The Republican Trumpcare Replacement of Obamacare Rises From the Grave, Stalks Victims

By Amber Enderton | May 4, 2017 |  

Today, the Republican led House voted 217 to 213 to approve the American Health Care Act, AHCA, aka Trumpcare - Republicans alternative to Obamacare. To say this bill is an atrocity is an understatement.

This bill is worse than simply going back to pre-2010 health care as $880 billion are marked to be cut from Medicaid. Meanwhile the wealthiest Americans are set to receive roughly the same amount in tax breaks.

On a personal note, thanks to Obamacare, 2016 was the year I finally started receiving health care again. After losing my health insurance in 2011, a long fight to get on Medi-Cal and Medicaid began. Thanks to those programs, my medications cost were reduced and other costs for standard services were eliminated. These programs quite literally save lives.

What would a gutted Medicaid look like? With $880 billion slashed from the program, it’s hard to say. Fewer people will qualify; millions will be kicked off of it. It’ll likely cover less, gone will be the day when people relying on Medicaid can breathe easy about their health care. For all the ACA was lacking, this bill is worse than my wildest imagination.

This is not just a repeal of the Affordable Care Act; this is the gutting of our social safety net. It is said that a society is judged by how it helps its weakest members, and today the house declared that their solution to make America great is to eradicate the poor. Congressman Alan Grayson (D - Fla.) said during the health care debates in 2010 that the Republican plan is to not get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.

Today, those words were validated as that is what exactly has come to pass.

AHCA still has to pass the Senate – no small task - before it can make it to Trump’s desk. Democrats have vowed to stop it there; but if the GOP makes good on their threats to strike down the filibuster even the Senate might fail to put the kibosh on Trumpcare.