All the fuss over whether it's 24 million people who will lose their health insurance under (T)Rumpcare or 26 million! I know that our Dear Leader has promised all Murkans almost free health care with the most excellent quality, and I know that he is still promising great price reductions in a few years.
But our Dear Leader lives in the Alternative Reality where his job is to be adulated and that happens best when he promises people the impossible.
From this reality it was certain-sure from day one that the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would lead to many people losing either some or all of their health insurance.
After all, there is no other way for the Republicans to achieve the real goal of that repeal and replacement. This:
Two of the biggest tax cuts in Republican proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act would deliver roughly $157 billion over the coming decade to those with incomes of $1 million or more, according to a congressional analysis.
The assessment was made by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan panel that provides research on tax issues.
It is not unusual for tax cuts to benefit mostly the wealthiest, but still save some money for a majority of Americans. But the benefits of these reductions would be aimed squarely at the top.
And once we take all that money out of the system, the obvious result will be less coverage for someone. If the (T)Rumpcare plan passes, it's going to be the poorer consumers who will suffer and also those older consumers whose premia might rise so much that they would drop out of the market altogether. Ironically, the average price of insurance could then drop, given that the group of older consumers with their higher-than-average health risks has shrunk.
More about that dropping price in my next post!