Senate doesn’t deliver

Hopes have been dashed for those who thought senators would propose a “kinder and gentler” alternative to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by House. A small group of old white Republican men sequestered themselves without consulting anyone besides lobbyists to come up with the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), a carbon copy of the House version that had only a 17 percent approval rating and is opposed by most professional medical organizations.

Like the AHCA, the BCRA rolls back the Obamacare Medicaid expansion that covered more than 20 million Americans. Medicaid funds nearly half of the health care for America’s children and covers chronic care for debilitated elderly and patients with developmental disabilities. The burden will fall on individual states to make up the difference. In 2020 the BCRA also eliminates cost-sharing subsidies that help low income working Americans pay for insurance. It hands the cost savings to the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

Barry Linehan

Spokane