Who Is Really Trying to ‘Fix’ Obamacare?
President Obama, Congressional Democrats, and House Republicans all have proposed changes to Affordable Care Act to address concerns over dropped policies, but not all of these so-called fixes are created equal.
While the Democratic plans seek changes to actually address the concerns, the Republican plan passed by the House of Representatives today is actually a Trojan Horse meant to destroy Obamacare and put insurance companies back in charge once and for all. In fact, Speaker Boehner (R-OH) explained that it was a “targeted strike” on the law and just one more step on the road to repeal.
(The road to repeal seems to be neverending, as the House has now voted at least 46 times to repeal Obamacare and yet it’s still the law of the land.)
House Republicans further betrayed their true motivations today when they used procedural tricks to block a vote on a Democratic plan to allow insurers to keep offering cancelled plans, expand oversight of rate hikes, and require insurers to notify consumers of alternatives to their sub-standard plans.
The GOP’s reason for blocking a vote on the bill? They said it had too many provisions protecting consumers from insurance companies and abusive rate hikes. Seriously.
Here’s a chart breaking down the differences between the main proposals out there to address concerns about insurers dropping sub-standard insurance plans:
BOTTOM LINE: Democrats are interested in making Obamacare work. Republicans are only interested in making it go away.