Dems getting nervous as GOP gins up ACA negativity
Former President Bill Clinton wasn’t the first Democrat pushing for a legislative fix in response to fake GOP/Teabully outrage about cancelled non-ACA-compliant insurance policies, which would be canceled and replaced with an ACA compliant product in Jan. 2014.? The GOP/Teabully House, is offering its own legislative fix. Let’s examine the proposals that already were out there,? before President Clinton threw president Obama under the bus earlier this week.
When President Clinton suggested, in an interview, President Obama allow people to keep junk insurance polices that they liked, did he know about these House and Senate proposals?? People speculate that he did. So, was President Clinton trying to curry favor with Red State voters on behalf of his wife and potential 2016 Presidential candidate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?? Possibly so.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a Tea Party favorite, introduced a Bill about three weeks ago,? which proposes to allow people to keep buying new non-ACA-compliant policies through Jan., 2015, and not grandfathering in polices sold in 2013.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md.,? said that while a legislative fix would be considered, the Democratic leadership doesn’t support?the Upton Bill.
President Barack Obama met with 15 Democratic senators, who face uphill battles in the 2014 midterm elections. Those lawmakers and House Democrats are looking for a lifeline and political cover, in order to help them placate unhappy constituents.
President Obama offered a possible fix to the nation, during a press conference today. That announcement gave congressional Democrats a solution and put the onus on insurance companies. The proposal allows insurance commissioners to let existing plans to continue, if the insurance carriers inform customers about new ACA compliant policies.? Insurers would also be required to direct customers to the Heathcare.gov website and state exchanges, where alternative options are available.
Senate Democrats also have proposals for a legislative fix, in response to the fake outrage. U.S. Sens. Senators Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Mark Begich, D-Alaska; Mark Pryor, D-Ark.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Kay Hagan, D-N.C.; and Mary Landrieu, D-La., have indicated support for some options, offered over two weeks ago.
Manchin and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., advanced a bill to delay for a year the unenforceable $95 fine for failing to comply with the ACA’s individual mandate. ?The second proposal, which was also announced more than two weeks ago, would extend ACA compliant insurance plan open enrollment beyond March 31, 2014.
Landrieu has offered an enrollment deadline delay proposal as well as a proposal, which allows people to keep junk insurance policies. Hagan of North Carolina supports a two-month delay. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., one-time Tea Party golden boy and probable 2016 Republican presidential nominee, offered the
Delay Until Fully Functional Act, to postpone the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate until six months after the government could certify “that the exchange website is fully functional.”
The Republican alternatives, which Rubio and Upton offered, aren’t intended to fix the problems, which that the Republican/Teabully propaganda machine are fostering and exploiting.? They’re designed to kill the ACA and leave 47 million Americans with no healthcare.? They would also allow insurance companies to continue to peddling pitiful products that do nothing, but force millions into bankruptcy.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has claimed, in advance of the President’s remarks today, there’s no way to fix the ACA is.?Boehner said:
[It’s] a rolling calamity that must be scrapped.
Both insurance carriers and actuaries have warned against delaying the individual mandate and delaying the entire program itself.? They have concluded that:
and
Even delaying the mandate past the March 31 deadline, which may sound intuitively like a fair thing to do, would fundamentally disrupt the markets in a way that increases costs, insurers warn.
The American Academy Of Actuaries, the AAA, has said that:
Delaying the implementation of the ACA’s individual mandate or extending the enrollment period for obtaining coverage could have negative consequences??for health insurance coverage and costs.
The AAA has also said that:
Delaying the ACA would cause chaos.
The Daily Kos has referred to the Landrieu proposal, that went public on October 30, as ?a political winner,? as it proposes a fix to a problem that the Republicans have been exploiting, while knowing that those same Republicans would obstruct and demonize the legislation simply because it is being offered by Democrats.
All of the Democratic Senators now considering bailing on the ACA as it now is, come from red leaning States and they are all concerned about their next elections.? Republicans and their Teabully supporters often talk about the importance of standing up for your principles, not ever compromising and essentially going down with the ship, never giving up the fight.
The Democrats who have been considering the various changes in the ACA? that have been discussed over the past several weeks will never get the votes from the people they are now considering placating. And for the most part, the changes being discussed, would be to the detriment of millions of American who are now able to get insurance coverage they could not previously afford or to have decent insurance replacing a previous junk product.
So if the voters these Democrats in the Senate are fearing will vote them out, are going to vote against them no matter what they do relative to the ACA going forward, they should bite the bullet and do what Republicans in their position would do.? That would be to fight harder and stand strong supporting the ACA as is until 2014 when Democrats will control both the House and the Senate. And then they can get down to the business of strengthening the ACA and perhaps, begin a discussion on moving towards a single payer healthcare system.
