Half-baked' GOP healthcare gambit exposed as scheme to enrich insurance giants

[B.See]

Half-baked’ GOP healthcare gambit exposed as scheme to enrich insurance giants - Rawstory

Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have made a show of criticizing insurance company greed as they stand firm against extending Affordable Care Act tax credits and offer ill-formed alternatives.

But a report published Wednesday by the office of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) explains how a scheme endorsed by Trump and some top Republicans would further enrich insurance giants and big banks.

The report focuses on growing GOP support for a proposal that would give Americans money in tax-advantaged vehicles such as health savings accounts (HSAs) to help cover out-of-pocket costs. Last week, Trump championed the idea in the Oval Office, characterizing the proposal as a way to “forget this Obamacare madness.”

But Wyden’s report argues that “no matter how Republicans design their plan, their promise to take money out of the hands of big insurance companies and put it in the hands of patients will go unfulfilled, because the very arrangements they tout are administered by large financial institutions and the same big insurance companies.”

[dalton99a]

1. It is a scam.

[B.See]

2. Sounds 'half baked' to me. As

ALL MAGA/GOP 'healthcare' plans have been.

[AZJonnie]

3. To be fair, the best health coverage idea that the right ever had is now known as "Obamacare"

Not even joking

[B.See]

5. I'm aware of this.

[EdmondDantes_]

4. Where does he think the ACA subsidies are going to?

They go to insurance companies and then the vast majority goes to providers and drug companies.

Also given the ACA requirements on medical care spending, any excess money has to be returned to the customers. So insurance companies don't have a lot of incentive to overcharge compared to what they spend on medical care since they don't get to keep it.

Neither the ACA or whatever Republicans are offering are addressing the root causes of medical care being expensive. Pharmacy costs and medical usage is why insurance premiums are going up. Neither extending the expanded ACA subsidies or the HSA thing Republicans want address that. Other than the HSA thing making people get less medical care because they can't afford it, but strangely given people enjoy living, they eventually have to get care, often when it's more expensive and less likely to work.

[GoodRaisin]

6. They have no plan.

[B.See]

7. No, they don't. Their plan is to finally kill Obamacare.

See: https://democraticunderground.com/100220818393