Different Takes: Examinations And Fact Checks Dive Into What’s In The American Health Care Act
Editorial writers express a range of thoughts -- from outrage to disappointment -- over the measure approved by the House, and compare what's in the bill with promises made last fall on the campaign trail.
The Washington Post:
Betrayal, Carelessness, Hypocrisy: The GOP Health-Care Bill Has It All
What a betrayal: Republicans promise to maintain access to health insurance for people with preexisting medical conditions, and then on Thursday press a bill through the House that would eliminate those guarantees. What a joke: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) objects to the loss of protection, and then pretends that a paltry $8 billion over five years will fix the problem. (5/4)
The New York Times:
The Trumpcare Disaster
The House speaker, Paul Ryan, and other Republicans falsely accused Democrats of rushing the Affordable Care Act through Congress. On Thursday, in a display of breathtaking hypocrisy, House Republicans — without holding any hearings or giving the Congressional Budget Office time to do an analysis — passed a bill that would strip at least 24 million Americans of health insurance. (5/4)
The New York Times:
The Real Problem With The Health Care Bill
With the American Health Care Act headed to the Senate — and possibly President Trump’s desk — it’s important to step back from the debate over the bill’s details and recognize two essential truths about American health care. (Theresa Brown, 5/4)
Boston Globe:
The GOP’s Punitive, Cruel New Health Care Bill
House Republicans narrowly approved legislation that a) takes health care coverage away from as many as 24 million people b) is deeply unpopular and c) has little chance of ever becoming law... Amazingly, the Republican bill passed on Thursday is actually more awful than an earlier version of the legislation, which failed to get a vote in the House in March. (Michael Cohen, 5/4)
Boston Globe:
The Catastrophe Of Trumpcare
Ryan couldn’t win passage of an earlier effort to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill that failed to pass in March would have stripped coverage from 24 million people. This time around, Ryan rammed through a vote before the CBO could analyze the consequences. But even the conservative Wall Street Journal warned that this latest version puts millions at risk of losing health care benefits. (5/4)
The Washington Post:
This Is Not The Health-Care Bill That Trump Promised
It was one thing for Donald Trump to pledge on the campaign trail that his plan for health care would assure that every American had coverage. He did so repeatedly, including during a town hall event in February 2016 at which he said his promise to “take care” of everyone might sound as if he was talking about a single-payer system, but he wasn’t. “That’s not single-payer,” he said. “That’s not anything. That’s just human decency.” (Philip Bump, 5/4)
Los Angeles Times:
All The Horrific Details Of The GOP's New Obamacare Repeal Bill: A Handy Guide
Republicans in the House say they have the votes to pass the American Health Care Act, a measure that will repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The vote is scheduled for Thursday. We analyzed the AHCA in March, when the original version was scheduled for a vote that eventually was canceled. The new version is appreciably worse. Like the original, it threatens the health coverage of more than 24 million Americans but includes provisions that are even crueler. Here’s a handy guide to the worst elements of a nasty bill that will harm you and your neighbors. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/4)
Boston Globe:
What Will The GOP’s Health Care Bill Actually Do?
Last month it was pronounced dead, but on Thursday House Republicans found the “yea” votes they needed to give new life to their health care reform bill — passing it despite unified dissent from Democrats, strong opposition from doctors and hospitals, and no desire among GOP supporters to wait for an analysis of the legislation’s costs from the Congressional Budget Office.T he core features of the bill haven’t changed; it still includes the same long-term cuts to Medicaid, higher premiums for older Americans, and smaller subsidies to help people afford individual insurance... What revived this bill, however, was an amendment that could cause even further disruption. (Evan Horowitz, 5/4)
The New York Times:
The Reality Of A Pre-Existing Condition
I read the news about the passage of the House health care bill a continent away, on assignment in Europe. The distance did nothing to lift the weight on my heart, as the parent of a child with a pre-existing condition. More than 20 years ago, when I sat keening in a hospital anteroom, after the scans and the somber looks and the clueless young intern who told me she would go home and cry for us, my family and I joined the ranks of the unlucky. A rare disease, a grim prognosis, a suffering child. May those who passed this bill never know what it is like to sleep and wake every day with an anvil pressed against your chest, tasting the terror, pushing it away so that you can comfort and care for both the sick and the well in your family. (Susan Chira, 5/4)
Arizona Republic:
Lawmakers Vote To Endanger Pregnant Women
Even the most strident anti-abortion laws – including those in Arizona -- have exceptions that would allow the procedure to save the life of the mother. So, why would Arizona lawmakers pass a not-so-thinly disguised anti-abortion law that puts pregnant women at risk, perhaps even endangering lives? Slipped into the annual budget bill was a provision that could take $5 million in federal family-planning funds that have been distributed by the non-profit Arizona Family Health Partnership and put in in the hands of the state, which would cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics. (EJ Montini, 5/4)
