keep your friends close but your enemies closer
Published on March 25, 2017 By Anthony R In Current Events

What a disaster. Its hard to imagine what Paul Ryan and the architects of the failed healthcare bill were hoping to accomplish, but I suspect they imagined that by presenting a somewhat moderate bill that preserved many aspects of the Obamacare law, they could then attract Democrats to the plan and have a bipartisan triumph. If that's what they were hoping for then they were set up for failure from the start by someone who had some lofty ideas. If they go back to craft another bill, (I suspect they will), they will almost certainly craft one that will be far more conservative than what we just saw. It will have to be a full repeal now to guarantee that it at least makes it out of the House to the Senate. Hard to see how Paul Ryan stays in charge after crafting such a signature legislation that went down in such flames. Its also really disgusting to see the smug Democrats who created this mess in the first place grinning in triumph after watching people who were trying, but failed to fix it.


Comments
on Mar 26, 2017

Paul Ryan Failed Because His Bill Was a Dumpster Fire

"It was bad policy, not poor tactics or negotiating skills, that doomed the GOP’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare."

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/paul-ryan-failed-because-his-bill-was-a-dumpster-fire-214952

 

on Mar 26, 2017

They apparently didn't think any of us knew (or remembered) they'd already passed a full Obamacare repeal multiple times.  Blame is irrelevant, I'm just glad the thing was pulled.  Now, get on with repeal, finally.

on Mar 26, 2017

How about medical insurance that covers only large
medical expenses,and if you purchase at 18 years old you can lock
in a low rate for life, maybe $20 a month lets say.

on Mar 26, 2017

Insurance companies are not dumb.  If we pull the rug out from under their monopolistic practices, give them a level playing field allowing them to sell to any willing customer and the freedom to offer innovative products, they'll figure out things like Iben's suggestion (a good one - maybe not locked in for life, but periodically increasing premiums like term life insurance, up to age 65).  We have to find a way to let smaller insurance companies compete, though, or break up the few that dominate the market now.

on Mar 26, 2017

Daiwa

They apparently didn't think any of us knew (or remembered) they'd already passed a full Obamacare repeal multiple times
Yes. I think they should have put Ryancare up for a vote to see where everyone stood on it. I also think they should have challenged opponents like Rand Paul to craft what they viewed as a more acceptable repeal and then hold a vote on that. The whole thing just came off like a sham and Ryan must have known it wouldn't get the votes it needed from the start. The worst aspect of this debacle is how emboldened Democrats have become over the failure. They have a lot of nerve to celebrate after putting our healthcare system on life support while setting it back 5+ years.