When a “Bailout” Isn’t a “Bailout”:
I really enjoy Twitter. Just a few days ago, after I tweeted about a particular federal program that helps poor people pay for their health insurance, I got this response above.
A few months ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Healthcare Act (AHCA). The bill next went to the Senate, which created several of its own bills, including the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). While these bills are not actively being debated as I write this, they are far from dead, as is the “repeal and replace” debate, which still rages.
Last week, we began trying to explain why these new “Repeal and/or Replace” healthcare bills are so prominent in the political universe and so important right now. We began that discussion with a short history lesson on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA), and now we know that a massive re-regulation and federalization of the individual health insurance market was the root of the opposition who are now trying to pass the current healthcare bills.
I’m told that in the late 1800s, a very popular form of entertainment that regular folks would pay high admission prices to see was to watch two full-sized steam trains smash into each other at 40 miles an hour. I guess we are still the same basic humans 120 years later.
Healthcare Shopping Becomes an Amazon-Like Experience: Vitals SmartShopper. Seriously! RIGHT NOW!
A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak at a large meeting of employers who offer health insurance (and lots of other benefits) to their employees. All of them said they are struggling with continuing to pay for those benefits. As we entered the Q&A portion of the program, a very nice lady about halfway back stood up and fired a broadside at me:
