Trump has plans to sabotage Obamacare so he can claim it is failing

The post below was drafted May 20, 2017, but never posted. However, it contains some very pertinent comment and information concerning Donald Trump's threat in the face of the Senate's failure to pass their bills in July. He is threatening to blow up the exchanges by removing the subsidies. He has the ability to do this, but he would be facing legal action by insurers.  In addition, he is threatening to stop enforcing the individual mandate to buy or participate in health insurance, which would result in the pool being shrunk to ensure mostly the sick . Both actions would indeed sabotage Obamacare and result in soaring premiums, but it  would also result in Trump owning the results. In the meantime, a bipartisan group of 40 Senators are planning to propose fixes to Obamacare, following regular political order of running it through committees before holding floor votes, unlike McConnell's failed attempt to jam repeal/replace bills in various forms without even holding hearings in regular order committees. Trump is attempting to force the Senate to raise the repeal/replace issue from the dead with his threats.  

"Trump and the GOP are conning the American public. While opining Obamacare is failing so take their rescue plan, what they cite as the failure of Obamacare, they are actually responsible for making  sure Obamacare fails by threatening to  yank subsidies to insurance companies so they  pull out of marginal markets and making it impossible for long term insurance company planning.. The GOP  is the self fulfilling its own  prophecy.  Their dogged pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare has no room for repairing Obamacare. 

The basic  reason is that the GOP does not want to fix the problems they see because it helps feed their narrative that Obamacare failed, insurers refuse to participate, and the premiums are too much,  and their plan, to kick 22,000 off of the plan will save the patients. Their cure is even worse than the disease..  As the American Medical Association said, their motto is to do no harm and the GOP plans would harm many.

Hovering over the GOP is a nagging suspicion is that this is a way to finance an enormous tax reduction of the rich. Take away a chunk of Medicaid from the very poor, sick, disabled, needy, and elderly in nursing homes and reduce premiums by reducing benefits and increasing out of pocket expenses for everyone else, and voila, the tax cuts are paid for. 

Let Obamacare crash and burn, they say, if their bills do not pass. In the meantime they are the ones  lighting the fires under the crash they are engineering. Obamacare was hanging in there and the GOP is engineering its demise.  They are breaking it and the china shop policy rules. They own it. They are the ones with the majority in Congress and the White House and they deserve the blame. For example Iowa" last insurer still planning to offer individual coverage in most of the state next year warning it may leave “without swift action” by state or federal officials act to “provide stability.

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The GOP could have promised no changes in the next few years so insurers to get their projections of costs stabilized.

 The poster child is the GOP extolls for their point is an insurer has pulled out of Iowa, but also as the Washington Post and Yahoo News report, insurers are already leaving the Obmacare exchanges because of the unstable market conditions created by the GOP's repeal/replace efforts.Per Yahoo News re Iowa" last insurer still planning to offer individual coverage in most of the state next year warning it may leave “without swift action” by state or federal officials act to “provide stability.  Nearly all insurance companies pulling out of the exchanges have blamed the unstable market caused by the GOP efforts to turn the system upside down in both the near and distant future.

 In fact, the GOP  has fought every  attempt to repair the problems. Another very likely  reason is that the GOP does not want to fix the problems they see because it helps feed their narrative that Obamacare failed, insurers refuse to participate,  the premiums are too much. Therefore the solution is  to kick 22,000 off of the  current plan will save the patients. Their cure is even worse than the disease..  As the American Medical Association said, their motto is to do no harm and the GOP plans would harm many.

There are fixes to Obamacare that would help. The subsidies to insurance companies providing services in rural areas could be increased. Where there are no insurance companies participating in areas at all,  consumers could subscribe to the same program as their Congressional representatives plan to enjoy. they could have worked on prescription drug costs among others. They could have promised no changes in the next few years so insurers to get their projections of costs stabilized.

”https://www.yahoo.com/n…/uh-oh-most-iowa-apos-225803321.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/05/03/iowa-at-risk-of-having-no-obamacare-insurers-next-year-in-all-but-five-counties/?utm_term=.c1164c7566cbIn

http://www.latimes.com/…/la-fi-hiltzik-obamacare-charts-201…t


http://www.gallup.com/poll/210545/healthcare-surges-top-problem.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles


 http://www.latimes.com/…/la-fi-hiltzik-obamacare-charts-201…

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-tricky-legal-ground-obamacare-071303565.html

In N Carolina, Trump's plan to end subsidies to insurers is the reason why Blue Cross/Blue Shield say they have to raise rates: https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9edee2e4-99b5-3b9a-aa1e-c23a1c9507cb/ss_big-obamacare-insurer-wants.html

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/policy-dose/articles/2017-05-30/republicans-raised-your-health-care-premiums-not-obamacare?



For local impact on Trumpcare, and a related strategy to force Democrats to approve his terrible Trumpcare plan, see prior posting  in April: Trump threatens to blow up Obamacare exchanges. Why?

Trump tells advisers he wants to end key Obamacare subsidies

Many senior aides oppose the move for fear it will backfire politically.

POLITI.CO