-The Public does not oppose Obamacare; they oppose the creature made from Republican lies-
When listening to the continuing Republican and Conservative rant against Obamacare - although it is a less shrill echo- I laugh. It is the telling example in my lifetime of political propaganda in the United States. We so arrogantly assumed that propaganda was something that rose and fell with the Third Reich and the USSR- and now …
We look at the tatters of a bold national ambition that has nearly succumbed to – propaganda. The GOP and the wrong-headed Right knew all along the obvious truth that stares all America in the face today. ( see, e.g., the confession of former majority leader Eric Cantor) Health insurance is not evil because it came under the leadership of a Democrat, nor is it demon possessed because it came through the masterful efforts of the first and only Black American President.
After the Propaganda waves settled to a dull roar, the American people want Repeal and REPLACE- but it is not Obamacare that they want to replace or repeal—
AMERICANS WANT TO REPEAL AND REPLACE THE HEALTHCARE LIES THAT THE GOP AND CONSERVATIVES HAVE ISSUED SINCE 2008
Those Obamacare lies and the weight of them on the national health and economy are truly a mass of ugly and evil things; they are worthy of a political exorcism.
Urging Americans to live shorter and less healthy lives
In political terms, the 2008 Republican strategy was well-defined and traditional for them. Use an underlying hatred of Black Americans to create a predicate for political blaming and shaming. The GOP famously met on the day of Obama’s inauguration under Sen. McConnell’s direction and swore to burn the earth to stop Obama. They were true to their oath, and although the US economy and the health of its citizens were in the balance, in 2008-2010, they did nothing but obstruct and sabotage the Affordable Care Act and the economic recovery.
The GOP urged Americans to fight the evil insurance and to do so at early, middle, and old ages- fight like it was an invasion of America—fight for the right to get sicker, die younger, and leave
an U N P A I D bill that would help bankrupt the medical care system. The GOP asked all of these things and more in the name of getting Obama.
I have had the unfortunate experience of burying dear friends- young women with children and families—vivacious and giving spirits- that died of breast cancer or ovarian cancer. I have written about them before- they and thousands more died so young because we failed to detect a possibly treatable disease in its early stages. During my lifetime, the science of medical diagnosis has advanced by incredible leaps. The young people that the GOP urged to avoid health insurance, and free prevention and testing—well, some that followed such advice will suffer and die from it—all to get Obama. To me, it is a bad deal as a mere possibility, were it to come to pass in even a single instance -then it would be a human tragedy that should weigh on our conscience as a society. Imagine that we urged the young woman- your child, your friend, your lover- not to detect her cancer early. Our political whims should not mean more than the human lives the political system must protect.
Repeal the Lies- Repair the Law
The answer is clear and easier than anyone seems to be willing to admit. We need to diminish the profit motive and increase the lifesaving efforts. After all, it is the business of healthcare to improve patient outcomes; it is the excessive amounts of money on the corporate bottom line that is the expendable commodity.
Trump is irrelevant-as usual…
Trump is irrelevant to this discussion because it involves truth. Trump and the Trump administration relates to the truth as if it were matter versus anti-matter; with the slightest contact, they seem to implode. True enough, Trump has always been irrelevant to healthcare. Since the election of 2008, he pursued the Birth Conspiracy as his main contribution to the discussion about the health and well-being of America. As President, he led his Party to attempt to eviscerate health care and remove 36 million Americans from insured to uninsured status.
He is willing to sign anything the Congress can put in front of him that causes deeply felt pain to the poor under the guise of being helpful. You would not expect such a proposal for legislation in a Christian nation- which obviously we are not. Those that pretend so earnestly to be committed to healing the sick, helping the poor, and to providing love, understanding, and compassion- are those that wished to put millions of Americans in the shortened life pool, into the Trump -You column.
Fixing Healthcare
1. States must be Active purchasers and police the profit taking by private providers as they should already do for such as flood and auto insurance. Medicare and Medicaid must also become Active purchasers.
2. Provide a starter fund to pay $2,500 per person for those that open and fund Health Savings Accounts. The fund should match personal contributions up to $2,500.00. The Health Savings Account can pay out of pocket expenses and count towards the deductible limit in every qualified health plan.
3. Provide tax credits for companies that offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements up to 25 percent of the amount provided. This credit is not so much intended as a reward for companies but as an incentive to pay taxes.
4. Restore funding for the COOPs (the Consumer Oriented and Operated Plans), and expand the program by a factor large enough to affect every underserved area of the nation. This move will do the most needed repair to national healthcare- it will cause competition at the level of profit-taking. Over the course of perhaps 8-10 years, phase out private insurance providers and allow them to invest in COOPs without getting control. The repair that our healthcare system needs is to place the priority on healthcare outcomes and not on corporate profits. These goals are inimical, and the price that gets paid is a loss of lives and unnecessary or avoidable human suffering. We want health care providers to compete for strategic leadership in categories that demonstrate lives saves, lives extended, suffering reduced, prevention and wellness.
