Obamacare replacement plans to get extraordinary assistance

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 House joins Senate in approving groundwork to revoke health care law

Speaker Ryan promises speedy replacement; will enlist “special consultants”

  

The New York Times reported today that the House joined the Senate in laying the groundwork for speedy action to repeal the Affordable Care Act, approving the budget blueprint passed by the Senate on Thursday that would allow Republicans to tear up the health care law without the prospect of a Senate filibuster.

The House vote, coming a week before President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, places Republicans squarely in position to fulfill their long-held desire to dismantle President Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

According to the Times, the quick action by Congress this week adds urgency to the vexing question of what comes next. While pursuing repeal with zeal, Republicans are far from reaching any consensus on how to go about replacing the health care law, under which more than 20 million Americans have gained health insurance.

“This is a critical first step toward delivering relief to Americans who are struggling under this law,” Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin said.

Ryan went on to say that he, in conjunction with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, would take “quick and immediate action on an Obamacare replacement” even going so far as enlisting the assistance of two “special consultants” who will help Republicans craft a new healthcare law.

While Ryan would not reveal the names of the “special consultants,” Around the Block has learned that one will be former president George W. Bush who has previously stated that the centerpiece of any healthcare reform should be for Americans to make more frequent use of hospital emergency rooms for their care, saying in 2007, “People have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.

Sources indicate that Ryan’s second “special consultant” will be former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who, echoing Bush, told Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes during the 2012 presidential race, “"Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and -- and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care.

Healthcare experts say that if the Bush/Romney idea prevails with Republicans, not only will the 20 million people who gained coverage as a result of Obamacare lose their coverage, everyone else who has health insurance would drop their plans to take advantage of the emergency room option.

When informed that Bush and Romney might be working with Paul Ryan on repealing and replacing Obamacare with emergency room coverage, Republican voter Clyde Fernwood of Mansfield, Ohio, said he would immediately cancel his insurance, going on to say, "That's great! Why would I pay for health insurance when I can just go to an emergency room? I mean, you've got to be nuts to pay for something you can get for nothing."