Trump pleads with U.S. Republicans to roll back Obamacare

[webfact]

Trump pleads with U.S. Republicans to roll back Obamacare

By Ayesha Rascoe and Amanda Becker

 

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to departing White House interns after posing for a photograph with them in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump made a last-ditch plea to U.S. Senate Republicans on Monday to "do the right thing" and fulfill seven years of campaign promises to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

 

The Senate will vote on Tuesday on whether to open debate on an overhaul of the law, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promising an open amendment process and a "robust" debate.

 

"To every member of the Senate I say this: The American people have waited long enough. There's been enough talk, and no action. Now is the time for action," Trump said on Monday at the White House.

 

Standing in front of families who he said had been hurt by the law popularly known as Obamacare, Trump said, "So far, Senate Republicans have not done their job in ending the Obamacare nightmare."

 

Even as it remained unclear on Monday whether McConnell had enough votes in the Senate to open debate, he said the vote would take place regardless.

 

"I know many of us have waited years for this moment to finally arrive. And, at long last, it finally has. I would urge every colleague to join me," McConnell said.

 

One Republican senator who will likely miss the vote is John McCain, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is at home in Arizona weighing treatment options.

 

While some in the Senate leadership had expressed hope that McCain might return to support moving forward on the healthcare bill, Senator Orrin Hatch on Monday said he did not expect McCain to be present for the vote.

 

Moderate Senator Susan Collins, who has vocally opposed McConnell's efforts so far, said on Monday she would vote "no" on a motion to proceed.

 

Republicans have been under heavy political pressure to make good on their longstanding campaign promises to gut the 2010 law, which they view as a government intrusion in the healthcare market.

 

But the party is deeply divided between moderates concerned the Senate bill would eliminate insurance for millions of low-income Americans and conservatives who want to see even deeper cuts to the Obamacare legislation.

 

Senate Republicans have been unable to reach consensus on an approach, with McConnell failing to secure enough votes for either a repeal and replacement of Obamacare or a straight repeal.

 

Republicans hold a 52-48 majority in the 100-member Senate. With Democrats united in opposition, McConnell can only afford to lose two Republican votes.

 

'FORGOTTEN VICTIMS'

 

"The question for every senator, Democrat or Republican, is whether they will side with Obamacare’s architects, which have been so destructive to our country, or its forgotten victims?" Trump said.

 

While Trump has repeatedly called on Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, he has shown little interest in the policy specifics. Trump last week initially suggested he was fine with letting Obamacare collapse, then urged Republican senators to hash out a deal.

 

His remarks on Monday were among the lengthiest statements he has made regarding healthcare.

 

"Obamacare is death. That's the one that's death," Trump said. "And besides that, it's failing so you won't have it anyway."

 

McConnell will ask senators whether to begin debate on the healthcare bill passed in May by the House of Representatives. If that procedural vote succeeds, the House bill would then be open for amendment on the Senate floor.

 

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated the Senate's replacement bill could lead to as many as 22 million fewer Americans being insured. A plan to repeal Obamacare without replacing it could cost 32 million Americans their health insurance by 2026, CBO estimated.

 

At the same time, premiums on individual insurance plans would rise 25 percent next year and double by 2026 if Obamacare is repealed, CBO said.

 

Uncertainty over the future of healthcare has left health insurance companies and U.S. states as well as hospitals and doctors unclear about future funding and coverage.

 

Public opinion polls also show Americans worried about potential changes to the healthcare system.

 

(Writing by John Whitesides and James Oliphant; Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb, Richard Cowan, Susan Cornwell, Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mary Milliken and Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-25

[Emster23]

Knob. Hey Donnie, how about that promise you made for better, universal coverage & cheaper on Day one on the job? He can't read, knows nothing regarding health care "nobody knew it would be this hard"... uh, they did. Then to present another big lie  "Obamacare is death. That's the one that's death," and somehow taking 32 million people off of health care is somehow promoting life?

[boomerangutang]

"bleat, bleat, ummmm, bleat, ....believe me, folks. Would I ever lie...., umm, where's my 2nd ice cream scoop?  Thanks, ummm, ...ever lie to you?"
 

"I've got the best health care plan.  You'll love it.  It's everything great.  Obama's plan is everything awful. I hope it dies.  There you have it; me great. Kenyan Muslim Obama bad.  Simple, believe me. Oh, and buy Ivanka's shoes.  They're the best shoes ever, believe me." 

[Thakkar]

Obamacare is by no means perfect, but it was an improvement to what preceded it. An improvement that needs improvement. Instead, while Sen. McConnell tries to roll it back, The trump administration is sabotaging it: 

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/trump-administration-scraps-obamacare-signup-assistance-in-18-cities.html

 

Not a thought about actually improving it.

 

T

[Jonnapat]

""To do the right thing""       as quoted by the 'President'

What a truly pathetic person..ğ

[iReason]

 

 

[Thakkar]

4 minutes ago, iReason said:

 

 

I can commiserate. The last 6 months have felt like 17 years to me.

 

T

[Grubster]

The Repubs. have worked themselves into a corner here, they all swore they would repeal Obama care, but of coarse they thought Hillary would win. Now when their voters have clearly stated that they do not want it repealed, they are squirming in their shoes. Funny stuff this.

[hawker9000]

All the dem carping aside (it never ends), if Republicans DON'T roll it back, they can kiss their majorities good-bye come NOV 2018.  That's a big part of what won them those majorities.

[WaywardWind]

2 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

All the dem carping aside (it never ends), if Republicans DON'T roll it back, they can kiss their majorities good-bye come NOV 2018.  That's a big part of what won them those majorities.

What exactly do you want them to roll back, and what do you want them to keep, if anything?

 

[Grubster]

11 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

All the dem carping aside (it never ends), if Republicans DON'T roll it back, they can kiss their majorities good-bye come NOV 2018.  That's a big part of what won them those majorities.

If they do end Obama care they will still lose their majority and they know it. Rock and hard place they wiggled into here.

[hawker9000]

Just now, Grubster said:

If they do end Obama care they will still lose their majority and they know it. Rock and hard place they wiggled into here.

Rubbish.  Absolute and utter rubbish.   'Just the wingnut line of the day.  The DNC well knows  its best hope is for Republicans to fail to demonstrate any resolve or unity in rolling it back.

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, Thakkar said:

Obamacare is by no means perfect, but it was an improvement to what preceded it. An improvement that needs improvement. Instead, while Sen. McConnell tries to roll it back, The trump administration is sabotaging it: 

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/trump-administration-scraps-obamacare-signup-assistance-in-18-cities.html

Not a thought about actually improving it. T

Trump took an oath of office in Jan. '17 to 'uphold the laws of the land'.   By sabotauging ACA, he is blatantly breaking that oath.

 

18 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

All the dem carping aside (it never ends), if Republicans DON'T roll it back, they can kiss their majorities good-bye come NOV 2018.  That's a big part of what won them those majorities.

Trump's entire campaign floated on a sea of lies, deception, shysterism, vindictiveness, and help from Moscow.

 

Trump is proof that, if you're a famous person ('when you're famous, they let you grab their pussies') and promise gullible/stupid people all sorts of ridiculous things - you can win in the USA.

[Grubster]

3 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

Rubbish.  Absolute and utter rubbish.   'Just the wingnut line of the day.  The DNC well knows  its best hope is for Republicans to fail to demonstrate any resolve or unity in rolling it back.

OK  then why have many Republicans that formerly said they would repeal Obama care refused to get behind the repeal, do you think they want to lose their seat? Throwing insults does not show intelligence by the way.

[KenKadz]

This is why Obamacare failed and a functional Trumpcare is not a reality.

 

Pharmaceuticals (video) - Hospitals (video) - Insurance (video) - Lobbyists - Congress - Campaign Contributions - Swamp People - Revolving Doors - etc.

 

8:44

 

The Next Revolution w Steve Hilton Swamp Watch and Big...

YouTube303 views

 

8:11

 

The Next Revolution w_Steve Hilton Pt 2 Swamp Watch...

YouTube

[YetAnother]

"At the same time, premiums on individual insurance plans would rise 25 percent next year and double by 2026 if Obamacare is repealed, CBO said"

Healthcare costs in the US are already sky-high;

Thailand's medical tourism should get a boost from this

[funandsuninbangkok]

Very effective political policy by Trump and GOP. If they win, fine. 

 

If not, they can say we tried but the Dem Senators blocked us.  Dems have to defend 22 Senate seats in 2018, many inTrumpland. 

 

GOP message for 2018, help us drain the swamp by voting in a Republican Senator. 

Edited July 25, 2017 by funandsuninbangkok

[Thakkar]

7 minutes ago, funandsuninbangkok said:

Very effective political policy by Trump and GOP. If they win, fine. 

 

If not, they can say we tried but the Dem Senators blocked us.  Dems have to defend 22 Senate seats in 2018, many inTrumpland. 

 

GOP message for 2018, help us drain the swamp by voting in a Republican Senator. 

The republicans have a majority in the House and Senate. They have the presidency. And it's the Dems that are preventing them from passing a better healthcare bill? How, pray tell?

 

T

[funandsuninbangkok]

Dems had 60 senators when it passed in2010. That would be good

[Thakkar]

9 minutes ago, funandsuninbangkok said:

Dems had 60 senators when it passed in2010. That would be good

That doesn't answer the question. What's stopping the the Republican majority from passing the bill? They don't need 60 votes. They need 51. They have a majority of 52. They have a president who "is ready to sign"

 

Why arent they voting on the bill? Even an impotent "no" vote by the Dems would first require that the vote actually take place. Whether the vote takes place is in the hands of Republican Senate leader McConnel. Why isn't he putting the bill up for a vote?

 

T

[Thaidream]

The bill does not have full Republican support because some Senators know it is flawed; it will throw millions off the insurance rolls and what is in the bill itself is not popular amongst the American public.  As flawed as Obamacare is there are many portions that are popular and have brought millions into the system.

 

If the Republicans really cared about people they would work with the Democrats to put together a real universal healthcare bill which is single payer and paid for by the Government and Medicare taxes.  Americans who work are already paying for healthcare. This type of healthcare gets rid of insurance companies and forces the prices down of life saving medicines.

 

The reason it won't happen is that Trump and the Repubs are beholden to greedy insurance companies and Big Pharma. Instead- a flawed bill will be passed that throws millions into the uninsured rolls; health costs continue to rise and the politicians; insurance and pharmaceutical companies stay fat and happy while Americans continue to die . However, there will always be billions of dollars for increased defense budgets and $10 Billion aircraft carriers.

 

Good Lord- this is not the America I grew up in or that my father fought a war to save.

[funandsuninbangkok]

Health Care is too important to leave to the government.  

 

Look at government housing or job training for an example of government "services" in the US. Horrible.

 

Certainly American society should provide for the very poor who have no money and need care.  Unfortunately. government has moved in and all faith based hospitals who used to perform care for indigent people are now mostly on the government tit and run by Washington.

 

It's "You get what you pay for. " not " You get what the other guy pays to the government, then depending on how much is left, after it goes through the sausage factory, the Unions take their cut, depending on my political relationships, I got something."

 

 

[Jingthing]

Roll back is way to polite a way to put what the republicans are trying to do now.

 

What's on table are two choices.

 

Repeal and replace.

 

OR 

 

Repeal. Period.

 

That's not roll back. Both are repeal.

[Thakkar]

52 minutes ago, funandsuninbangkok said:

Health Care is too important to leave to the government.  

 

Look at government housing or job training for an example of government "services" in the US. Horrible.

 

Certainly American society should provide for the very poor who have no money and need care.  Unfortunately. government has moved in and all faith based hospitals who used to perform care for indigent people are now mostly on the government tit and run by Washington.

 

It's "You get what you pay for. " not " You get what the other guy pays to the government, then depending on how much is left, after it goes through the sausage factory, the Unions take their cut, depending on my political relationships, I got something."

 

 

All OECD countries except the US have government run healthcare. The healthcare cot to their citizens is about half that of the cost to the US citizen. And for that half the cost, they cover more people with, on average better care.

 

In the US itself, Medicare, the US government run healthcare scheme for the elderly, costs less than equivalent care in the private sector.

 

The evidence thoroughly disputes your argument.

 

With government run universal healthcare, there are many economic and other societal benefits above and beyond cost savings. 

 

T

[Jingthing]

It's a national disgrace that the U.S. lacks universal health care. The good news I suppose is that it's clear now that the democratic party will finally be running on that as a clear part of their platform starting in 2018 as long as it takes. But it still might take another 50 years.

 

What the democratic party stands for is now taking shape and its a hell of a lot better than standing behind a con man authoritarian immoral clown demagogue. trump doesn't know the first thing about health care policy nor does he care. All he cares about is getting a big political win.

 

 

 

[funandsuninbangkok]

2 hours ago, Thakkar said:

All OECD countries except the US have government run healthcare. The healthcare cot to their citizens is about half that of the cost to the US citizen. And for that half the cost, they cover more people with, on average better care.

 

In the US itself, Medicare, the US government run healthcare scheme for the elderly, costs less than equivalent care in the private sector.

 

The evidence thoroughly disputes your argument.

 

With government run universal healthcare, there are many economic and other societal benefits above and beyond cost savings. 

 

T

Sorry. 

 

There is no example in the universe of government providing goods or services more efficiently than the private sector. 

 

You may want (free) health care but it ain't free. Somebody pays. Guess you can't. I don't want to. 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2017 by funandsuninbangkok

[Jingthing]

Ideology over rationality and basic human decency.

 

Sad. 

Edited July 25, 2017 by Jingthing

[Thakkar]

6 minutes ago, funandsuninbangkok said:

3 hours ago, Thakkar said:

All OECD countries except the US have government run healthcare. The healthcare cot to their citizens is about half that of the cost to the US citizen. And for that half the cost, they cover more people with, on average better care.

 

In the US itself, Medicare, the US government run healthcare scheme for the elderly, costs less than equivalent care in the private sector.

 

The evidence thoroughly disputes your argument.

 

With government run universal healthcare, there are many economic and other societal benefits above and beyond cost savings. 

 

T

Sorry. 

 

There is no example in the universe of government providing goods or services more efficiently than the private sector. 

 

You may want (free) health care but it ain't free. Somebody pays. Guess you can't. I don't want to. 

 

Healthcare is simply one of those things that government is best equipped to handle because commitments are generational and the payback is economy-wide. When compared to other OECD countries Americans and American businesses pay more for inferior care, that is a fact.

 

The evidence simply does not support the argument (such as it is) that you are making.

 

Forget ideology. In governance, follow the evidence, use what works, and you get better, more efficient governance. The result would be that all echelons of society do better.

 

Take some time to compare things like, child mortality, health outcomes, absenteeism due to sickness, emergency room stats and other data between the US and other OECD countries.

 

I don't appreciate you making this personal. Stick to the arguments, if you have any.

 

T

[funandsuninbangkok]

You must be joking!

 

What is more personal than you wanting me to pay for your upkeep?

 

 

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, funandsuninbangkok said:

You must be joking!

 

What is more personal than you wanting me to pay for your upkeep?

 

 

Non-Americans that can't understand that a nation that really has been great in so many ways (until recently when we elected an obvious fascist lunatic)  could be so incredibly backwards in health care policy, read the above post, and you'll get it. Not interested in learning from the positive experience of pretty much all the advanced nations, that health care can be provided to all citizens for massively less cost than in the USA. 

Tragic.