If Senate Republicans write the healthcare bill in the dark…
How can you vote on a bill that will affect health insurance coverage for 24 million people without reading it first?
It’s been just over a month since Trumpcare (formally known as the American Health Care Act of 2017 or AHCA) passed out of the House and landed in the Senate.
During this time there hasn’t been much to write about because no one has seen the Senate Republicans’ bill. They have a select group of Senators writing the bill, in private, with no discernible input from anyone.
This isn’t how these things normally go.
Needless to say, the lack of information has made a lot of people nervous. Not just Senate Democrats, but also major healthcare organizations, governors, and even insurers. The President himself called the Senate’s bill “mean” and told Senate Republicans to be “more generous.”
In their rush to pass a healthcare bill, Senate Republicans might have killed it.
Senate Democrats are resorting to using procedural rules to slow down, not just the progress of this bill, but the all of the Senate’s work. Democrats hope this tactic will get enough Senate Republicans to change their votes that the bill goes down to defeat.
More importantly, the New York Times is reporting that “not one state supports the Republican health bill” because Senators need to be mindful of their constituents’ feelings. Don’t they?
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Nor will this bill be the final one passed. This about being worried about primary opponents, not what makes good policy. This is policy by fear and the fear is that the most conservative will run against them and win.
I agree that this bill is not good policy and Congress’ actions are all about the political optics. It makes me angry that they seem willing to sacrifice the health of their constituents (and the American people) for politics.