GOP between a rock and a hard place on repeal/replace Obamacare

The GOP is between a rock and a hard place with repeal and replace Obamacare. They break campaign promises with a plan that either fails to repeal Obamacare or it double crosses their voters with a replacement with much worThe Gse, not better, coverage. Tomorrow the House may vote on the Ryan/Trump replacement or not. It may not be brought to the floor because it lacks the votes to pass. The ultra conservatives oppose it because it does not repeal Obamacare as they promised.Voting "no" serves two purposes. They will not face the sting from angry voters for yanking their health insurance from them or a threat  from a more conservative primary challenger if they are in gerry mandered safe GOP districts. They are already so far on the right and  they are using a far right rationale to keep that segment on their side. Others, the few GOP representatives in swing or districts Hilllary carried who vote for the GOP bill, will face a backlash from voters in 2018 who feel they have been doublecrossed since the proposed GOP bill breaks another promise. It brings with it no affordable insurance for 24 million and higher premiums and deductions for others between the age of 50-65 years old. The replacement is a worse plan, not a better plan and it is going to hurt the very groups that voted for Trump.

GOP and Trump planning to discriminate against women's health access

Back to the old ways. When Trump and the GOP say they want you to pay for just the parts of health insurance that suits you and you do not have to pay for the parts you do not need, that is code for women paying more for health insurance and deductibles so that men do not pay for women's health needs, , as required now by  the Obama law.. Even if women opt out of insurance that provides the blue pill, screenings for prostate cancer and  male urinary, reproductive  tract problems, they will still pay more because health care for women include well care, mammograms,  pre natal examinations, delivery, the pill , services that just cost more. It is not an even trade.

 The number of unwanted pregnancies and the number of abortions have decreased dramatically with the coverage of the pill. By each sex paying for their respective care as "choice" would allow, the cost is no longer  spread around  in a large pool so that it becomes more affordable for all. Especially helpful in Obamacare was coverage  of  care of both sexes  required of all insurance, those by employers, those in the exchanges, those in the private market. Those, too, would go away and it is back to ye old high deductibles and increased out of pocket expenses. In fact, costs would increase since costs are no longer in a pool of those who use it and those who do not. . Those who are well heeled have no problem, but most in the middle class and lower usually just skip preventive medicine until some symptoms nag them. By then, sometimes it is either too late or or extremely expensive to treat. 

Before Obamacare, health care related debts  were the leading cause of bankruptcies but now that amount is about 20% of bankruptcies. That is still not good enough, especially since the federal reserve estimates that 47% of families have only $400 in reserve for emergencies. If you feel on the edge of finances, be aware you are in danger of going over the edge if Obamacare is repealed. You will find yourself skipping annual physicals and cancer screeinings to meet your own limited budgets. If you are sold a GOP plan that lets you cherry pick coverage and you take just take catastrophic coverage and do not include these preventative measures, you will just become part of "making America sicker again"...and women once again draw the short stick.

Even more discriminatory is the religious right campaign to cut out required benefits of birth control pills specificially part of Obamacare. However, if presecription drug benefits are included in any replacement, and the pink pill is not, the blue bill would still be covered if it is by presecription. Beware of the GOP bearing gifts of choice in any replacement plan.  The choice may be a bitter pill for women to  swallow.


Read more:

My blog post: 1/16/17 Some GOP's proposals to replace Obamacare are  baiting  and switching consumers 

Blog post of 1/5/17: Ignorance and not caring about others, two biggest political problems facing Obamacare
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-us-abortion-rates-20170117-story.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/risk-womens-health-benefits-seen-health-law-repeal-083450656--politics.html?.tsrc=fauxdal

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2598797

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/05/bankruptcy.medical.bills/

http://amjmed.org/under-aca-medical-bankruptcy-continues/

http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/under-tom-prices-aca-killing-plan-18m-lose-insurance-and-premiums-rise/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/2015-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201605.pdf

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/29/503720671/5-things-to-know-about-rep-tom-prices-health-care-ideas

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/trump-tom-price-republicans-obamacare-233605

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/brink-repeal-obamacare-has-never-been-more-popular-n707806