Friday, June 23, 2017

McCaskill; Stand up to the Republican health care plan

(From Sen. Claire McCaskill)

It's now or never.

Senate Republicans are about to bring their disaster of a healthcare bill to the floor. They've been working behind closed doors for weeks, and now we know why they kept it a secret: This plan will raise costs for older Americans, strip protections away from people with preexisting conditions, and leave millions without health insurance. It's just as bad as we thought – and according to POLITICO, it's coming to a vote AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK. We're running out of time to stop it.

If you care about protecting healthcare coverage for millions, now is the time to make your voice heard. Add your name to tell the Senate: Stop the GOP healthcare plan!

Sign the Petition

Thanks for speaking out.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

This stupid attempt at replacing the ACA will adversely affect all voters Republican, Democrat, Independents, and the financially challenged on Medicaid. I'm of the opinion that there is no need to stand against it, let the GOP do it and watch them all voted out of office when people are unable to afford medical treatment and lose loved ones. All done to ensure the freaking rich get a tax cut, how stupid!

Mo Rage said...


So you know, Randy, that preloads your email address and zip code as is, on the petition.

Anonymous said...

@9:32 This is the same wait and see approach that I took with the original Obamacare (ACA) and it turned out to be completely true. It devastated the democrats, got a lot of them voted out of office, they lost the majority and who knows how many governorships and state and local reps. I don't like the new plan either. It just kicks the can down the road again to another election cycle. The government has no business in our Healthcare system. They have most people convinced that they are the solution to a problem that they created. I'm not buying it, but people are convinced that the same people who screwed things up in the first place will somehow fix it this time.

Harvey Hutchinson said...

Obamacare is the disaster !! In half of Missouri counties it's non existent. The insurance companies all pulled out because it's so bad.
Do pray tell how can this corrupt ignorant Senator think there's anyway NOT to repeal and replace the horrific Obamacare?!!
Does she advocate half her constituents having no options?
Just another baying at the moon obstructionist.

Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text

Anonymous said...

Obamacare saved my life - and is still saving it as I suffer from a chronic condition - thanks to its provisions dealing with preexisting conditions and the elimination of annual and lifetime caps. Both of these protections will go away if the Senate Bill replaces Obamacare. Yes, even pe-existing conditions protections are eroded although the GOP liars in congress claim that it isn't so - their replacement bill is sneaky when it comes to preexisting conditions. It pretends to prohibit discrimination, but it will permit states to strip "essential" benefits from policies so that, while they can't deny cancer patients, say, coverage, they may offer ony policies that don't cover cancer or offer such coverage only through prohibitively expensive policies.

As for the tired Obamacare "disaster" talking point that one of the comments parrots - the problems are exaggerated and could be fixed if the GOP congress weren't actively trying to sabotage the program. The exchanges still work well in many states - I personally know folks who get their insurance on the exchanges and are quite happy with the product. The current situation in some locales where insurers are leaving the market are exacerbated by the uncertainty attendant on the repeal and replace process as well as the Trump administrations failure to renew the low-income subsidies upon which the industry relies. I expect that since we have a GOP congress that won't act in good faith, the problem will only get worse - so the commenter, Mr. Hutchinson, is right in a back-handed kind of way.

Of course, there is the fact that if we are to believe the experts, the House and Senate bills are likely to plunge the individual insurance markets into a real "death spiral." It will certainly increase premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket charges tremendously while offering much worse policies - and the absence of mandates will only add fuel to the fire. These are among he reasons are why almost all health industry organizations (with the exception of big pharma) oppose the bill. Of course, the decimation of Medicaid that is proposed won't only hurt millions of individuals, but it may completely decimate rural hospitals, especially those in the poorer areas of our state.

Harvey Hutchinson said...

In western Missouri they are NO longer available on the exchanges.
The whole thing 8 years ago was a poorly thought out disaster only intended to help Obsma become more corrupt

Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text

Anonymous said...

@ Harvey the twit,

The reason it isn't available in western Missouri is the idiotic state legislature (mostly Repugnicans) refused the Medicaid expansion. The Governor of Kentucky (a Repugnicans) took the Medicaid expansion and was able to get the program, which he now doesn't want to lose because of the number of deaths from opiod addicts in his state would be entirely on their own. Your reasoning is not flawed, it is absent!

Anonymous said...

Harvey Hutchinson: I don't know why you're complaining about the fact that policies are not available via the exchanges - folks can still buy insurance privately on the individual market - if they can afford it, no subsidies, but still, it's what we had before Obamacare and lots of Obamacare haters seem to think that the status quo ante was just great. Of course, the entire individual market may completely crash if the current Senate bill passes because of the numerous stresses that it introduces. So, if the GOP gets its way, you won't even have the status quo ante.


Nor should we overlook the actions of our GOP representatives in undermining the Obamacare program - it's a good part of the reason that we don't have more insurers in the exchanges now - and, given the provisions of the proposed Obamacare replacements, the main reason that the exchanges are apt to totally collapse - even in the many locations that still have choices (my husband gets his insurance from the exchange). Give bad credit where it's due I always say.

Of course, there are the new insurers, like Centene, who have indicated that they want to enter the exchange marketplace. We'll have to wait and see how that boils out.

Harvey Hutchinson said...

With Obamacare it makes it illegal to buy on your own; unless you're part of a group like your employer or maybe an association you belong to like your union or the Bar Association

Harvey Hutchinson 303-522-6622 voice&text
( notice I do not hide behind Anonymous)

Anonymous said...

Harvey Hutchinson (4:23). You're wrong. The ACA does not force people in the individual market to go through the exchanges. It does mandate that all policies be compliant with Obamacare standards (no cheap, no coverage plans) or pay a penalty, but people can deal with insurance companies on their own. It was always a risky and expensive business and will be so again. See: http://coverusa.org/can-i-buy-my-own-health-insurance-or-do-i-have-to-go-through-an-obamacare-exchange/

Anonymous said...

Harvey Hutchinson: I'm glad that you feel comfortable using your name to voice your opinion. Some of us have had to deal with threats and have learned that it is not wise to identity ourselves too overtly - and I assure you, Mr. Hutchinson, I endeavor not to engage in abuse so the threats are efforts to intimidate based on disagreement with my point of view. I find it interesting that folks with more conservative views don't seem to have to the same problem.