The War To Save Healthcare Has Just Begun

Now is the Spring of our discontent, possibly made inglorious Summer by Trump, this son of a b**** from New York. With all due apologies to Shakespeare.

The Affordable Care Act was far from perfect.

It would never insure everybody and there was always the threat that premiums would rise or that people wouldn’t be able to keep their own doctors, despite what President Obama promised. But the goal, to provide health insurance to as many people as possible, was always laudable. And in that sense it worked, as an estimated 20 million more people received coverage because of the ACA.

So when problems started to arise with the ACA, in part because of its own flaws and in part because the GOP subverted it in seemingly every way it could, both parties were correct when they said it needed to be changed. Even President Obama himself said that if somebody came up with a better plan, he’d support it.

The AHCA isn’t a better plan.

I can cite all the cruelties and deficiencies in the House bill, such as the failure to adequately protect people with preexisting conditions and the fact that seniors might face skyrocketing premiums. I can point to the unnecessary rush to pass it, where representatives didn’t have the ability to read it, much less debate it. And of course once the CBO scores it I can recount how many millions will lose their health care because of it.

But I won’t.

Instead, I’ll remind you that the war to save healthcare is still in its infancy. I’ll say that it still has to pass through the more moderate, less GOP-dominated Senate. I’ll muse that it must remain revenue neutral else it will need 60 votes to pass while there are only 52 Republican senators. And I’ll include that whatever changes the Senate makes then have to be reconciled with the House and its ultra-conservative freedom caucus.

Those of us on the left never thought we’d win every battle. To be honest, I was shocked we were able to delay passage of a House bill to repeal the ACA for so long. But this war is far from over.

Never give up. Never give in. Always persist.

And now we will begin calling Senators.

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