Graham-Cassidy

[Lord Jim]

Repeal-and-Replace-Obamacare-With-A-Tax-Cut-for-the-Rich.

I believe that the only tax that's eliminated in Graham-Cassidy is the medical device tax (which is broadly unpopular with members on The Hill in both parties; as a stand-alone proposal repeal of that tax would pass easily with bipartisan support)

I stand to be corrected, but I don't believe G-C includes the elimination of the taxes related to Obamacare that impact "the rich"...(principally the 3.8 percent tax on investment income and a 0.9 percent payroll tax on those earning more than $200,000 per year.)

The McConnell healthcare bill didn't include those tax repeals either; Mitch eliminated most of the tax cuts in the original House bill in order to free up money to try to mollify individual Senators with breaks for their states and specific concerns to try to cobble together the 50 votes needed for passage.

[Lord Jim]

I think you have it backwards...

No, I don't...

Sanders first announced his intent to introduce a single payer bill after Congress returned in September, back on August 15th:

Sanders plans to introduce single-payer bill in September
By Jessie Hellmann - 08/15/17 09:34 AM EDT

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/34 ... next-month

Then a couple of days prior, Sanders announce that he would be introducing the bill, (along with his left-wing Senator cosponsors) on Wed, Sept. 13th:

On Wednesday, Sanders will formally unveil the 2017 version of his “Medicare-for-all” legislation, shifting talk of single payer on Capitol Hill from an abstract conversation over whether the government should provide universal health coverage to a concrete discussion of a specific bill. With Republicans in control of Congress, single payer won’t pass, but supporters hope the legislation will increase public support, and political will, for an idea that has long been considered a long-shot liberal dream in the United States.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... on/539676/

Then, also on the 13th, Graham introduced Graham-Cassidy, and he made very clear in his press conference that he was exploiting the introduction of Sanders' proposal to provide the impetus to pass G-C:

“Behind me is the only thing between you and single-payer health care, a small band of brothers looking for a sister,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters as he, three other GOP senators, and one former senator unveiled a bill that would scrap Obamacare’s insurance mandates and convert the rest of the law into a block-grant program for the states.

Graham was referring to that other big health-care rollout occurring in the Capitol on Wednesday: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’s introduction of a “Medicare-for-all” bill that has picked up support from Democratic senators positioning themselves for possible presidential runs in 2020.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... re/539721/

Now, both the Graham-Cassidy block grant plan and Sanders' "Medicare for All" proposal had been around for a while, (and both were introduced and voted down as substitute bill amendments during the Senate debate in late July) but in terms of this latest round of drama, the sequence of events makes the record clear...

Sanders was the first to announce that he was re-igniting the healthcare bill debate, and it was his bill that provided the basis for relaunching the last ditch effort at "repeal and replace"...

As with any issue campaign, timing publicity to most effectively build momentum is critical

Yes, and by introducing this before October 1st, and providing the rationale for yet another serious "repeal and replace" effort, Bernie's timing sucked...

It now appears that this Last Chance Saloon effort is going to fail, but no thanks to Sanders or the rest of his hee haw gang...

[Econoline]

PLEASEOHPLEASEOHPLEASE

And then can we get a taco truck on every corner?

[Sue U]

Graham-Cassidy is dead, according to a news bulletin just now.

[Lord Jim]

That probably became the case yesterday when Susan Collins officially came out against it, (though I didn't trust Rand Paul not to pull a switch...)

But now it's official:

Republicans on Tuesday decided against bringing the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill to the floor for a vote, a GOP aide told Business Insider, effectively killing the party's latest push to overhaul the US healthcare system.

Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, two of the authors of the bill, said during a press conference with GOP Senate leaders that there were not enough votes to pass the measure.

"Well, to be clear, due to events under our control and not under our control, we do not have the votes," Cassidy said.

Graham said it was "not if but when" Republicans would pass his healthcare bill, but added that there was still work to be done before then.

"We know what we're against," Graham said. "We've had a hard time articulating what we're for."[Ya think?]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the GOP conference would move on from the push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the law better known as Obamacare, to the attempt to reform the tax code.

It became apparent on Monday that Republicans did not have the 50 votes needed to get the bill through the Senate when Sen. Susan Collins announced her opposition to the bill, making her the third Republican senator to defect. Republicans hold 52 seats in the Senate.

Republicans' ability to use fiscal 2017 budget reconciliation, which allows for certain bills to pass with a simple majority, will expire on Saturday. After that, Democrats will be able to filibuster any healthcare bill put forward.

http://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnel ... eal-2017-9

[RayThom]

Not so fast. There are STILL five day left before the repeal process is officially dead, dead, and buried in concrete -- never to rise again until it becomes a bipartisan effort next year.

The Repugs have been demonstrating their political kiss-ass approach to governance since January 20th. I'm not going to believe this latest act from théâtre de l'absurde until October 1st.

There's an old saying in Washington — I know it's in DC, probably on Capital Hill — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.

[BoSoxGal]

[Lord Jim]

GOP senator ready to resume bipartisan ObamaCare talks

By Jessie Hellmann - 09/26/17 05:33 PM EDT

Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) left the door open Tuesday to restarting bipartisan talks on an ObamaCare stabilization bill.

"I’m still concerned about the next two years and Congress has an opportunity to slow down premium increases in 2018, begin to lower them in 2019, and do our best to make sure there are no counties where people have zero options to buy health insurance," Alexander said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon.

“I will consult with Senator [Patty] Murray [D-Wash.] and with other senators, both Republicans and Democrats, to see if senators can find consensus on a limited bipartisan plan that could be enacted into law to help lower premiums and make insurance available to the 18 million Americans in the individual market in 2018 and 2019."

Alexander halted negotiations on a stabilization bill after a last-ditch effort to repeal ObamaCare began gaining steam last week.

But Republican leaders announced Tuesday they would not call the repeal bill for a vote because it didn't have the support needed to pass.

That opens the door for Alexander to resume talks on a stabilization bill, which could include funding for ObamaCare insurer subsidies and more flexibility for states to waive out of some of the law's requirements.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/35 ... care-talks

[rubato]

The Republicans will never support a HC plan which does not reduce coverage. Someone honestly approaching the question "what HC plan should we have" begins by asking "what level of care do we have to provide for everyone" first and then, second, how do we control costs. The Republicans want to start with "how do we pay less" and give fuck-all about providing care. This has been obvious in everything they have said and done for 30 years.

They are indifferent when you point out that "more people will die if you do that". They have zero interest in quality of care. If the US provided the same level of care as the G-20 average we would have roughly 6,000 fewer infant deaths per year. But they are happy to murder infants once out of the uterus.


yrs,
rubato

[Econoline]

• Ever been eating a sandwich and one of the dogs in the house starts sneaking up on you, acting like it would never eat your sandwich and has never understood the pleasure someone would take in sandwiches (those tasty, tasty sandwiches) and a sandwich is the furthest thing from its mind no matter how delicious; and then, once you tell that dog there is no way it's getting any of your sandwich and shoo it away, immediately starts sneaking up on your other side, acting like it's a completely different dog, a much better dog, and you were right to ignore that other dog that looks exactly like this dog because he was totally after your sandwich but not this dog, no sir (sandwich)?
  
  That's where we are with the Republican Party on the Affordable Care Act: No matter how often they're shooed away, they want that damn sandwich.

• (gleefully stolen from here)

[rubato]

I was hiking with family and friends on Mt San Gorgonio and we stopped for lunch near this little peak. We all sat on a large fallen tree trunk to eat lunch, sandwiches, as it was. I let my right arm fall to my side with my sandwich in it and with amazing dexterity our friends shelty dog crept up behind me and slipped it out of my hand as neatly as could be. I missed most of my lunch but since the bitch was nursing a box full of puppies I couldn't work up any real resentment. The puppies didn't even have their eyes open yet, if memory serves.


yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

I see Trump just signed an EO related to healthcare...

I haven't had a chance to look into exactly what's involved with it, but the fact that Rand Paul was standing behind him while he was making the announcement probably doesn't bode well...