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How many more lies can the Democratic Party espouse about health care before we stop listening to them? This is a question I and others have been asking since the passage of the Republican “repeal” and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.
Eight years ago the Democratic Party was pushing a health care bill of its own, promising a new era for health care in America. They promised an average decrease in premiums of $2,500; not only a lie, but most saw dramatic double and even triple digit increases.
They promised if you liked your doctor and insurance, you could keep it; a double lie. They promised more options in the market; a lie that’s become more apparent as health insurance providers flee the Obamacare market places, leaving some states with only one or two insurance providers, and in some areas, none.
Fast forward to the present, and the litany of lies by the Democratic Party continues. This time, the lie being told is that the Republican health care bill does not cover individuals with pre-existing conditions.
But it provides the protections for people with pre-existing conditions, as promised. The health care bill fully maintains “guaranteed issue,” which prevents the denial of health care due to pre-existing conditions, age, gender, etc. Furthermore, Section 133 of the American Health Care Act states that insurance providers cannot discriminate against individuals with pre-existing conditions by charging them higher premiums.
What about the small number of people who have pre-existing conditions who cannot afford health insurance in the normal markets, and who are not covered under Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, or their employer provided coverage? High-risk pools.
High-risk pools are established at the state level, subsidizing the cost of health care for the small segment of the population that is expensive to cover, and cannot find affordable insurance through the normal marketplace, or the other avenues listed above.
These pools existed before Obamacare, and it worked for patients. Issues regarding the excessive expense of these programs in the past have been addressed in the bill, and the Upton-Long Amendment goes further to ensure it is properly funded. Their amendment provides an additional $8 billion in funding (for a total of around $115 billion) to help fund these programs, and bring down the cost of premiums or other out-of-pocket expenses for the small population of people that falls into these high-risk pools.
Put simply, individuals with pre-existing conditions are covered under the Republican health care law, and the Democrats who say they aren’t are lying. The Democratic Party has spent nearly 10 years lying to the American people on health care, and it is to the detriment of the American people that they continue to do so, and get away with it.