Pre-Existing Conditions in the GOP’s America: A Hobson’s Choice
In Spin Rooms across the nation, we are hearing GOP supporters of the American Health Care Act (“AHCA”) explain how this bill protects people with pre-existing conditions. This past Sunday, Paul Ryan told George Stephanolpolous “No matter what, you cannot be denied coverage if you have a pre-existing condition.” When Stephanopolous pointed out insurers will be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions substantially higher rates, Ryan responded by saying “You can’t charge people more if they keep continuous coverage,” comparing the situation to “waiting until your house is on fire to buy your homeowner’s insurance.”
This is Paul Ryan’s America, one where not having health insurance is a choice, the risks and benefits of which a person will consider and weigh when they make the decision whether or not to buy.
Over and over we hear pundits and spokespersons speak of health insurance as a smart investment that one should choose to make, but which, ultimately, is still just one choice among many, like stocks vs. bonds. What they fail to see is how an everyday American can find themselves without insurance despite making all the right choices. How one can lose their job because they suddenly fell sick or were injured in an accident.
In Paul Ryan’s America there are no accidents — only poor choices.
Back in March, Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), a doctor and first-term congressman, told STAT “Just like Jesus said, ‘The poor will always be with us… There is a group of people that just don’t want health care and aren’t going to take care of themselves.” When pushed, Marshall shrugged and said “Just, like, homeless people…I think just morally, spiritually, socially [some people] just don’t want healthcare.” He went on to say that the “Medicaid population” who get “a free credit card” do the least in the way of preventative medicine, healthy eating and exercise.
In Roger Marshall’s America poverty is at best a choice and at worst a moral, spiritual or social failing.
In Marshall’s America, healthy living isn’t a priority for the poor so why should we be so concerned about insuring them? What Marshall and his ilk fail to see is that our nation’s poor live in food deserts where access to fruits and vegetables is minimal and expensive; the only exercise most people have time for is the walk or bike ride to and from work and gym memberships are financially impossible; and without Medicaid many people would never see a doctor or a dentist because they truly couldn’t afford it. Even with Medicaid, access to medical professionals who accept it is limited.
Around the same time Rep. Marshall was sharing his insight into the Medicaid population’s distaste for health insurance, Jason Chaffetz was mansplaining to us that people need only choose not to upgrade to the latest iPhone to enjoy the benefits of health insurance.
Chaffetz told CNN, “Americans have choices… so maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love that they want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest it in their own healthcare.” In Jason Chaffetz’s America, healthcare is equivalent in cost to a new cell phone and by scrimping on a few luxuries people will be able to choose to make healthier choices and insure themselves and their families.
It is not too late to stop this bill.
The Senate will have the opportunity to consider the AHCA and its full cost both monetarily and politically. With enough pressure we may be able to stop the worst parts of this bill, if not save the ACA entirely.
Write your Senators and Congresspersons. Write them letters, in ink, with your own hand about your experiences, your clients’ and friends’ and families’ experiences, and show them what the real world impact will be of this bill.
The fight is only just beginning.
