Healthcare what next? Since the Republicans failed last week to pass their replacement version for Obamacare President Trump says he will move on to his next item on his list.
The bill that was pulled, the American Health Care Act, could not get one Democrat to vote for it. And yet if this is the reason for it not being voted on I have to ask the question why the Republicans didn’t just hold the vote anyway? They have the votes needed without any of the Democrats, so is this just sort of dumb excuse to not do something that would make things even worse?
The Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, related the following to reporters– “This party came really close today, but we came up short. We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” One of the authors of the bill, Greg Walden (Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee) said that “It’s done, DOA, this bill is dead.”
What are the Republicans going to do now, well here is what their leaders say, that they would wait for the Affordable Care Act to encounter fatal problems, believing that Democrats will then want to work with them to make changes. President Trump said “As you know, I’ve been saying for years that the best thing is to let Obamacare explode and then go make a deal with the Democrats and have one unified deal. And they will come to us, we won’t have to come to them.”
Have the Republicans not realized that they are now no longer in the driver’s seat on this issue and the really messed things up for themselves for any future actions that they might take? To say the Obamacare will explore or just plain collapse on its won is just naïve. Republicans of the early 1930s more or less said this about Social Security and it has needed adjustments (fixes) to it, but it did not collapse. So waiting for the Democrats to say that we will vote to destroy Obamacare altogether is just political suicide for the Republicans. Just sitting back and waiting for failure is a disservice to the healthcare community and those who need healthcare insurance.
What is needed is an adjustment and/or fixes to Obamacare that make it work correctly. The cost of insurance for the majority must be gotten under control and the availability of offerings must be increased, as I see it if these things are not done then healthcare will just get worse for everyone. Articles by CNBC and the Democracy Journal address the needed reforms. I think that they express the needed fixes quite well and I hope that Congress takes up the challenge of modifying Obamacare for the betterment of everyone in the very near future.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
