Yes, I am on board with the changes that are absolutely necessary to keep the whole thing from collapsing. What we have now is unsustainable. And as far as repeal and replace, evidently you have been conditioned to fear that term. There is nothing sinister about it. The law as it stands now is so complex that repeal may be the only option before replace. The media might like you to think that there will be repeal and then... nothing. Repeal will not happen without replacement. Republicans have said this over and over and over. And it had to be Republicans saying it because Democrats have made it clear that they are not, by choice, going to get involved. Which circles me right back to my saying that Democrats feel the legislation is perfection as it is. They could have stated their intentions to get involved in the process to make it sustainable and better but instead they have chosen to stay on the sidelines and act like children.
Here's something you'll have that you didn't in the first go round. You'll know about the details beforehand. There will be no middle of the night votes and no statements that we must pass the bill so that we can find out what's in it.
The brain dead leftists among us will hate it, protest it, wear pussy hats, march wearing female genitalia costumes, cry, weep, and all the other infantile shit that they do but the smart ones will already have an understanding of the dire situation we are facing concerning healthcare and will therefore look at it objectively while understanding that it too, may not be perfect and will take future tweaking down the road. You are of course free to choose which side of that works best for you. Remember too, that if Democrats in Congress don't get involved in the process that they have made a choice and you are not obligated to support that choice.
Republicans and conservatives are not the evil people the media and perhaps your education have taught you to believe. Only you can decide whether it's best to have an ideological enemy that fulfills some need or if it's better to have a partner with different viewpoints that you can work with.
1. Democrats have again and again stated the law is not perfect and would like to have improved it. It is Republicans who refused to work with them. And refusing to support Republican options does not in any way mean that Democrats think the law is perfect. It just means that Democrats think the Republican options are worse than what we have now. Since the R's are in power now, they get to do what they want. This is very obvious. If R's want the D's help to remove the current law, they will have to come up with something that D's think is better.
2. I agree healthcare spending in this country is unsustainable. But neither the ACA nor the current R proposals are addressing the reasons it is unsustainable. To actually lower costs per capita, the
realistic options are:
a. single payer
b. nationalized healthcare in some form (does not necessarily mean the government would own all providers. It could mean everyone is on a Medicare or Medicaid type system)
c. removal of restrictions on international sale of drugs
d. reform of drug patents
e. reform of restrictions on number of doctors being taught
f. new mandatory programs to promote preventative medicine and mandatory screenings
I don't feel that interstate insurance will offer much if any actual savings due to states having their own systems of regulation for insurance.
The ACA doesn't address any of that. The only cost savings would have been through limitations on insurance profit margins. But the ACA does some good things, such as getting rid of denials for preexisting conditions and lifetime limits.
3. Yet again, saying the D's are responsible for not helping the R's to get rid of the ACA is asinine. Thanks to the ACA 10+M people have insurance. Insurance companies cannot kick you because you get cancer. And a slew of other positive things. If the republicans abandon those people, don't expect democrat support. That failure will be of their own making.