Affordable Health Care Law under review by SCOTUS

[Hornsby]

so essentially you said that if the majority party is united this thing will pass. Couldn't you say that about everything?

Anyway, I've been saying this was dead long before the house passed it. The senate was never, ever going to find 50 votes for it.

Sure can, but I said it about this bill in particular.

And nothing in this zombie congress is dead and buried until there's an arrow in it's head and the body stops twitching.

It'll take enough Senators breaking for good from Trump to kill this thing for good, and I think that the estimates of people throw off their insurance will just about to do it...

[Hi.I'm.Mandy]

It's over but it isn't over. ACA is a train headed for the end of the tracks--as designed. Trump was not bluffing about that and his disavowal of ownership will likely be effective. For good or ill, ACA is the arena of the 2018 elections, both primaries and general.

ACA was always intended to fail. Ideally, it was supposed to take Big-Insurance and Big-Pharma out with it. The problem with that is Big-Insurance and Big-Pharma are semi-mythological. The real insurance and pharmaceutical industries are more diverse and resourceful than given credit. So, what we have is a dinosaur that is stuck in tar. The beast belongs to the Democratic party and for now it is still active. Given two more years, things will be different. Congress will be different. In the meantime, perhaps the Democrats can teach their horse to sing.

J

Fowler is the villain here !

[Hornsby]

Senate votes to keep repeal and replace alive, even though that have no plan, no vision, and no morals. Beloved "Maverick" John McCain delivers an emotional speech from the well of the Senate, then turns his back on history to be one of the 50 who vote to continue debate. Hope that 22 to 36 million who may well be thrown off of insurance doesn't bother your conscience any John, although I doubt that you have much of one left anyway...

[Hornsby]

This whole thing is a Roman Circus...Sen's Ron Johnson, Lindsey Graham (who I mistakenly thought was sane), and The Maverick himself had a press conference today to indicate that they'd vote for the skinny repeal bill working it's way through the Senate...as long as the House PROMISED not to vote to pass it! Yeah, through the looking glass logic there.

Even Paul Ryan seems taken aback by this nonsense, but in the spirit of screwing the American People out of health care, agrees that a conference committee could be called. But he would prefer that the Senate do it's work straight up. More cover that way, I guess...

[DMT]

The Maverick!!!

[Sour Masher]

The Maverick!!!

Reports of his un-maverickness appear to have been premature. He must have faced tremendous pressure for his GOP colleagues to buckle and go with this absurd skinny, but he did not buckle. I gotta say, I thought it would be Graham that would be the third GOP no vote given his rhetoric on how horrible and useless this "skinny bill" was. I guess he heard something, or was promised something, that flipped him.

[Hornsby]

Well, even an 80 year old man with brain cancer can see that this was a total botch job by the GOP. Although who can blame them? All they had was both houses of Congress and the Presidency going for them...

Now, to shore up the ACA and get it 60 votes...

[swampdragon]

Give credit for Collins and Murkowski substantial credit for publicly sticking their necks out from start to finish.

[Sour Masher]

Give credit for Collins and Murkowski substantial credit for publicly sticking their necks out from start to finish.

Yeah, I agree, although it has to be a lot easier to stand tall on this given that even repubs that voted for it admit it is a worthless clusterf*ck. I doubt this vote against party will hurt them politically given the context. Still, you have to respect folks who go against the grain to vote for what they think is right. Voting against party these days is rare.

[Redbirds Fan]

Profiles in Courage.

I have watched politics for a long time. I have seen many examples of the White House leaning on Senators to get a vote, saying that the White House would owe them a favor or even suggesting that the Party might not support them when the next election rolled around. This is the first time I have ever seen the White House threaten a whole State.

And here is my question of the day...what do you suppose Scaramucci talks like when he is in the locker room?

[Hornsby]

Profiles in Courage.

I have watched politics for a long time. I have seen many examples of the White House leaning on Senators to get a vote, saying that the White House would owe them a favor or even suggesting that the Party might not support them when the next election rolled around. This is the first time I have ever seen the White House threaten a whole State.

And here is my question of the day...what do you suppose Scaramucci talks like when he is in the locker room?

Guarantee that he's one of those fake tough guys...as long as he's got what he considers to be the upper hand, he's all in your face. As soon as he feels threatened at all, he'd fold like a house of cards in a stiff breeze. He's a little guy as well, about 5'8"...so he's probably got little man's syndrome as well.

[DMT]

The Maverick!!!

Again!

[Hornsby]

Again!

Fingers crossed that a couple more join in and that this POS bill doesn't even come to a vote. Kudos to McCain for doing the right thing...

And Fuck Lindsey Graham for fooling me for a while by opposing Trump, then putting his name on this garbage that would hurt thousands, if not millions.

[onejayhawk]

This one feels different. The statist structure of the bill makes it easier to throw a bone to a particular state.

J

[In the Corn]

Here is where the rub comes with health insurance...you're playing a financial game in which you don't have all the information.

I've had the same crappy Bronze Plan for three years. It's the cheapest coverage I can afford, as that is all my budget allows for. My wife has a prescription that she has been on for numerous years.

Happy New Year...sent the refill in today. Got a call from the pharmacy, the price is over $300 for a 30-day refill. This after it has been $25 for the past two years. I knew the prescription was moving to Tier 2 on their formulary, but the formulary doesn't give a price range. Called the insurance company. We pay the full amount ($300/month) until she hits her $7,000 deductible and then it is a 60/40 split. So I'm still on the hook for about $150 a month.

Thanks for this...the drug really is the only think that keeps my wife functional.