Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Fed GOP Goals

This is interesting and the comments are lively. MP 5 GOP Fed Goals


Thoughts?

22 comments:

jerrye92002 said...

Interesting. Of course, asking MP to predict what the GOP will do is about like asking Stephen Hawking how this year's Super Bowl would turn out. A year ago. Surprisingly enough, with the exception of immigration, the list seems pretty good, though also relatively common knowledge. And of course the liberal interpretation of what is "right" on all these issues is actually left of both the GOP and of common sense.

John said...

From MP

"The people who will be hurt by GOP legislation (if passed) will hurt the lower middle class and poor the most. There is no provision in their legislation that says otherwise. Because of this, a majority of those who voted for Trump and the GOP will find out the hard way what Machiavellian politics is. 'Tell them what they want to hear, then when in office do what you want to regardless of what they want.'"Jon

"I agree that the folks who are choosing to not work will find the next 4 years very concerning. And maybe those Public employees who have enjoyed excessive job security while collecting a good check and great benefits.

However for most of us working stiffs I am assuming that fewer illegal workers, fewer regulatory hurdles, fewer taxes, lower healthcare costs, etc could be very popular.

Since I work for a company that exports 70% of our systems, our biggest risk will be if Trump triggers a trade war. On the upside if he pressures more firms like Ford to keep jobs here, maybe it will be worth it?

The question on my mind is... Will the Liberals who want higher US wages, stronger Unions, etc turn away from the VWs, Hondas, Toyotas, Lexus, Subarus, BMWs, Audis, Nissans, Hyundais, Kias, etc and start buying cars from strong UAW companies like Ford and GM?

By the way Toyota and Honda do have a few high domestic content models...
KOGOD Auto Index " G2A

jerrye92002 said...

More crystal-balling from MP. The GOP has not introduced any legislation yet! How can anybody say with specificity who will be "hurt the most"? And why should a whole class of people be hurt, or helped, since we have millions of individuals involved, each with their own economic landscape?

I would very much like to help your concerns for your export business. Help the GOP sponsors pass the FAIR tax, and immediately your goods will become 23% cheaper overseas, and your overseas competitors 23% pricier here, with no tariffs at all. What's not to like about that?

Laurie said...

Republicans finally have the power to repeal Obamacare, but they're still not sure how

jerrye92002 said...

Well, if the GOP is depending on the LA Times to offer helpful advice on the subject, they're better off listening to Trump. He has admonished them to "make sure Democrats own it." Voting to flat out repeal, with or especially without a "replacement," would certainly let Democrats holler that it would have worked given more time and money (when we all know it cannot possibly). But really, it's simple. The GOP should repeal the whole thing, immediately, right down to the smell, but with one simple provision: "If you like your Obamacare plan, you can keep your Obamacare plan." Then they can set about creating the replacement, with much lower costs and thus more available to everybody. There is nothing in Obamacare worth saving, or that cannot be done as well by the consumer-driven replacement.

As for Medicaid (75% or so of those "newly insured" by Obamacare), Democrats gave huge cash bonuses to States to add people to the rolls, but those bonuses have now expired and states are stuck with the costs. I don't think they will be too unhappy with the cutbacks, especially if they are freed to go back to, or invent anew, a state system of health care for the poor that "works better."

The real critical element here is restoring a health insurance marketplace almost killed by Obamacare's takeover.

John said...

I thought this was interesting.

"Not long ago, GOP leaders were trumpeting their readiness to rapidly sweep the health law from the books. With a Republican president, there is a clear path to repealing Obamacare. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said last January after congressional Republicans sent Barack Obama legislation that eliminated many of the healthcare laws key pillars.

That bill, which was crafted using budget rules that allow Republicans to circumvent filibusters in the Senate, was supposed to be the template for repeal.

It removed the unpopular insurance mandates in the law that require Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine, rolled back federal aid for Medicaid, scrapped federal insurance subsidies for low and moderate income consumers and eliminated the Medicare surtax on high-income households and other taxes on medical device makers and health insurance companies that fund the law.

To allow Republicans time to develop an alternative, the bill delayed implementation of the repeal for two years. (Obama vetoed the bill.)"

John said...

So apparently the Republicans want to start out by:

- cutting the taxes on the rich, medical device companies and insurance companies.

- cutting health insurance subsidies and Medicaid

- allowing people to avoid paying health insurance premiums...

This is off to a great start already.

John said...

And I love Obama's plan to call the new Plan TrumpCare !!! :-)

Given Trump's ego, he will not want a stinker plan tied to his name.

jerrye92002 said...

Can we phrase that differently?

Apparently Republicans want to start by:
-Not taxing medical device companies, cutting medical costs
-Not bailing out insurance companies to save taxpayer dollars
-Not taxing everybody to buy something they do not want and maybe cannot afford
-Allowing people to buy insurance for far less money
-Giving states the flexibility to offer innovative health care for the poor.
-Freeing people and patients to buy new low-cost policies that suit them, or Cadillac plans if that is what they want.
-Eliminating massive paperwork and meddling now required from providers.

And if true, I think Obama is due for a shock. Trumpcare should be wildly popular.

John said...

Only time will tell... But I don't feel to confident that they will be successful.

I did find out what one of the HUGE ACA PROBLEMS was...

From MP:
"I was discussing ACA with my sister who works for one of the health insurance companies. She told me that one of the biggest reasons for their huge losses was that many people would sign up for insurance, pay ~3 months of premiums and have a hip replaced under coverage... Then they would stop paying premiums.

Pre-existing condition is good, but the above noted behavior is unacceptable. No wonder premiums were going crazy." G2A

"The IRS will collect that money from tax returns if a person drops their coverage. That, of course, includes those who just stop paying premiums." Jon

"The penalties are way too small to prevent this kind of fraud.
ACA Penalties "G2A

John said...

You can keep denying the reality that the government needs to mandate that every one carry health insurance... But we will not escape the pre-xisting condition fraud problem until we do.

There are just too many people out there that are irresponsible, stupid or greedy. I mean why buy insurance if you can wait until you have a serious problem?

John said...

CNN How GOP may do it. You may want to listen to the interview video also.

"They would set up a two-track system: one for those who maintain continuous coverage and one for those who don't. And they would replace the subsidies with a tax credit or deduction to help people pay their premiums.

Those who are currently covered could not be dropped from their plans or fail to renew them because they are sick, according to a proposal to reform health care outlined in Ryan's A Better Way paper released in June. This would also apply to those switching from work-based plans to the individual market.

"We will protect Americans with pre-existing conditions so that they are not charged more or denied coverage, just because they have been sick, so long as they have paid their premiums consistently," he said.

This plan banks on healthier people also signing up because they wouldn't want to let their coverage lapse and face being excluded if they needed care. And if they did try to get back in, it would be reasonable for them to bear the responsibility of paying higher premiums since insurers will be allowed to assess their health at that time and charge accordingly, said James Capretta, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

jerrye92002 said...

"You can keep denying the reality that the government needs to mandate that every one carry health insurance.."

And you can keep denying that we already have that mandate and it is making matters worse. And the "pre-existing condition fraud" is BECAUSE of Obamacare, not in spite of it.

People who have paid their premiums should not be thrown off when they get sick, and laws can reasonably enforce that contract. People who lose their jobs or just want to switch should not lose coverage, either, and Congress can easily fix THAT. Allow insurance companies to write PEC temporary waivers and states to create high-risk pools (again). And the problem goes away.

John said...

Actually the mandate is failing because the penalty is TOO LOW and people are choosing to not join and fund the insurance pool until they need insurance.

As long as this is an option the pre-existing coverage option is terribly flawed...

And even the Ryan plan begs the question...
What will we do with the people who avoided paying premiums, get chronically ill and can not afford the higher pre-existing premiums?

Let them die? Seems kind of silly coming from the people who condemn flushing a 1 day old fertilized egg...

Laurie said...

The Health Care Plan Trump Voters Really Want

John said...

Good Link !!!

"Surveys show that most enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are happy with their plans. The Trump voters in our focus groups were representative of people who had not fared as well. Several described their frustration with being forced to change plans annually to keep premiums down, losing their doctors in the process. But asked about policies found in several Republican plans to replace the Affordable Care Act — including a tax credit to help defray the cost of premiums, a tax-preferred savings account and a large deductible typical of catastrophic coverage — several of these Trump voters recoiled, calling such proposals “not insurance at all.” One of those plans has been proposed by Representative Tom Price, Mr. Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services. These voters said they did not understand health savings accounts and displayed skepticism about the concept.

When told Mr. Trump might embrace a plan that included these elements, and particularly very high deductibles, they expressed disbelief. They were also worried about what they called “chaos” if there was a gap between repealing and replacing Obamacare. But most did not think that, as one participant put it, “a smart businessman like Trump would let that happen.” Some were uninsured before the Affordable Care Act and said they did not want to be uninsured again. Generally, the Trump voters on Medicaid were much more satisfied with their coverage.

There was one thing many said they liked about the pre-Affordable Care Act insurance market: their ability to buy lower-cost plans that fit their needs, even if it meant that less healthy people had to pay more. They were unmoved by the principle of risk-sharing, and trusted that Mr. Trump would find a way to protect people with pre-existing medical conditions without a mandate, which most viewed as “un-American.”

If these Trump voters could write a health plan, it would, many said, focus on keeping their out-of-pocket costs low, control drug prices and improve access to cheaper drugs. It would also address consumer issues many had complained about loudly, including eliminating surprise medical bills for out-of-network care, assuring the adequacy of provider networks and making their insurance much more understandable."

John said...

I love the failed logic:

The system should be mandated to pay for people with pre-existing conditions.

while

The people should not be mandated to pay into and support the system.

John said...

And a lot of these people don't have enough money to replace a blown tire...

And folks are looking at even higher deductibles...

Laurie said...

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: November 2016

jerrye92002 said...

Laurie, that is an exhaustive link and I have not read it thoroughly, but accepting it at face value I find myself curiously in agreement with "both sides." I want Obamacare repealed, root and branch, believing the status quo ante was better. I am concerned, however, that Obamacare "broke" the old system and it cannot be easily reconstructed, and that, done right, it could have been, and could be, improved. On the other hand, I agree Obamacare could be fixed. Just eliminate the individual mandate, the employer mandate, the coverage mandates, the mandates on states and on practitioners, eliminate all of the boards and bureaucracies created by the law, and enforce those parts of the law prohibiting subsidies on the federal exchange and requiring Congress and their staff to go on Obamacare rather than their Cadillac government plan.

Repealing it would be a lot less work and, especially with any kind of rational replacement, would be far better. Why Republicans are in such a stew over it escapes me. All they have to do is repeal and say "if you like your Obamacare plan, you can keep your Obamacare plan" BEFORE working carefully and diligently on the replacement. Then when the replacement inevitably creates plans with better coverage at lower cost, O'care will die in well-deserved infamy.

Anonymous said...

If the Republicans come up with something better with regards to health care, great, but it will be by sheer dumb luck that it would ever happen.

Joel

John said...

MP How GOP May End ACA

The fact is that the GOP does not have the votes to "repeal it" apparently. All they can do is defund it and remove some mandates, which is going to likely make it worse for awhile.