If you thought the backlash that helped kill Trumpcare was strong, that’s because it was – two thirds of Americans gave Trump a thumbs down on healthcare. It would have kicked 26 million people off their insurance and defunded Planed Parenthood to pay for billions in tax-breaks for millionaires. With that in mind, consider that we already know how much worse the “zombie” Trumpcare 2.0 that the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress are working on in secret would be:
Associated Press: “Under the White House offer, states would be allowed to apply for waivers from several coverage requirements that President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care law imposed on insurers. These would include waivers from an Affordable Care Act provision that obliges insurers to cover so-called ‘essential health benefits,’ including mental health, maternity and substance abuse services.”
New York Times: “The ability to opt out of the benefit requirements could substantially reduce the value of insurance on the market. A patient with cancer might, for example, still be allowed to buy a plan, but it wouldn’t do her much good if that plan was not required to cover chemotherapy drugs.”
Washington Post: “The proposal, Meadows said, would allow states to apply for federal waivers exempting them from some health insurance mandates established under the Affordable Care Act — including ‘essential health benefits’ requiring coverage of mental-health care, substance abuse treatment, maternity care, prescription drugs and more, as well as a provision that bars insurers from charging the sick more than the healthy.”
Axios: “It would also go after the ‘essential health benefits’ provision — things like prescription drug coverage, mental health services, and pregnancy and childbirth, among others — which was already on the table. Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price would be given the authority to grant waivers to the states.”
Published: Apr 4, 2017