If I had more time, this would be a long post. But I can only spank boiled ire down on the page for a short time today. A bill developed in secret with “screw you” core elements is not dead yet. It needs to be. Wrongly labeled “better care,” the only healthy improvement it contains is wealthy peoples’ income from tax breaks. The rest of us will suffer. This bill will take health care away from tens of millions, give generous tax breaks to the wealthy, cause major economic hits to great swaths of society, and is opposed by most Americans. It is also opposed by the health care community (from big insurers to hospitals and medical associations), by the AARP, and a long list of other groups. It has an approval rating among the public of just 17%. It’s the least popular legislation in 30 years (and has gotten less popular since this article appeared).
It is amazing that such a terrible piece of legislation is alive at all. Republicans developed it in secret and are trying to ram it down our throats. Conveniently, we are distracted by the Trump circus. Call your senators and encourage them to vote against it (or thank them if they are already committed to doing so).
Don’t be confused by the uncertainty regarding details of this legislation—there is nothing good on the table, just different flavors of really bad. This is purely a party-before-country ideological march over a cliff, for which tens of millions of Americans will suffer immediately (health-wise and economically) and more over the longer term. Here are some of the general outcomes.
Here are details on the bill’s effects. And here is Alaska as an example.