Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) dropped some hints about what the Republican alternative to Obamacare will look like, and it isn’t pretty. One of Ryan’s main goals is to take cost protections away from people who have serious illnesses.
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Ryan said existing federal policy that prevents insurers from charging sick people higher rates for health coverage has raised costs for healthy consumers while undermining choice and competition.
The rule, a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, has been praised by patient advocates for providing access to medical care for people who previously could not afford private health insurance. The Affordable Care Act also bars insurers from excluding coverage for pre-existing conditions.
“Less than 10 percent of people under 65 are what we call people with pre-existing conditions, who are really kind of uninsurable,” Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, told a student audience at Georgetown University.
“Let’s fund risk pools at the state level to subsidize their coverage, so that they can get affordable coverage,” he said. “You dramatically lower the price for everybody else. You make health insurance so much more affordable, so much more competitive and open up competition.”
In other words, the Republican plan is to make health insurance more affordable by going back to the old system of allowing insurance companies to charge those preexisting conditions more than they charge healthy people.
Paul Ryan’s Obamacare replacement is a return to the old broken healthcare system. In what universe, do Republicans think that it is good politics to tell sick people that they will either have to pay more for healthcare or not have health insurance? By changing the rule, Republicans would gut the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the unaffordable and we don’t care act.
If you have a preexisting condition or are currently ill, Republicans are coming for your health care. The GOP will try to dress up their “plan” as freedom of choice, but for Americans who are dealing with preexisting conditions the only choice they will be left is the one between lingering illness and potential death.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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