Legislative wizard Daniel Horowitz has been pouring through new Senate healthcare bill and doesn’t really like anything he sees. He’s been tweeting his thoughts and I’ve posted them down below for you to digest:
The bill keeps Obamacare (regs, subsidies, medicaid expansion) but repeals the funding mechanisms (taxes, mandates). more insolvent
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Almost the entire bill is about Medicaid..because it doesnt heal the individual market. It doesnt repeal regs and subsidies.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
And all the proposed reforms from 3-6 years from now are a joke. will never come to fruition because the system will collapse by then.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Don't be fooled. This is not about abortion or taxes. There are other avenues to address them. This is health care and it keeps O-care.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
All of the Medicaid "reforms" are promised years out, long after system collapses because regs/subsidies are not repealed.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
The subsidies are almost fully kept but modified enough to give Dems even better "cruel" talking points because prices wont come down.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Worst possible mix: immediately repeals funding mechanism to force people to purchase, but keeps price hiking/distorting regs/subsidies.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Dont focus on the supposed medicaid reforms after 2025! irrelevent. point is we buy obamacare right now and make it more insolvent & own it.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
All this does is agree to the Dem premise with every slightly less funding, which makes it even more indefensible and politically dumb.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
It implicitly challenges Dems to a drag race of bailouts and dependency without solving core problem and just offers lower bid.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Immediate regs, subsidies, rushing medicaid even more, and bailouts with promises of some minor cuts and reforms 3-6 years after we are dead
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
This is not Obamacare-lite. This literally keeps Obamacare and ensures a perpetual need for bailouts or single payer. Nothing else matters
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
In 1987, we spent $85 billion on healthcare. Now its $1.6 trillion, and that is whats inflating cost, yet its never enough.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
If we have Medicaid expansion and high risk pools, and state bailout funds for low income, why do we need regs and subsidies on top of that?
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Republicans are codifying a policy they sued against in court, and for once, actually won. #Bailout
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
This bailout out both Obamacare and the Democrats by absolving them of any ownership of the collapse this bill will now accelerate.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
O-care is regs, subsidies, and Medicaid ex. funded and held up by mandates and taxes. U repeal the latter 2 but keep the1st 3=disaster
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
GOP bill cuts subsidies just ever so slightly enough to elicit blowback but without actually lowering premiums by repealing regs. lethal
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Putting policy and conservative principles aside for a moment, once could not possibly craft a worse political suicide than #HealthcareBill
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
If today doesnt demonstrate y this party is irremediably broken and y we need a new party, nothing will get conservatives 2 chart a new path
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
The only thing this does categorically is repeal employer mandate. But given that market wont be healed thats a bad thing.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Millions will be dumped form employer plans into insolvent individual market. This is political suicide.
— Daniel Horowitz (@RMConservative) June 22, 2017
Here’s a few tweets from Philip Klein on the subject as well:
Senate bill lives up to "Obamacare lite" moniker — offers income adjusted tax credits that go up to 350% of FPL vs 400% in Obamacare.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 22, 2017
This is a bill that does more to rescue Obamacare than it does to repeal it. Lots of up front bailout $, promised cuts come later.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 22, 2017
Bill pumps $50 billion into Ocare markets through 2021 in addition to CSR payments. Promised cuts delayed until after next prez election https://t.co/fLt7BYBO8o
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 22, 2017
I guess we now know why several Republicans will soon announce their opposition to the bill. As I said before, it’s the only way Republicans have to make the bill better. And if what Horowitz has tweeted is all correct, then I suspect we’ll see more than just three Republicans.
After all Cruz made clear earlier this week that if the bill doesn’t fix the underlying problems with healthcare cost, then he won’t be able to vote for it. I think the same goes for Lee and I hope for Cotton as well. I truly expect to see more than three.