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We already know the AHCA would take health care away for 24 million people. But guess what? There’s so much more.
via CBPP.
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- The GOP’s “Really, Really Good” Healthcare Reset is Really, Really Worse.
- The Republican healthcare bill
would have gutted Medicaid, weakened Medicare, and allowed insurers to
charge older Americans up to five times as much as young adults, among
other travesties.
President Trump champions the GOP’s American Health Care Act, which guts Medicaid, undermines the solvency of Medicare, and allows insurers to charge older Americans up to five times as much as people in their 20s.
Max Richtman via The Hill.
The bill that has emerged from closed-door negotiations between House and Senate Republicans remains deeply harmful to the working class, the elderly, and the sick. The only good news is that the bill retains the medical expense deduction which so many older Americans rely upon. The rest is bad news.
- Triggers an automatic $25 billion cut to Medicare.
- Blows a $1.5 trillion hole in the federal debt, inviting future cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- Zeroes-out the tax penalty for the Obamacare coverage mandate, which will cause an estimated 13 million Americans to lose insurance – and result in higher premiums for older adults (an average of $1,500 in 2019).
- Uses the paltry “Chained CPI” inflation index to calculate adjustments to tax brackets and deductions, which will not only result in tax increases, but could ultimately result in lower Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).
More on this issue can be read here.
Meanwhile, a President who was willing to strip more than 20 million Americans of their health coverage in the blink of an eye has the gumption to paint Democrats as “extremists” on health care. If Medicare is under threat from anyone, it’s Trump and his allies in Congress.
When it comes to healthcare – and especially seniors’ health care – Trump chooses to dwell in an Orwellian ‘opposite world’ where Republican attempts to cut and privatize Medicare are actually meant to “protect” the program. Apparently, President Trump and his GOP allies believe they must destroy Medicare in order to save it.
You can read more from this blog post by clicking here.
Because good, explanatory journalism is in short supply and TV shouting matches don’t tell you much, I decided to use this space to discuss some of the possible changes that could soon affect millions of people in their 60s and older.
First, let’s consider Medicaid, the federal-state program that finances healthcare for the poor and long term care for the middle class. Virtually all the talk about cutting Medicaid by more than $800 billion over the next 10 years has centered on the 11 million people who gained health coverage under the Medicaid provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.
Most of those Americans will lose their health coverage if the legislation the House passed in early May to replace Obamacare gets through the Senate. Equally affected will be seniors and their families who now count on Medicaid to fund long-term care.
via Herald-News.
Related Reading:
- Trump 2018 Budget Literally Leaves Seniors in the Cold.
- It guts Medicaid, violating another Trump campaign pledge. Programs that feed needy seniors, keep them warm in their homes and pay for long-term care are eliminated or slashed.
- CBO Confirms: GOP Healthcare Bill is a Huge Setback for Older Americans.
- Medicaid currently helps pay for long term care for millions of seniors nationwide. The CBO estimates that some 14 million Medicaid recipients would lose coverage under the AHCA – or not be able to attain it in the first place – within the next 10 years.
Trump’s “Budget for a Better America” also includes dozens of spending cuts and policy overhauls that frame the early stages of the debate for the 2020 election. For example, Trump calls for cutting $845 billion from Medicare, the popular health care program for the elderly that in the past he had largely said he would protect.
via Washington Post.
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The Trump budget flat-lines or eliminates federal grants for several programs that help lower-income seniors – including Meals on Wheels and home heating assistance:
Read more about this budget by clicking here.
House GOP Votes to Gut Medicaid, Weaken Medicare & Put Seniors’ healthcare at Risk
The National Committee strongly condemns the American Health Care Act (AHCA) just passed by the House, which needlessly puts the healthcare of millions of older Americans in jeopardy. “Despite the bill’s name, risking the health of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens to give the wealthy an $880 billion tax cut is tremendously uncaring — and does not reflect real American values…”
More on this issue via Entitled to Know.
First to go: Traditional Medicare will be shredded when the Affordable Care Act is repealed.
As the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare noted, “destroying traditional Medicare in favor of a privatized CouponCare system is at the top of the Republican agenda.” Paul Ryan has long had the program in his sights and while President-Elect Donald Trump has sent mixed messages about what he specifically plans to do, his standard blanket answer of “it will be better” hasn’t assuaged many fears.
via Huffington Post.
Related Reading:
- The Trump Conundrum: He Can’t Keep His Promise to Seniors While Also Repealing Obamacare.
- The problem for President-elect Trump is that the American people fully
expect his administration to now keep that campaign
promise. Unfortunately, preserving Medicare and Social Security benefits
could be among the first of his promises to go.
In his campaign for president, Donald Trump pledged to protect Medicare and Social Security. But in recent proposed cabinet appointments, he appears to have fast-tracked the privatization of both.
The bottom line is that retirement will be a much more costly enterprise if privatization goes through.
via FORBES.
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Lawmakers returning to Washington this coming week will find a familiar quagmire on health care legislation and a budget deadline dramatized by the prospect of a protracted battle between President Donald Trump and Democrats over his border wall.
via New York Times.
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