That isn’t “their” plan, if “their” is congressional Republicans in the House and Senate. Those folks would really, really really like the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania to STFU about healthcare.
Hey, it worked for Nixon.
It worked for Trump in 2016. He had a plan to fix the economy; he was the only one who could do it. And behold: the economy is fixed!
ShivaX
3807
“Sure I could fix things now, but elect me and I’ll fix them.”
“You’re literally in office, we already elected you. Fix it now.”
“Maybe in 2 years, IF you reelect me.”
A bold strategy.
Timex
3808
The only reason the GOP hasn’t fixed healthcare, is that they didn’t control both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
Oh wait.
We have some very robust polling – and exit polling from 2018 – that suggests that when it comes to healthcare, the American voting public trusts the Democratic Party over the Republican Party by about a 3:1 ratio.
Timex
3810
But that’s before we found out that there was NO COLLUSION COMPLETE EXONERATION.
rowe33
3811
I hope the voters actually remember that next year, when we’re getting bombarded by the media with reports on how the Democratic candidate is too elitist for the common people while giving full coverage to the endless parade of pep rallies that their opponent will be holding.
27%. So remarkably consistent.
Trump is such a child. “We do have a plan but it’s secret so I can’t tell you about it!”
A SECWET PWAN TO FIGHT INFWATION?
Oghier
3816
Unbridled bullshit is his go-to, and it’s gotten him pretty damned far. I can’t imagine him switching to fact-driven reflection anytime… ever.
Scuzz
3817
It has worked to this point. Better the lie than actually trying to figure something out.
Farther than most of us dare dream. Why at 72 would he ever change his MO?
Very much like that middle class tax cut that DJT and the GOP were working on the week leading up to the midterms. I assume they are so busy working on it now that they haven’t had time to mention it since the election.
So there’s been some very interesting polling about healthcare in the last two - three months, and it’s worth discussing since it impacts on the upcoming Democratic Primary race and also the politics of 2020 at large.
Essentially what polling seems to be suggesting is that voters at large do not like to have healthcare fiddled with in any large way. In 2010, Obamacare was an albatross around the necks of House and Senate candidates, because voters were wary of having their healthcare changed greatly. Even if benignly and to give more coverage to more people.
And so what that means is that people really don’t trust Republicans on healthcare. But what’s also manifesting is that voters aren’t big, big fans of Medicare For All, either. A public option as a healthcare fix and shoring up the ACA with legislation and revenue are gaining in popularity while MFA is falling like a rock. And one of the reasons Pete Buttigieg may be rising in the polls lately is his embrasure of a “Medicare for all who want it” public option plan that creates his glide path to single payer or MFA if it proves to be as cost-efficient as it’s expected to be.
I totally get that. Like most people, I am so very tired of having healthcare fucked with by people who have no idea what it is really like to navigate the healthcare and insurance system in America. Even though the ACA was an overall net positive in terms of addressing some healthcare issues, you still hear (and experience for yourself) far too many horror stories about outrageous healthcare costs, insurance nightmares, and ways the system takes advantage of common people and is taken advantage of by the people making the most money off of it. People are tired of empty promises from politicians and legislation that either fails to help them, costs them even more money, or both.
Attempting to jump to Medicare For All on a broad scale is a recipe for disaster. Despite the obvious benefits to most people, it will be new, scary and confusing, all of which will turn people off, and then you’ll have the healthcare and insurance industries as well as much of the GOP out there stoking the fears with “what about?” rhetoric and hypothetical scary situations that will have everyone convinced that MFA is the equivalent of standing in a Soviet-era bread line for healthcare. “Your kid will DIE of the flu before you even make it far enough up the line to get inside the emergency room doors!!”.
Protecting the ACA, refining it, and rolling out a MFA option as one of the choices really is the best way to proceed. It lets things ramp up slowly, both on the consumer end and on the government administration end. You take those first few million sign-ups, work the kinks out of how everything works, and then gradually make the option more attractive and maybe even start offering it to companies (along with the cost savings it represents to them) to make available to employees. Once you reach a critical mass of people signed on to MFA plans, and the public is used to seeing it, know other people who are using it, and realize it’s not at all scary…then moving to having MFA be the default form of coverage for everyone becomes a lot easier.
The main problem with this plan is, like any fix for any major problem facing the United States today, it’s going to take YEARS to implement properly, and our current political climate does not allow for long-term thinking, planning and executing. If it can’t be designed, presented, voted on and implemented within a 2-year political cycle, it’s never going to fly in today’s America.
LMN8R
3822
I’m OK with a long-term plan which ultimately gets us to the right place. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been more than 9 years since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law.
