The Specifics on Trump's Health Care Plan

I may be a little slow in getting a posting out because yesterday the details were very vague with a lot of misinformation.  If this bill passes it will be better than nothing, and we can still decide to make it a campaign issue in 2018 and in 2020 when the Democrats can make their case.

Walking a fine line between the free market and a safety net, Republicans on March 6 released their legislative plan to replace Obamacare — more formally known as the Affordable Care Act — without throwing millions of people off their health insurance coverage.  It’s too soon to tell how much the plan will cost or if people currently covered will retain their coverage, and at what cost. That information will come later, after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finishes analyzing the plan.  The more conservative congressmen don’t like this plan so there are a few rays of hope there.  But basically it pretty much guts the affordable care act. 

But we can draw a few initial conclusions about the plan, which the Republicans are calling the American Health Care Act, or AHCA.

First of all all funding to Planned Parenthood is cut.  Instead the funding that would go to Planned Parenthood goes to other “community health services” under a broad definition. 

The requirement to buy insurance goes away. People will no longer be fined on their tax returns if they lack insurance under the plan. Large companies will no longer have to pay penalties for not offering insurance.

There are still tax credits for people to buy insurance. The plan includes an "advanceable" tax credit, based on age and families size, which people can use to buy insurance. Whether it’s as bigger or smaller than Obamacare will depend on specific circumstances. The plan’s advocates say the credit will be between $2,000 and $14,000 a month "for low- and middle-income individuals and families who don’t receive insurance through work or a government program."

Insurers still have to cover pre-existing conditions, but they will be able to charge more for people who are recently uninsured. The plan allows insurance companies to charge higher rates if a person has a significant lapse in coverage. Higher rates will be charged if a person was uninsured for 63 continuous days during the previous 12 months.

Insurance plans will no longer have to cover most care; catastrophic policies will be allowed again. The Obama administration required insurance companies to cover basic care without exclusions; they called it "essential health benefits." The GOP plan allows for more limited policies and policies that kick in only in cases of major illness or injury.

Adult children and college students can stay on their parents’ plans. As under Obamacare, children will be able to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they turn 26.

Medicaid will eventually be reduced, but it might expand first. The Medicaid expansion remains at first but new enrollment freezes in 2020. Other limitations will also be applied to the program.

The taxes from the 2010 health care law will be repealed. That includes taxes on prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, health-insurance premiums and medical devices. As for how the plan will be paid for, an explanation on the House GOP website says, "We are still discussing details, but we are committed to repealing Obamacare and replacing it with fiscally responsible policies that restore the free market and protect taxpayers."

We are updating disk two with five new songs and shortening Trump’s speech.  The current guy in charge got wind that a lot of people thought there was just too much Trump, so we listened.  It’s kind of a clean out the refrigerator special with five new songs, one of which has been previously used and then dropped.  Also we are in fact changing “Radio Ready” because of the fact that “I’m Looking Through You” is on at least two of our other compilations so we are replacing the track, alphabetically with “Honey, What do you do for Money” and that’s how we’re going to list it- by AC DC.

Disk Two  (revised with reduced Trump)  released March 7, 2017

Hell Bound Train (George Thorogood)
Midnight Cruiser (Steely Dan)
Am I Going Insane? (Black Sabbath)
Our House (Madness)
Keep Me In Your Mind (Scorpions)
Passion Play (Jethro Tull) (radio edit)
Pretty Penny (Stone Temple Pilots)

Muscle of Love (Alice Cooper)

Killer in the Home (Adam and the Ants)

Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie (Bob Dylan)

Little Wing (Derek and the Dominoes)

TV Caesar (Procol Herum)

The Trumpster Delivers (Feb 28th 2017)  15:21  edited

Playing time may be a minute or two shorter.  The editing was at the discretion of the Federation.  "Bush Babies" had something by the Clapper but we used a different song here.