Category Archives: Congress
American Healthcare Act Pre-existing Conditions
House Republicans passed a bill last week to sort of repeal and replace ObamaCare. It’s called the American Healthcare Act.
The idea of insurance is to spread the risk of the cost of getting sick. According to The Health Care Blog, if you’re already sick when you buy health insurance it’s “not really insurance”. It’s just health care coverage. And it has to be subsidized.
Pre-Existing Condition
ObamaCare requires companies to sell insurance to people with pre-existing conditions at the same rate as healthy people. The AHA would allow states to apply for waivers to that requirement. HHS Secretary Tom Price says those states could then set up “high risk” pools to help subsidize coverage of the already sick with federal funds.
Here’s a list of pre-existing conditions CNN says the bill might not cover.
Washington Swamp Tour Guide
Ann Coulter thinks The Washington Swamp is winning.
In her latest column, titled Swamp People 47; Trump 0, she says, “If this is the budget bill we get when Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the presidency, there’s no point in ever voting republican again.”
Meanwhile Vice President Pence got past Mr. Snerdley, the call screener, only to have Rush Limbaugh ask him, “Mr. Vice President, why vote Republican.”
And finally WSJ‘s Daniel Henninger asks, What is a Republican for?
If, after voters delivered control of Congress to them in 2016, these same Republicans can’t – or will not – produce an ObamaCare reform, those voters may reasonably ask in 2018: Why do we need these people?What is a Republican for?
Update: The House narrowly passed a bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
Nuclear Options Players
As expected, Mitch McConnell pulled the trigger and made Chuck Schumer’s filibuster glow in the dark. As for the boy in the husky pants who runs North Korea: he’s keeping his nuclear options open for now.
Democrat’s Self-Immolate Over Filibuster
Well, Chuck Schumer went with the filibuster. And that caused the Democrats to self-immolate when Mitch McConnell applied the nuclear option. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch rose from the ashes.
Here’s how they voted.
Now that the filibuster has been vaporized, Senate Democrats are defenseless against the Republican majority’s future high court whims. Which does make for a nice fund raising theme. Not to mention that Republicans will be in the same boat when the tide turns.
Republican Majority
The last Republican majority in the House and Senate was during the Bush administration. They were better known for pork barrel earmarks than governing.
