WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans, barreling toward a conclusion of their efforts to dismantle Obamacare, on Thursday night unveiled a new piece of legislation they will consider: a so-called “skinny repeal” that takes aim at only a handful of the Affordable Care Act’s least popular provisions.
The plan revealed by GOP leaders would strip the “repeal” effort to its most basic elements: nixing the mandate that requires Americans to buy insurance or face a penalty, as well as the companion policy that requires employers to offer health insurance to their workers.
The new plan also includes a provision to eliminate some Planned Parenthood funding and another that repeals the Prevention and Public Health Fund in 2019, not in 2018 as written in previous drafts. The measure includes $422 million in added funding for community health centers, as well as a temporary repeal of a tax on the medical device industry. There is no added money, as had been speculated, to fight the opioid crisis.
I have a mental condition and need medication. Will my prices go up
I have very strong opinions on people who choose to go with no health insurance. Huge penalties should be imposed on previously uninsured individuals who develop medical conditions and then seek to be insured. Likewise, bankruptcy should not be an option for the uninsured. A few years ago I unexpectedly needed brain surgery and was so grateful that I had always maintained insurance coverage. Bad stuff happens and it’s best to be prepared.
Rosie, even if a person wishes to purchase health insurance but does not qualify for the subsidies and still doesn’t make enough to afford insurance, please tell me what is a person to do? We do not choose to go without insurance but can’t afford. So Rosie give us all who can’t afford insurance an answer as what to do
Rosie, what if they can’t afford it? I became ill after working from age 16 through age 45 with one short break when my daughter was born. I could no longer work and applied for SSDisability. It took 2 years to be approved but for those 2 years we could barely afford our rent. I had to choose income scale clinics and medications were provided to me from the actual pharmaceuticals because our income qualified us. Bad things happen to good people.
If you can’t afford to buy insurance, you certainly wouldn’t be able to pay penalties.