One of President Trump’s most repeated campaign promises was to repeal and replace Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act. It was something that he claimed over and over would be a simple process, and that he was essentially going to become singlehandedly responsible for fixing what he called ‘the mess’ that was the Affordable Care Act. As most Americans will tell you, the Affordable Care Act is no where near as bad as Republicans want it to be, but it is in the best interest of their narrative to keep the tone as negative as possible.
The fact of that matter is that Trump and his administration had no real plan for repealing and replacing the ACA, but that didn’t stop them from spewing their rhetoric. It has now been more than one hundred days since Trump took office, a classic and accurate milestone for past presidents in terms of their overall effectiveness and potential. In those hundred days, Trump and his team released an initial version of their healthcare bill that was so wrought with horribleness that it did not pass through the House.
At the end of March, the Republicans pulled that version of the healthcare bill and made plans to release a new version. That version was released on April 25th, and it included some provisions that would have literally threatened the lives of millions of Americans. The new bill had provisions that would give states the ability to circumvent a ban on discriminations against those with pre-existing conditions in the ACA. That alone is horrible, but the bill also had language that would give lawmakers, their families, and their staffs an exemption from those provisions. The exemption status of those included in the bill have since been removed by its author, Tom MacArthur of New Jersey, but only after the glaring hypocrisy was caught. This is a perfect example of the hypocrisy portrayed by just about every Republican lawmaker.
The Affordable Care Act has a provision that requires all members of Congress, including their staffs, to buy their health insurance from the ACA Marketplace. The provision is meant to showcase the fact that if the coverage is good enough for Americans, it should be good enough for those that represent them. There appears to be no such provision in the Republican healthcare bill.
Low-income families that come across the need for care due to a pre-existing condition could easily fall into life or death scenarios should this bill pass. Their insurance could refuse to pay for expensive medical procedures, forcing them to take on burdens they never dreamed of or planned for. The original version allowed lawmakers and those closest to them an exemption from such discrimination, which proves once again that they believe they deserve better coverage or lesser rules than the rest of America.
It only took one day for the exemption to be removed, and frankly it is amazing that it was removed at all. There have been plenty of instances where hypocrisy has been directly found and yet nothing changed. This is just another example of how the Republican healthcare bill is meant to favor those in power and those with vast resources over those average Americans working hard to make ends meet.
The author of the bill intended to attract conservative support with the bill since it would see the insurance premiums of those with pre-existing conditions skyrocket since they are considered a high-risk group, and in turn the premiums for healthy Americans would drop. The bill would have those who are most in need paying for the insurance of others through lofty premiums they can barely afford but are forced to if they want the treatment they require.