No, Sen. Pat Roberts, this awful health care bill isn’t the only Obamacare alternative
The Category 5 Hurricane known as Graham-Cassidy is a man-made disaster that may yet be avoided.
But if you’re asking why even the craziest storm chaser wouldn’t steer clear of the direct hit that this latest health care bill would amount to, well, talk to our own Sen. Jerry Moran, who remains undecided.
Or better yet, listen to his fellow Kansas Republican, Sen. Pat Roberts, whose explanation of this final attempt to blow up the Affordable Care Act is daft but highly instructional.
This “is the last stage out of Dodge City,’’ Roberts told Vox, in response to a question about how the bill would contribute to the common good. “I’m from Dodge City. So it’s the last stage out to do anything. Restoring decision-making back to the states is always a good idea, but this is not the best possible bill. This is the best bill possible under the circumstances. If we do nothing, I think it has a tremendous impact on the 2018 elections. And whether or not Republicans still maintain control and we have the gavel.”
Intentionally or not, the senator is speaking some Grade-A truth, which is that this is a purely political calculation, intended to boost Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. Whether that would be the effect, we’re not so sure. (Nor, by the way, are we positive that it’s Democrats who would benefit, given the way the map favors Republicans.)
When Roberts says that maintaining power is the goal, he is answering the question. Only, he’s not answering the question he was asked. “But why does this bill make things better for Americans?” his interviewer persisted.
“Look,’’ Roberts said, “we’re in the back seat of a convertible being driven by Thelma and Louise, and we’re headed toward the canyon… So we have to get out of the car, and you have to have a car to get into, and this is the only car there is.”
He was doing so well on the Truth-O-Meter until that last bit. Because Obamacare isn’t headed for the cliff. And Graham-Cassidy isn’t the only available vehicle. In fact, one of the most troubling things about this effort is that to pursue it, Republicans kicked aside the bipartisan bill, Alexander-Murray, that really might have addressed the flaws of the current system, in favor of one that will exacerbate existing problems and create new ones.
It would free insurance companies to sell junk insurance and gut the protections for those with pre-existing conditions that President Donald Trump promised not to touch.
It’s being explicitly sold as legislation that would reward red states and punish blue ones. And from what little we know on the fly, Kansas could get about $2 billion more in overall federal spending in the short term, and Missouri $4 billion more. But it would leave millions more uninsured, and in the end hurt all Americans because its deep cuts to Medicaid would force us to either significantly cut health care or raise taxes.
Proponents love that it would cap Medicaid spending and turn its administration over to the states, where it would be run it with block-grant funding that state officials could use for virtually anything. If you trust your red-state officials to prioritize health care, even for children and the disabled, we have one word for you: KanCare.
Another perceived plus is that it would restore our freedom not to buy insurance. “You know what’s best for your family,” we’re told, as if there are families out there who would be better off without insurance. But everyone who is either too poor or too irresponsible to buy insurance would still be treated for free through ERs, under this or any other bill. So all that lifting the ACA’s individual mandate would really do is mandate that those who do have insurance must pay more to subsidize free care that’s less efficient and more expensive. And that’s freedom?
This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "No, Sen. Pat Roberts, this awful health care bill isn’t the only Obamacare alternative."