Say Ahhh

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The GOP has presented a sales pitch for its version of healthcare reform.  Indications are that the Republican controlled Congress will try to ram it through the legislature in a few days without a score from the Congressional Budget Office; no one knows what it will cost or precisely how it will be paid for.  The country is in the hands of a group of unethical politicians led by a deluded demagogue who cares little for the truth. The fate of the country doesn't matter to these soldiers of the right-wing who care most about their own bottom line and their need to win at any cost.

It is clear that the GOP plan will result in millions of dollars in tax breaks for those with higher incomes and damage the sick, elderly and disabled recipients of Medicaid.The Brookings Institute expects the CBO to estimate that at least 15 million people will lose coverage if the Republican plan passes

Here's one way to resolve the healthcare debate: You create a multi-tiered structure that has on one end a Medicare for all /public option arrangement and at the other end a "Cadillac" option that is entirely private insurance and offers features not available in the public option. Similar to the patient-centered, market-based concept championed by The Heritage Foundation, individual mandates would be done away with. The Cadillac plan would emphasize quality of care, easier access to screening, health monitoring, lab tests, specialists; more personalized care; in-depth consultations, better hospital and emergency services, etc. It would follow a competitive model with bigger deductibles, higher premiums.

The Republicans say their plan is all about providing choice for the healthcare consumer. The policy makers and the ideologues of the Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives worship the principles of competition and choice as the Holy Grail of healthcare.  When the Obama health initiative began in 2009 the idea of a single-payer system or a public option was taken off the table, not even considered for substantive debate, even though the Congressional Budget Office determined that such a system would be far more cost effective than other options. Lets not make the same mistake twice; if patient choice is important to the GOP, then let one of those choices be a public option-- it's a matter of life and death.


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