The AHCA Vote

buz · May 4, 2017

I couldn't find a thread for this that seemed appropriate...forgive me if I've missed it

Just sort of want to spread the word that the House is voting on the newest incarnation of the health care bill this morning, and it looks like it might pass. So, if you're USian, and you have an opinion, please call your house reps early, and if it passes, plan on calling your senators...

Some reasons why it's important (sorry for formatting weirdness, can't figure out how to fix):

Statement from American Medical Association:

None of the legislative tweaks under consideration changes the serious harm to patients and the health care delivery system if the ACHA passes...Americans with pre-existing conditions will be stuck in second-class health care coverage--if they are able to obtain coverage at all

Article from The Hill:

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is not expected to have completed its analysis detailing the effects of the latest changes to the legislation overhauling the nation’s healthcare system in time for the Thursday vote.

Leadership’s decision to press ahead with the floor action means lawmakers will be voting on the bill without updated figures from their nonpartisan scorekeeper on how many people would lose coverage under the bill or how much it would cost.

Article from The Wall Street Journal:

Many people who obtain health insurance through their employers—about half of the country—could be at risk of losing protections that limit out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, due to a little-noticed provision of the House Republican health-care bill to be considered Thursday, health-policy experts say.

Article from The Daily Dot:

Pool or no pool, though, critics say that AHCA’s pre-existing conditions waiver allows states to discriminate by gender. “Medical issues” that states can consider pre-existing conditions include: postpartum depression, C-sections, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Under AHCA, states can also decide what is considered “essential benefits,” such as coverage for pregnancy, maternity care, and birth control.

Another from the Hill:

So far, we know that about 24 million Americans stand to lose their health insurance coverage if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is replaced with the American Health Care Act (AHCA). We know that most of those 24 million people will be low-income. ... The AHCA initially retained the ACA’s ban on discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. But an amendment to the AHCA bill offered last week by New Jersey Congressman Tom MacArthur and North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows would make it easier for health insurers to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. [...]

By letting states waive the ACA prohibition on charging people with pre-existing health conditions higher premiums, protections for those who’ve previously been medically treated for sexual assault would be gutted.

And there's this also

[FONT=&quot]As Republicans rush to vote on their latest ObamaCare repeal-and-replace plan, it appears to still include a waiver exempting members of Congress and their staffs from losing the healthcare bill's popular provisions. [/FONT]

ElaineA · May 4, 2017

Unfortunately, many Reps phones are going directly to voice mail and there is no room to leave a message. They have gone into hiding.

I read today an opinion that we cannot let up on the representatives and turn our collective eye immediately to the Senate if this passes. Reps who vote for this must be made to feel the pain of that vote. Demonstrate at their offices, keep calling and faxing their offices to say SHAME. Keep filling their voicemail boxes so they can't wipe their hands of this so easily, or they will just run over us time and time and time again.

Most of those voting on this bill haven't even SEEN the bill. The public hasn't seen a bill. The CBO didn't score the bill. And if you don't think this legislation will apply to you because you have employee coverage, think again. It will cost us all, since employee plans will now be allowed to annually- AND lifetiime-cap individuals within the plan. Only Corporate Insurance and the 2% make out well. They will see a $2 trillion tax break.

buz · May 4, 2017

ElaineA said:
Unfortunately, many Reps phones are going directly to voice mail and there is no room to leave a message. They have gone into hiding.

True -- and I went through several calls to busy signals before I got through this morning, but I did get through. Just sort of...wanting people to try, if they can, and haven't already.

If you already have, thank you

Rhoda Nightingale · May 4, 2017

If you can't call, email! Those are still open! (Just saying...)

ElaineA · May 4, 2017

Yes, I advocate KEEP TRYING, just trying to expose the craven ones for what they are.

Kaiser-Kun · May 4, 2017

If everything goes to hell, you can always come to Mexico for good, affordable healthcare (uh, but come by plane and skip the border cities).

Brightdreamer · May 4, 2017

ElaineA said:
Most of those voting on this bill haven't even SEEN the bill. The public hasn't seen a bill. The CBO didn't score the bill. And if you don't think this legislation will apply to you because you have employee coverage, think again. It will cost us all, since employee plans will now be allowed to annually- AND lifetiime-cap individuals within the plan. Only Corporate Insurance and the 2% make out well. They will see a $2 trillion tax break.

Do any of us honestly believe that the ACHA is about the content of the bill, or even about helping "fix" the ACA, rather than about the GOP throwing their weight around and destroying any shred of legacy by the "black man" they so despised - and about kowtowing to insurance lobbyist and other backers? Any of us? They're going to a vote without reading, without waiting for a budget analysis, without anything a remotely sane elected official would want to know before casting a vote that affects every life in the country (except their own - they already exempted themselves.) This is not about the American people. This is not about any facts or truth related to medicine or health care, as pleas from doctors' associations have fallen on deaf ears. It is about power. Full stop.

As I mentioned in another thread, my mother has already told me, actual words and not implying, that she cannot afford to live if it passes, and she doesn't want to. Nobody else in this house can afford it, either. I have an aunt who goes in for surgery related to a slow-growing, entirely-treatable/curable cancer - she'll likely be unable to afford to live, either, with a "pre-existing condition." I couldn't afford so much as a hangnail. And, no, my rep doesn't listen to me. He actually complained about people trying to contact him a while back, like it wasn't his job to hear what his constituents wanted. His office is kept locked. His mailbox is full.

And watch them smile as they vote. Watch them smile and laugh as they show just how little they care. Watch them smile as they put the gun to the head of my parents, my family, me, and slowly draw back the trigger...

regdog · May 4, 2017

I just love how those sleazy bastards are keeping the coverage for pre-existing conditions for themselves, their families, and staff and cutting it for the rest of America.

AW Admin · May 4, 2017

regdog said:
I just love how those sleazy bastards are keeping the coverage for pre-existing conditions for themselves, their families, and staff and cutting it for the rest of America.

Yep.

cbenoi1 · May 4, 2017

ElaineA said:
The CBO didn't score the bill.

The CBO has a long history of coming up with wonky budget numbers, so a formal evaluation is not really needed. *shrug* That piece hasn't gone through Senate yet...

-cb

Wolfalisk · May 4, 2017

I never see this mentioned: Republicans are sent to Washington to protect private wealth. Wealth consolidation requires that poor people die. The non-provision of healthcare constitutes a magnitude of separation between this culling and the government official that instituted it so that he or she can lay their head on their pillow tonight, confident that they are doing their Christ's holy work.

rugcat · May 4, 2017

Repeal passes with 217 votes.

It seems doubtful the bill as written will pass the Senate, but after Republicans in the Senate tweak it a little, it's certainly not out of the question.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare

Maze Runner · May 4, 2017

That's not good news. We pay more after Obamacare, but if our paying a few hundred more means that people have healthcare they can't afford otherwise, I'm fine with that.

Myrealana · May 4, 2017

My rep voted No.

I'm flabbergasted. I wrote and called and tweeted and emailed, and I figured he was a lost cause. He issued a statement this morning saying he was voting yes.

And then he voted against it. His vote didn't matter, of course, but still, I'm shocked and amazed that he listened to anyone other than Trump or Ryan.

ElaineA · May 4, 2017

Myrealana said:
My rep voted No.

I'm flabbergasted. I wrote and called and tweeted and emailed, and I figured he was a lost cause. He issued a statement this morning saying he was voting yes.

And then he voted against it. His vote didn't matter, of course, but still, I'm shocked and amazed that he listened to anyone other than Trump or Ryan.

I was shocked to see mine vote no, too. He is a known moderate, but he was a lean yes, implying in a statement he would vote yes if needed to pass it. Like Myrealana, I called and tweeted and emailed and felt quite certain it was a lost cause. But this morning, before the vote, he released a statement saying he simply couldn't vote for it in light of the impact on his constituents. Count me as flabbergasted, too.

Sage · May 4, 2017

Even though it passed, those kind of stories give me a little hope in the system, Elaine & Myrealana.

Maze Runner · May 4, 2017

Once these reps see that their jobs may actually be on the line, they'll listen. Grassroots, indeed.

The upside to this fiasco is the activism.

Melanii · May 4, 2017

I learned I have several "per-existing conditions", but I don't have insurance anyway.

What does all this mean, exactly? I'm very confused. o.o

nighttimer · May 4, 2017

Brightdreamer said:
Do any of us honestly believe that the ACHA is about the content of the bill, or even about helping "fix" the ACA, rather than about the GOP throwing their weight around and destroying any shred of legacy by the "black man" they so despised - and about kowtowing to insurance lobbyist and other backers? Any of us? They're going to a vote without reading, without waiting for a budget analysis, without anything a remotely sane elected official would want to know before casting a vote that affects every life in the country (except their own - they already exempted themselves.) This is not about the American people. This is not about any facts or truth related to medicine or health care, as pleas from doctors' associations have fallen on deaf ears. It is about power. Full stop.

As I mentioned in another thread, my mother has already told me, actual words and not implying, that she cannot afford to live if it passes, and she doesn't want to. Nobody else in this house can afford it, either. I have an aunt who goes in for surgery related to a slow-growing, entirely-treatable/curable cancer - she'll likely be unable to afford to live, either, with a "pre-existing condition." I couldn't afford so much as a hangnail. And, no, my rep doesn't listen to me. He actually complained about people trying to contact him a while back, like it wasn't his job to hear what his constituents wanted. His office is kept locked. His mailbox is full.

And watch them smile as they vote. Watch them smile and laugh as they show just how little they care. Watch them smile as they put the gun to the head of my parents, my family, me, and slowly draw back the trigger...

This kind of says it all and what you didn't say, Jimmy Kimmel, of all people, said the rest.

"I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week." That's how Jimmy Kimmel began an unusually heartfelt monologue on his late-night show Monday.

"You know I try not to get emotional, but it was a scary story," he said, already tearing up. "And before I go into it, I want you to know it has a happy ending. OK? So when I'm telling this, don't get too upset. Leave that to me."

In an emotional, 13-minute recounting of events on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel said that last week, his wife gave birth to a son, William "Billy" Kimmel, the couple's second child. It was an easy delivery, but a few hours after the birth, a nurse noticed a murmur in the baby's heart. Kimmel describes how they started doing some tests to see whether it might just be fluid in the lungs, "potentially a minor thing."

But the baby's lungs were fine, Kimmel said, which meant his heart wasn't. "So now more doctors and nurses and equipment come in. It's — it's a terrifying thing. You know, my wife is back in the recovery room, she has no idea what's going on. And I'm standing in the middle of a lot of very worried-looking people — kind of like right now — who are trying to figure out what the problem is."

Doctors did an echocardiogram and found that Billy was born with a heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. "It's hard to explain," said Kimmel, "but basically the pulmonary valve was completely blocked, and he has a hole in the wall between the left and right sides of his heart."

Last Monday, Kimmel said, a surgeon "opened [Billy's] chest and fixed one of the two defects in his heart. He went in there with a scalpel and did some kind of magic that I couldn't even begin to explain. He opened the valve, and the operation was a success. It was the longest three hours of my life." The baby will need to have another heart surgery in three to six months, and another procedure when he's a teenager to replace the valve he has now.

"We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, but until a few years ago millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all," he said. "You know, before 2014 if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you'd never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition. You were born with a pre-existing condition and if your parents didn't have medical insurance you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a pre-existing condition. If your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make."

"Whatever your party, whatever you believe, whoever you support, we need to make sure that the people who are supposed to represent us, people who are meeting about this right now in Washington, understand that very clearly," Kimmel said.

"Let's stop with the nonsense. This isn't football. There are no teams. We are the team. It's the United States. Don't let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants. We need to take care of each other."

Kimmel made a sincere and heartfelt plea to Americans to display a little decency, kindness, and civility toward each other in what has been an extraordinarily indecent, unkind and uncivil time.

But there's always someone who takes a whiz on that idea. It came in the form of a Joe Walsh (not the guitarist/singer for The Eagles) Tweet:

"Sorry Jimmy Kimmel. Your sad story doesn't obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else's health care."

Walsh is a former Congressman who served one term before losing his seat. Since then, he's moved on to right-wing talk radio, but you can be certain, what he said about Jimmy Kimmel's baby son is an ugly and selfish sentiment shared by the majority of his former GOP colleagues.

Elections have consequences. This is one of them.

Maze Runner said:
Once these reps see that their jobs may actually be on the line, they'll listen. Grassroots, indeed.

The upside to this fiasco is the activism.

The downside to this fiasco is that activism isn't going to be enough to make the Republicans suffer and pay for this vote today.

It will take organization, money, honest-to-God candidates that can win in November '18 and a lot of dogged determination not to let this go by without Republicans suffering the consequences. The GOP was in this for the long haul. Now it's our turn.

Maze Runner · May 4, 2017

It will take time, but I think it will work in the long run. Could be wishful thinking, I'm an optimist to the point of a fool, but only because if I'm brutally honest with myself, I can make the bleakest pessimist look like Mary Poppins. So I just don't go there.

Thank you for citing that Jimmy Kimmel thing. Not a fan, never watch his show, don't think he's particularly funny--but, I was literally moved to watery eyes watching that clip. Even hours later, while the TV was on mute, I was touched in the same way. Not just for his baby boy, but in the sense that knowing when you hit your bottom, most people come out with an extra dose of compassion. I just don't get it. I don't know how people can be so cold. I don't know where this lack of empathy comes from. It's enough to make me shut down. But I can't. Because-- and here comes Mr. Sunshine again, but I truly believe that most people don't think that way. It's enough to make you lug around a broken heart.

regdog · May 4, 2017

Melanii said:
I learned I have several "per-existing conditions", but I don't have insurance anyway.

What does all this mean, exactly? I'm very confused. o.o

What is means, is that should you try and get health insurance, you will go into a high risk pool, where your pre-existing conditions will be factored into what your premiums will be.

For example, those who have had and survived cancer will likely face premiums of $28,000 a year.
Autism-$8000
Asthma-$4000

Scribhneoir · May 4, 2017

Myrealana said:
My rep voted No.

I'm flabbergasted.

My rep voted Yes. I'm not flabbergasted, since it's just what I expected from the nasty ass piece of repugnance known as Mimi Walters.

I e-mailed yesterday to ask that she do the right thing and vote No. She didn't, of course, so today I e-mailed her and told her exactly what I thought of her. Think I'll get a reply? :mob

regdog · May 4, 2017

I'm disabled with two mental health conditions, anxiety/agoraphobia and depression. I've been working hard to recover and return to work. Now if I do, I will be uninsurable. If I can find a health insurance carrier that will take someone with 2 pre-existing mental health conditions, my premiums could start at $24,000 a year. Although given that I have two pre-existing physical condtions as well, asthma being one of them, the more likely scenario is $32,000.

So, if I can recover and return to work, I will never be able to afford health insurance, or I can stay disabled, maintain my Medicare coverage, but live in hand to mouth poverty. Choices, choices.

Brightdreamer · May 4, 2017

rugcat said:
Repeal passes with 217 votes.

It seems doubtful the bill as written will pass the Senate, but after Republicans in the Senate tweak it a little, it's certainly not out of the question.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare

If this doesn't, dollars to donut-holes the next one will. They're learning what noises they need to make to sway the holdouts. Third time's the charm...

nighttimer said:
The downside to this fiasco is that activism isn't going to be enough to make the Republicans suffer and pay for this vote today.

It will take organization, money, honest-to-God candidates that can win in November '18 and a lot of dogged determination not to let this go by without Republicans suffering the consequences. The GOP was in this for the long haul. Now it's our turn.

One can only hope... but that assumes a continued free and clear election system, and a free and clear media presenting all three sides (the three-edged sword: your side, my side, and the truth, as the Vorlons of Babylon 5 said), which is looking a little iffy.

Maze Runner said:
I just don't get it. I don't know how people can be so cold. I don't know where this lack of empathy comes from.

That's easy. The concepts of empathy, dignity, and even basic inalienable human rights are obstacles to their power and profit margins. Therefore, such concepts, while useful for the odd speech or campaign slogan or commercial, really don't enter into their thought processes at all. It's all about power. Some may rationalize it: "If I don't, someone else will" or "At least I'm not as bad as So-And-So" or "It's for the greater good." Some may believe that their power was a gift from God, obligating them to use it to control the masses, who were put on Earth to serve masters like themselves. Some may simply see others as nonentities save in terms of cost or profit potential.

We hold these new truths to be self-evident: that all Men are created for profit...

Melanii said:
I learned I have several "per-existing conditions", but I don't have insurance anyway.

What does all this mean, exactly? I'm very confused. o.o

It means - and don't take this wrong - that you're young and sheltered, which is a luxury you should relish while you can. If anyone else has you on their insurance, they will Pay. I mean, from the gut, up through the heart, and out through the nose Pay - five-figures Pay, in many cases - because you have pre-existing conditions, and as a GOP lawmaker recently said, good people don't have pre-existing conditions. If you are on your own, and simply don't choose to be insured, then you'd best hope and pray to whatever god, force, or flying spaghetti monster you believe in you never become ill or have an accident, because the odds of you affording insurance short of a Powerball win are increasingly astronomical. (It can happen faster than you think. I was thirty and uninsured and, I thought, in average health when I found myself faced with a life-and-death situation, an ovarian cystadenoma that ran out of control and hit 25 pounds by the time it was removed - they grow fast when they decide to. Despite assurances from all concerned, my request for temporary Medicaid assistance was denied. If not for the charity program at the hospital, which I still consider myself lucky beyond reason to have been part of, my family would've been bankrupted - all for a problem that one surgery cured. Just one simple surgery, to get me back to being a productive tax-paying citizen. And under the new regime's logic, it would've been better for me to die eleven and a half years ago. If it had been cancer, as they initially thought... well, my first thought on hearing that word was "Great, I'm dying and I'm bankrupting my family on the way out." And it would've been accurate.)

Melanii · May 4, 2017

regdog said:
What is means, is that should you try and get health insurance, you will go into a high risk pool, where your pre-existing conditions will be factored into what your premiums will be.

For example, those who have had and survived cancer will likely face premiums of $28,000 a year.
Autism-$8000
Asthma-$4000

Well, I *was* planning to get insurance if I got Disability...

Does this mean, if I try to see a doctor for something (back pain, birth control, etc.), they could deny me treatment regardless if I have insurance or not?

Sorry, I'm just trying to understand. D:

The AHCA Vote

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