Repealed and Misplaced

By KIP SULLIVAN Like Joe, Michael and others, I find myself wondering what, if anything, Trump learned from the demise of the AHCA last Friday. But I’m also wondering what Democrats and other Republicans are thinking. The question I would like to ask all Republicans is: Is it clear to you now that merely saying no to any Democratic proposal to lower the uninsured rate is bad for your party? The question I would like to ask all Democrats who supported the Affordable Care Act is: Is it clear to you now that that the managed care nostrums in the ACA cannot lower costs, and that attempting to lower the uninsured rate without cutting costs is bad for your party? Here’s my short answer to these questions: Trump didn’t learn anything about health policy but he did learn not to trust the Freedom Caucus; Republicans did learn that saying “hell no” is bad for their party; and I haven’t the faintest idea whether elected Democrats (as opposed to the Democrats’ base) are finally ready to look outside the Book of Managed Care for solutions to high US health care costs. Let me start with Trump. I doubt he learned a darn thing other than “health care is complicated” and the Freedom Caucus cares more about their anti-government religion than they do about Trump or the GOP. I might have entertained the possibility that Trump is capable of learning if he had made statements Friday night aimed at reassuring nervous insurance companies that ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized AHCA Freedom Caucus Trump William Kristol Source Type: blogs