ACA Repeal: Symbolic Politics?

I haven’t blogged on this recently, because there really hasn’t been anything that I thought was worth the effort. The GOP remains divided between those who feel healthcare is a right of wealth and those who believe that it’s a right of citizenship.  If they pull a bill together, it will be so they can say they did something, even if the bill has no meaningful content.

So, if an ACA repeal bill passes, it will allow the GOP to give healthcare a new name,  without necessarily changing anything about it. If they decide to drive up health insurance prices higher than they are already going, I’d hope consumers would respond at the polls. It’s less than a year until the mid-term election campaigns ramp up.

Of course, if the GOP does push through a repeal, then the healthcare disaster that is the US will cease to be “Obamacare” and become “Trumpcare.” Is that really in the party’s interest?

Conversely, the Democrats have no meaningful proposals on the table either. Senator Sanders is the only one to put a plan out there, and there’s a distinct lack of enthusiasm for it.

The truth of the matter is that if you’re lower or middle income or old, you’re better off living in another country. Pick almost anyone you want: lower costs and free or low cost healthcare that is on a par or better than what the US offers.

The politicians don’t want to accept responsibility for what they’ve created. So it’s not going to get fixed.  You’re on your own. It’s time to rethink the kind of life you want to have and where you want to have it.