Stumbling Forward

Progressives and their trained hamsters in the media continually tell us of their extreme concern for: (1) people with pre-existing conditions, (2) the millions that will "lose" insurance if Obamacare is ultimately repealed, (3) the threat to medicaid holders, (4) an attempt to provide more state control of healthcare, and (5) the "heartlessness" of the evil GOP and its attempt to develop a healthcare bill that is actually workable over the long term.

But here's the thing. Just this week, Aetna announced that it is leaving the Virginia health insurance marketplace, leaving its policy holders scrambling to find coverage from a dwindling number of high-cost insurers. Aetna follows dozens of other insurance companies that have lost hundreds of millions of dollars under Obamacare (even with government subsidies) and are now opting out of the system.

So here's the thing: Why are the same progressives who get the vapors over any attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare not expressing the same concern for the same people with pre-existing conditions, (2) the millions that actually will "lose" insurance, the real threat to medicaid recipients, and the extreme stress put on state budgets when Obamacare inevitably fails. If there's no insurance to be had in Iowa, or Virginia, or other states with dwindling Obamacare coverage, tens of millions will lose their insurance. No. Matter. What.

But the Democrats seem unconcerned. It seems that they'd rather fight to sustain broken healthcare legislation that is failing (even Dems admit this covertly when they say we need to "fix" Obamacare's problems) than work with the GOP and Donald Trump. #Resistance will make the moral preening crowd feel good about itself, but it won't do much for the single mother in Iowa whose health insurance company just informed her it's leaving the state.

The Wall Street Journal comments:

That status quo [Obamacare] is deteriorating as this week’s decision by Aetna to withdraw from Virginia’s health exchanges shows. Republicans need to act within weeks to clarify the rules of the individual insurance market for 2018. The lobby for the insurance industry issued a generally supportive statement on House passage, which offers some hope that congressional action can forestall a market collapse. Republicans will be blamed for that collapse whether or not they pass repeal and replace.

A word about the legislative process and political hypocrisy. Democrats and the media are howling that Republicans passed their bill before the Congressional Budget Office issued its final score of the budget and insurance impact. They have a point, but anyone voting Thursday had ample time to understand the policy choices.

As for CBO’s score, really? We don’t recall the same media concern for budget exactitude when Democrats rammed through ObamaCare on a partisan vote with more gimmicks than a traveling carnival. Remember the Class Act on long-term care that gilded the deficit numbers until it was quickly repealed? And don’t forget the government takeover of the student-loan market that was packaged with ObamaCare because CBO said it would save taxpayers money. Now loan defaults are bleeding red ink.

After eight year of profligate spending that doubled the national debt under the past administration, it is truly amusing to watch Democrats suddenly expressing concern for the debt and demanding CBO scoring for every action taken by a GOP-controlled congress. Just wait until tax reform moves forward.

The House vote yesterday does not create new legislation. Obamacare is the law of the land and will remain so as it stumbles forward. The Senate should take its time and make appropriate modifications to the House bill. The House-Senate conference should do likewise. In the meantime, #Resistance damn well better hope that Obamacare doesn't fully implode—leaving millions with no insurance and few options.