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July 10, 2017

In our January 16th column we predicted that repealing Obamacare was not going to be an easy task.  Our prediction seems to be coming true.  Many Republicans are becoming very concerned that they need to do something (anything?) or they could very well lose control of the House of Representatives.  The Senate was even considering not taking their July 4th recess in order to get their work done (that didn’t happen)!

The Republicans are trying to lead but they’re not united while the Democrats are interested in obstructionism and they’re united.  Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is finding out that trying to come up with a solution that is acceptable to the left-leaning GOP Senators like Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and conservatives like Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is a difficult task indeed.  In the end it is highly likely that few, if any, will be happy with the results if a compromise is reached!

On April 17th we pointed out Obamacare wasn’t about healthcare but instead it’s a tax measure wrapped in the mantle of healthcare.  The ruling by the Supreme Court confirmed our opinion.

So the question now is how to proceed?  There are two approaches:  
(1) a single payer strongly supported by the left or (2) a system based on competition. Without the principles of competition, health costs will skyrocket or service will decay with long lines for care being the result as in many countries.  Obamacare added 21 Million subscribers but not before destroying insurance coverage for 13 Million (a net gain of only 8 Million). Obamacare’s costs jumped significantly; in many cases by several hundred percent for unusable policies and at unaffordable rates.  So now we face a tough but clear choice.  We suggest giving individuals choices not government-mandated policies that people don’t want!

Reports are saying there’ll be a drastic reduction of the number of people getting healthcare.  That’s true, but what’s not being reported is that a significant number of those people are the young who don’t think they need healthcare coverage, and don’t want it.  

Previously we suggested removing all the Obamacare mandates.  But not all in Congress agree doing so is a good idea.  Part of the problem is that the leadership is trying to put together a “package” deal.  As an alternative what if the Senate took up each mandate individually and had a recorded vote on repealing each one?  This would require Senators to go on record as either favoring or opposing each mandate.  We’d expect there are many senators who’d be reluctant to oppose repealing the individual mandate, while there’d probably be a lot of support for allowing children to continue on their parent’s policy until they are 26 years old. It would be also interesting to see who supports the one-size-fits-all kind of coverage verses allowing individuals to pick and choose what coverage they want, need and are willing to pay for.

It’s clear that if things are allowed to continue as they are the entitlements (subsidies) created under Obamacare will end up consuming over 50% of all tax revenues.  

Bill, Mark and John