Ka`u News Briefs, Thursday, May 4, 2017

A TRUMPCARE BILL TO REPEAL THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, and was sent to the U.S. Senate, which is less likely to pass it. 

Officially called the American Health Care Act, the Trumpcare bill passed the House by a vote of 217-213.

Sen. Mazie Hirono said she will "stand strong" to protect affordable health care.

     Sen Mazie Hirono reacted swiftly: “Today, I’m thinking of the thousands of Hawai`i residents I’ve heard from who are living in fear of losing their insurance and other protections they’ve received thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Constituents like Kathryn, a teacher and single parent, who is afraid of losing her insurance because of a preexisting condition; and Anne, who gave birth to a healthy baby boy thanks to Medicaid coverage. The fight to save the Affordable Care Act in the Senate starts today. I will stand strong to ensure Trumpcare does not undermine Prepaid Health Care and Affordable Care Act protections for Hawaii families.”

    Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted: "This is a loss, no doubt. But now we dust ourselves off and use this against them. The resistance grows strong every day. Especially today." Schatz said the "age tax is one of the most offensive parts of this awful bill," and retweeted another Senator's comment, "Trumpcare would mean insurers could charge older Americans 5 x more than they charge younger Americans. Five Times." 

     Referring to allowing for insurers to charge higher health insurance rates for those with

Sen. Brian Schatz called the "age tax the most offensive part of this awful bill."

preconditions, and also referring to a group of Republicans applauding the House vote Thursday at a White House hoopla before another congressional vacation, Schatz tweeted: "They are making healthcare more expensive for sexual assault survivors. Then they are celebrating it. Then they are taking 10 days off."

     U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard tweeted,  "Our healthcare system is broken. The AHCA 217 R's voted for today just makes it worse. Let's continue our push for #HR676 - #MedicareForAll." She also tweeted that #AHCA is a giveaway for pharma & ins companies on the backs of the people;" and " #AHCA is worse for our kūpuna, those with preexisting conditions, & those who need maternity, substance abuse, & mental health care."

     This being National Nurses Week, Gabbard, who co-chairs the National Nurses Caucus, urged Congress to pass the Title XIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act "that trains our nurses. Passing it will help fill the one million nursing jobs needed by 2022."

     After voting against Trumpcare,  Gabbard issued a statement: “The bill that passed today is not a healthcare bill—it’s a big handout to insurance and pharmaceutical companies. This bill slashes $880 billion from Medicaid, strips away health benefits like maternity care, substance

Rep. Tulsi Gabard wants universal health care.

abuse treatment, and mental health services, expands a crippling age tax on our seniors, eliminates healthcare tax credits for over 7 million veterans, and breaks the bank for those with pre-existing conditions. 

     "While corporations rake in over $600 billion in tax breaks, many low-income Americans will see their coverage drop completely. This partisan bill was rushed through, resulting in corporate benefits on the backs of the people. We need real healthcare reform that brings down costs, increases access to quality care, and ensures basic health services are available to all Americans. 

     "As a cosponsor of H.R.676, the Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act, I’m working towards a system that will provide universal healthcare to all Americans—a standard met by nearly every other industrialized nation.” 

     The Trumpcare bill is opposed by AARP, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, the National Nurses Union United, the National Disability Rights Network, the AFL-CIO, the National Farmers Union, the National Education Association and many other organizations. 

     The National Nurses Union United issued a list of Trumpcare bill concerns, contending it would:

     Eliminate the definition of “essential benefits” – a move that makes all patients vulnerable to the distortions and marketing games of insurance companies;
      Repeal the cost-sharing subsidies of the ACA, and destroy the ability of 80 percent of people currently buying insurance on the Exchanges to maintain coverage;
     Open the door for junk insurance. The bill includes a penalty for lack of continuous coverage, creating a big incentive for patients to buy low-cost, no-coverage plans;
     Fail to encourage low-cost coverage, because the legislation shifts thousands of dollars in spending from insurance company spending to the individual’s out of pocket costs;
     Reproduce the failed “high – risk pools” of the 1990’s and 2000’s, through the “Patient and Stability Fund, ” stating that "it is inevitable that the number of eligible patients will overwhelm the resources of these high risk pools;"
     Repeal the Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax, which will reduce funding and destabilize for the Medicare program that our nation’s seniors rely on;
     Allow insurers to charge seniors five times the amount of a younger person. "This revision will prove to be deadly for our nation’s seniors, and it reveals the extent to which this reform will benefit the profit margins of insurance companies, at the expense of patients’ lives," stated the National Nurses Union.