Charles P. Pierce: Cruelty Is a Pre-Existing Condition

[babylonsister]

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a21290261/trump-administration-pre-existing-conditions-obamacare/

Cruelty Is a Pre-Existing Condition
The Trump administration*'s war on the sick continues apace.
By Charles P. Pierce
Jun 12, 2018


Hello again, all you suckers out in VanceZitostan. You’re about to take one in the ear again.

At the moment, the president* you helped install has directed his Department of Justice to take a position that will remove the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing conditions. This is a cruel and stupid move aimed at A) enriching the insurance companies, and B) owning the libs because another thing Barack Obama did for the country will be eliminated. Soooooo much winning!

So, all you retired coal miners with black lung, all you factory workers with emphysema, all you retirees living near former hazardous waste dumps, they are making America great again by helping you all die sooner. The way I know this is that the administration*’s own Secretary of Health and Human Services went before Congress on Tuesday to say what a terrible idea revoking those protections would be. From the WaPo:

Calling it “a constitutional position ... not a policy position,” Azar sidestepped grilling on whether he agreed with a legal brief filed last week by Justice Department attorneys stating they would not defend the Affordable Care Act in a federal lawsuit by Texas and 19 other Republican-led states.

During a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that was mainly about the president’s blueprint to address drug prices, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) told Azar that Justice’s legal position is a “like some kind of a sick joke.” The administration argues that the ACA’s individual mandate, requiring most people to carry health insurance, will become unconstitutional next year — and, with it, the law’s insurance protections for consumers.

“Will you encourage the Trump administration to change its position?” Hassan challenged Azar, a lawyer and former HHS general counsel. He replied that “we do believe in finding solutions on the matter of preexisting conditions and the matter of affordability regardless of the litigation.”

Assuming there are actual policy discussion inside this administration*—admittedly, a very long shot—Azar’s fan dance can mean only one of two things: Either HHS was left out of the discussions that led to the DOJ’s reversal on the ACA, or Azar’s concerns were completely ignored. However, if you’re a guy with asbestos-related lung trouble, you probably really don’t care about the intramural chaos down in Camp Runamuck. Sadly, though, you have to care now.

[Hekate]

1. KnR

[scarletwoman]

2. Kick! nt