn't bet a cup of coffee on him having the aptitude to do it, but it would be a big step toward averting a potential flame-out of his entire presidency.

 

[Rockfish1]

Republicans are plotting to finance a huge tax cut for the wealthy by taking health insurance away from the poor, the middle class, the sick, and the elderly, so predictably:

Senate Republicans are working to finish their draft health care bill, but have no plans to publicly release it, according to two senior Senate GOP aides.

"We aren't stupid," said one of the aides.
​

This is not about health care policy, which congressional Republicans don't know or care about.

 

[iuwclurker1]

The ACA did accomplish one thing, and it was the main thing it promised to do: it dramatically reduced the number of people without coverage. I agree that the ACA is not the long-term solution to healthcare, but that's one aspect that can't be rolled back. Any GOP alternative that results in uninsured numbers going back to what they were will be political suicide. That's why I think some form of single-payer is now virtually guaranteed and closer than it was before.

To me, it did something even more basic: It put a healthcare insurance law for the entire nation on the books for the first time. That's the only reason Republicans are doing anything about this. If it wouldn't lose them senior votes, they'd just as soon repeal medicare. Republicans truly are the Fukc You Party.