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GOP Hardliners Want Third-World
Healthcare For America’s Most Vulnerable


By Stephen Lendman
3-23-17

 
House GOP leaders scheduled a March 23 Trumpcare vote. Democrats unanimously reject it.

So do enough Republican hardliners to defeat it unless 11th hour arm-twisting turns things around. Or perhaps this evening’s vote will be postponed.

Trumpcare as introduced is abominable, more nightmarish than Obamacare. GOP hardliners want it toughened, ACA’s mandates removed, as many as they can get through bargaining, vital services everyone needs.

They include emergency room visits, hospitalizations, mental health, maternity and preventive care benefits, prescription drug coverage, children up to age 26 remaining on their parents’ plans, and insurers required to accept all applicants able to pay, regardless of age, gender or preexisting conditions.

A Quinnipiac University national poll released Thursday showed respondents reject Trumpcare by a 56 - 17% margin, 26% undecided, 46% saying they’ll vote against a senator or representative supporting the measure.

One of every seven Americans (14%) believe they’ll lose coverage if Trumpcare becomes law.

On March 21, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) co-founders Drs. David Himmilstein and Steffie Woolhandler criticized Obamacare for “offer(ing) little help to 90% of the population, perpetuat(ing) a dysfunctional health care financing system, le(aving) 26 million uninsured…covered families (burdened) with unaffordable deductibles and narrow provider networks (to enrich) drug firms, medical conglomerates, and insurers.”

Trumpcare is worse, wanting “key pillars of the ACA” repealed. Without responsible measures replacing them, the health and welfare of millions are at stake, thousands of lives at risk of being lost.

Replacing ACA with universal single-payer coverage - everyone in, no one left out, everybody covered the same way - will save hundreds of billions of dollars annually in wasted insurer middlemen costs and drug industry banditry price gouging.

Money saved could provide quality care for everyone, including catastrophic coverage, expensive surgeries, organ transplants, dental, mental health and therapeutic treatment, and virtually everything else needed to preserve health or restore it when ill, diseased of injured.

The American Journal of Public Health estimates repealing ACA without responsibly replacing it will cost over 37,000 lives over the next two years alone - at minimum, likely much greater numbers in further out-years.

The only responsible solution is universal single-payer coverage. Nothing else can responsibly work.

For America’s most vulnerable, it’s a matter of life or death.

Healthcare is a fundamental human right. It’s high time it was treated this way.

Note: As of 1:30PM EDT, after a meeting with Trump, House GOP Freedom Caucus members failed to agree on a deal. Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R. NC) said “(w)e’re trying to get to yes.” Not easily accomplished.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.