Republican senators are signaling that their strategy will be rooted in crafting their own replacement for the Affordable Care Act. It remains unclear how closely that measure will resemble the one narrowly passed in the House on Thursday or whether Republican senators will resolve their stark differences.
A small group of GOP senators met Thursday morning in the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to begin outlining their health-care priorities, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), McConnell’s top deputy.
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The measure’s original version, introduced in March by Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), already contained elements at risk of being struck out in the Senate under budget reconciliation rules that allow tax and spending changes but not broader policy changes.
That proposal initially left many of the ACA’s insurance regulations alone — with the goal of ensuring it would pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan officer of the Senate who decides on what may go in a reconciliation bill — but not all of them.
The version of the bill the House passed Thursday undercuts the ACA’s insurance regulations even more by giving states a path to opt out of federal requirements for insurers to cover certain “essential” health benefits — and to allow them to charge sick people the same premiums as healthy people.
The GOP bill would allow insurers to charge older Americans five times what they charge younger people, as opposed to three times as much under current law.
And it would enable insurers to hike premiums by 30 percent for people who don’t remain continuously covered. Health-policy experts, including conservative ones, have noted that the parliamentarian may decide those provisions need to be stripped out.
The bill goes on to the Senate, where many are saying it’s dead on arrival. Regardless, we need to send a message to House Republicans that they’ll pay for their “YES” votes by losing their seats. Here’s what you can do:
After you’ve done that, you can contact your Senators. Use the same website listed first above (Contacting Congress) to find your two Senators. Give them a call, show up at their town halls, and donate to their Democratic opponents if they indicate that they’ll vote for TrumpCare.
The only way we’re going to take down this bill is if we keep the pressure on the GOP and let them know that voting for it will result in them losing their seats.
If you think your genetics are your own personal beeswax, think again. Amidst all the hoopla surrounding the Affordable Care Act this week, the House GOP quietly pushed forward a bill – HR 1313 – that would make it legal for employers to demand genetic testing from workers. Workers who refuse could be penalized for thousands of dollars.
On Wednesday, a House committee approved the bill with “all 22 Republicans supporting it and all 17 Democrats opposed,” according to Business Insider.
it’s called “american eugenics led the nazis to their plans no seriously we came up with this shit and didn’t actually stop until the seventies”
“and it directly targets the poor and minorities and disabled people and hey you know what’s really not cool is forced sterilizations which totally happened until 2010 in california”
“and- you know what, this song parody got derailed ages ago but hey seriously this is bad.
this was invasive under the ACA but adding genetic testing takes it a step further. It can impact your entire family and absolutely will be used to punish people for existing
fuck this
It was introduced by NC Representative Virginia Foxx too (the woman who questioned the validity of Matthew Shepard’s hate crimes in front of his mother).
If it doesn’t pass THIS TIME? It’ll pass once they’ve reworded/changed it. Why? Because people in this country have ALREADY given up their privacy. I mean, I watch these TV Commercials for Genealogy Services that will tell you what percentage of your genetic history comes from what part of the world. And all I can think is:
Do people not realize they are GIVING A PRIVATE COMPANY ACCESS TO/THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECORD *** YOUR FUCKING DNA PROFILE***?!?!?!?! That, once your genetic record/Genetic Identity IS OUT OF YOUR CARE/CONTROL, it’s GONE. It’s OUT THERE. There ARE NO TAKE-BACKsies.
Yet I see more and more of these services. More and more commercials which usually means money is being made. People are giving up the most basic facet of their identities for coffee table discussion fodder.
If this doesn’t pass. The next one will.
The thing is this bill repeals the legal protections that right now keep those private companies from abusing your genetic data along with giving your employer the right to demand you take a genetic test.
Hearseeno 