Senate Debates Trumpcare

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

On Tuesday, a vote to debate the measure passed by a 51 - 50 margin, Vice President Pence breaking the evenly divided Senate in favor.

All undemocratic Democrats opposed the measure, along with GOP Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkoswki.

Hours after clearing the procedural hurdle, amended Trumpcare without CBO scoring was defeated by a 57 - 43 margin - nine GOP senators joining all Dems, showing a clear majority wants significant changes in the legislation, gutting Medicaid the most contentious issue.

The measure is on life support short of defeat. Debate continues on other amendments, a final vote not planned unless Republicans have enough support for passage.

So far, they're way short. Before debate began in midafternoon, Senate gallery protesters chanted "Kill the bill! Don't kill us! Shame, shame, shame!"

The evening vote came despite most senators unaware of what's in the measure, Senate leadership crafting things secretly.

In whatever final form the Senate's so-called Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) emerges with added amendments, Medicaid for America's most needy will suffer most - the program gutted over a ten-year period, headed toward elimination altogether if GOP hardliners get their way.

Other provisions benefit business and high-net-worth households at the expense of healthcare the way it should be for everyone.

Both parties reject the only acceptable solution - Medicare for all. Enacting Trumpcare in any form considered so far will leave millions more uninsured than now, causing thousands of unnecessary annual deaths.

According to national coordinator and past Physicians for a National Health Program president Dr. Claudia Fegan, "(l)ack of access to healthcare is our nation's eighth-leading killer" - a national crisis Washington ignores.

Trump's promised better healthcare at lower cost for all Americans was smoke-and-mirrors deception.

Eliminating predatory insurance middlemen would save around $500 billion annually.

Fegan explained "(w)e became doctors to help others heal and thrive. Instead, we spend hours each day on insurance paperwork and billing, hours that could be - and should be - spent on patient care." 

"Medicare for all is a system designed to serve the needs of patients, not the profit motives of insurance companies."

House and Senate versions of Trumpcare stress profits over people needs. 

Healthcare justice for all is the only acceptable solution both parties oppose - a national disgrace in the world's richest country, the only developed one without some form of universal care.

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