Would someone explain to me what “conservative” health care means? Is it taking one aspirin instead of two and writing a note to your doctor in the morning (instead of phoning)?
I would think that healthcare means doing everything possible to make the sick well and keep the well from getting sick. Conservative healthcare must mean doing only some of the necessary things.
And that’s what the Republicans are proposing as they set out to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The House of Representatives has come up with a plan that keeps some of Obamacare’s provisions but abandons others, notably the expansion of Medicaid.
The plan is being opposed by Republican senators who want to get government completely out of the health insurance business, leaving millions of Americans to fend for themselves – or die trying.
But, obviously, Republican members of the House, the protests of their constituents still ringing in their ears, realize this would be political suicide. They’re looking for ways to pare down Obamacare without paying the price at the polls.
By still requiring insurance companies to cover people with preexisting conditions and allowing parents to keep adult children on their policies, the Republicans are currying favor with some Obamacare beneficiaries.
But they are a lot less considerate of others. The proposed cuts to Medicaid, for example, would punish society’s most vulnerable. They have no clout in Congress. So they’re fair game.
This thinking is also reflected in proposed tax credits that would give older and wealthier folks significantly more financial help than the young and poor.
It’s the familiar Republican strategy to divide and rule, setting the interests of some Americans against the interests of others.
Will they succeed? Not if the American people pull together for once, rejecting the tawdry concessions to some while others endure even more suffering.
Protests against this shameless political ploy should be even louder than before.
United we stand, folks. Divided we fall.
