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The World Watches as Obamacare Under Attack

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It’s less than two weeks since the US election, and already President-Elect Trump and his team have waffled on many of the threats made during the campaign—yet his new administration still seems bent on keeping its promise to repeal Obamacare.

Flush with victory and feeling magnanimous, Trump has rolled back other threats: he no longer wants to jail Hillary, he says, the wall he promised will probably be more like a fence, and the swamp he wanted drained has turned out to be his primary source of staff appointments. Why then, is repealing Obamacare still on his agenda, and the rhetoric against it more vociferous than ever?

Why Republicans hate Obamacare

For one, this is a program that has rankled Republicans for years—it’s a measure that runs contrary to the very foundations of their political thinking. The Obamacare Facts website credits Speaker Paul Ryan as the force behind this obsession, saying that he has made his stance on Obamacare very clear:

Ryan once stated, “Obama’s health care laws have no place in America.” and during his speech at the the Republican National Convention in Tampa Florida, Obamacare Facts reports, “ He went as far as to say that Obamacare has “no place in free society”.
According to Ryan and other Republicans, Obamacare has far too many rules, mandates, taxes, fees and fines. Both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are fans of limited government, a conviction that is in direct contrast to the “reform government” stance of most Democrats.

While Paul Ryan is the driving force, Trump will have the last say. But health services are too critical to be subject to the capricious whims of this new and unstable president. With a history of changing his mind on a dime, Trump’s views on Obamacare have changed even since the election. He has said recently that Congress should repeal and replace Obamacare at the same time, rather than one after the other — keeping certain pieces and discarding others.

How they plan to proceed

When pressed about this, Trump assured CBS correspondent Leslie Stahl that the two would happen simultaneously, saying

“We’re going to repeal it and replace it. We’re not going to have, like, a two-day period, and we’re not going to have a two-year period where there’s nothing. It will be repealed and replaced and we’ll know. And it will be great health care for much less money,”

But this approach never works. Repealing and replacing Obamacare simultaneously would be a tragic mistake. There will be unavoidable gaps as people wait to have a new system put into place. Many people, including older Americans, may be left without coverage and care. A recent provision including adult children covered by their parents, and people with preexisting illnesses may be lost forever. It could send millions of Americans back into the ranks of the uninsured. Transitions always have enormous costs upfront, and the new administration will soon find out that health-care costs have gone up, not diminished. It would be tempting, at this point, to make radical shortcuts to get to the finish line.

In the process of ‘repealing, reviewing and replacing’ these public services, all areas of medical relief, Medicare, and Medicaid, will be subject to harsh scrutiny—always looming in the background is the temptation to replace them with tax credits or a privatized CouponCare system. The more careful and gradual approach proposed by Hillary Clinton during her campaign, refining rather than repealing existing systems, will never happen.

I remember the days before Health Care

Watching this unfold makes me furious. I have lived in Canada all of my life and can remember what it was like not to have health care. My parents were subsistence farmers during the 1940’s. Farming was dangerous, but medical emergencies were treated at home—my mother had a medical book she referred to, to guide her through the many illnesses and accidents we had as children. Going to the doctor was unthinkable. In the absence of a midwife in the country, my mother was taken to the hospital for her seven births. One of the oldest in the family, I can remember my parents worrying about paying the doctor’s bill. When universal health care finally came to Canada, during the 1960s, the entire population breathed a sigh of relief.

The offensive word many Republican politicians use when discussing any of the social services, Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security is ‘entitlement’. American’s need to be hyper-vigilant that these services, sneered at by Republicans, are left intact, and not dismantled during the next four years. They need to ensure that these measures embedded in the American culture during previous years, stay available for all. I can’t pretend to understand the details of the US health plan—many American’s are confused about it as well. But I can perceive the direction in which the new administration is going, and the philosophy that underscores it. I can add my observations and voice to the objections that are sure to become a flood as the months go by.

I understand, through the lens of history, that services to ordinary citizens, especially the elderly and the poor, are always in danger during times of stress and change. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, said it best in this speech to Labour in 1977:

“The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

23 thoughts on “The World Watches as Obamacare Under Attack”

  1. I can’t wait to see what Trumpcare looks like. Or Ryancare. And how much their fans love it. See, that’s what I’m counting on: even if a person voted for Trump, they still have a body that needs health care. And if things like preexisting condition and 26-yr-old dependent aren’t maintained (a big IF if they dismantle the mandate), or if prices are anything north of very very cheap, the Trump voters (who are not in the 1%) will be very surprised. And Trump or Ryan will have the honor having the new plan named after them as with Hillary Care or Obamacare. So it needs to be viable. If it is, we all win. If it isn’t, they can’t blame Democrats and will own all the glory. They’re calling it the Pottery Barn Rule, famously invented by Colin Powell re Iraq: you break it, you own it. Pray for us, Canada. America is on the verge of becoming a rogue nation.

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      I’ve never heard about the ‘Pottery Barn Rule’…how intriguing! But yes, Lynne, surprise and shock may be an unavoidable outcome for the voters who put Trump in the White House. Unfortunately, everyone else will be dragged into it, and will probably suffer. As you can tell from my post, I’m ‘sitting on the edge of my seat’ over this! I care about so many issues at stake after this election (especially foreign affairs), but health care seems so fundamental, and a basic right in a civilized nation.

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      Thanks, Pat. We are close, aren’t we? As I work in my little cliff garden, I can see the Olympic Mountain Range in the distance.(Now I sound like Sarah Palin… “I can see Russia from my house! Hahaha) Thanks for being a constant reader, Pat!

  2. A very thoughtful and well-written post. Thank you. I find it embarrassing that a country with so much wealth and abundance has issues with assuring that health care is a basic human right. If anything we should be working to refine, improve and make Obamacare more accessible. The real problem as I see it, is not that the law is fraught with taxes and fines, but that the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance industry continue to raise prices, along with hospitalization costs. It is very expensive to be sick in America. It can bankrupt you. As long as we have a “for-profit” health care system, Obamacare or any other type of system will be in peril. It doesn’t seem patriotic to me to make a mother choose between putting food on the table or buying antibiotics for her child. Health care in America, like so many other things is in the midst of a moral crisis. What is most important: profits or people?

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      Decades ago, Socialist (gasp!) Tommy Douglas, premier of one of our provinces (Saskatchewan), had the foresight to initiate universal health care. It was a mammoth undertaking, and he succeeded, so today we have inherited this amazing system. Don’t misunderstand, we do have issues with it (threats of privatization for people who can afford it, long waiting lists for surgery, a shortage of doctors in some areas.) A ‘for profit’ system seems just wrong to us. For the past few days I have seen an escalation in the number of advertisements for insurance policies for medication and treatment…is this a sign of the times? Thanks, Stephanie.

    1. Totally agree. Wish it wasn’t so—we must not take our attention off of it, though, as many Facebook friends seem to be doing!

  3. I’ve never understood the American healthcare system. Good healthcare is a basic human right and shouldn’t be driven by commercial concerns. Our NHS isn’t perfect, but it still offers free care to all, although our ever more right wing government is trying very hard to hand chunks of it to their friends in the business world. It will be a sad day when they achieve their unspoken, unmandated aim of dismantling the service so we are left with being treated if we can afford it. Trump is a moron, we all know that, but to say that he will just stop one healthcare system and immediately replace it with another is a cretinous statement, even by his standards. ‘Trumpcare’ does have a ring to it though, when you know that in the U.K. a ‘trump’ is another word for a fart 😊

    1. Cute. (the f… part). For someone who seems to have become so rich, he truly does not seem to know how much work needs to go into initiating or organizing anything. I can only think that other people have done everything for him! And yes, our Health Care system is constantly under threat as well, from private interests. Thanks, Clive, for this illuminating comment!

  4. I’m in New Zealand – we have public health care for all – “but” you might find yourself on a long waiting list for certain types of surgery, depends of course how urgent. Of course, that is not for you to say “I urgently need a hip replacement…” it’s up to the health professional how “urgent it is”… and how far you are up/down on the wait-list.

    Many people have private health insurance, or they save up to have surgery done under the private care…

    There are different $$ rates when you visit a local GP – some more expensive than others, depending on if they are registered (don’t know that works really)…

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      It appears that your health plan covers basic needs, and that is vastly better than having no coverage at all. We also have long waiting lists for operations, but urgency is taken into consideration. Medicine, of course, is only partially covered here, and is according to income. Count your blessings!

      1. I do count my blessings…

        Pills/Potions have different pricing structure, depending on both your age and/or whether you have access to a community service card. This later I do have access to but some medicines including one of mine is not subsidised, but I can claim it back once a year via disability allowance.

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      Trying to think less about the Trump negatives today. Although we do need to stay alert and vigilant.

  5. It’s all so infuriating. And it’s hard not to feel hopeless and helpless. I can’t understand how 60 million people voted for this man in the amounts that gave him the win in the Electoral College, while Hillary won the popular vote by over a million votes! But we can’t give up. We have to fight against the bigotry, the attempts to undermine the social safety net, and the denigration of women and immigrants. I can’t yet imagine the New Year.

    1. I think people will have to be very focused in their protests. There are many good minds out there who can group and teach people how to do it effectively. Most of all, people have to believe in the process, and not become disheartened.

  6. Again, a well reasoned and thoughtful response to what is happening in the United States. I agree we need to stay focused, believe in the processes and institutions that have served us well for so long, make our voices heard, and not become entrenched in our separate silos. This is a tall order, but we made it through the depression and the turmoil of the sixties and we can make it through whatever lies ahead.

    1. Still the Lucky Few

      People like you and I, who have lived through such periods of turbulent change, know in our hearts, just how resilient we humans are. Some people will no doubt hide away from it all, but some of us will stay engaged. I believe we need to! Thanks, Aunt Beulah!

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