Where Will the Money Come From?

 

 

     The fourth wealthiest man in the world, Warren Buffet, has added his voice to the healthcare debate in this country. He commented that healthcare costs have risen much faster in the US than the rest of the world and will increase much more if the Republican plan approved this week is allowed to take effect. He also said that his own federal income taxes would have been 17% less had this law been in effect. "It's a huge tax cut for guys for me. And when there's a tax cut, either the deficit goes up or they get the taxes from somebody else."  We all know the deficit is loathed by Republicans and they spew garbage about reducing it every chance they get. So, where does that leave the Republicans to find the money to cover the loss as they repeal most of the taxes that paid for the Affordable Care Act?  Millions of Americans will lose their insurance because the subsidies will no longer be available to them and they will not be able to afford the predicted sky rocketing cost of insurance. Hospitals will lose millions of dollars (and perhaps continue to go out of business) as their unreimbursed costs of charity care increases. These unreimbursed charity costs will drive up insurance rates for the rest of us. More hospitals will merge and/or close, making access to hospital care harder to access just as more people will delay healthcare until a health crisis sends them to hospital emergency rooms for the most expensive care.

 

So, Trump, and other wealthy individuals, will benefit by seeing their taxes decrease. They will be able to afford health insurance. (Along with members of Congress who exempted their insurance plans from the proposed revision of the health plans they say will be so good for the rest of the American public.) Most insurance companies will continue to earn billions in profits. All for me, none for you. What a pitiful model of selfishness. And here is the latest GOP quote that echoes this selfishness as well as stupidity and greed and other narcissistic traits all too common today:

 

          At a recent town meeting style constituent meeting, Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador, a                        

Republican, had the stupid audacity and selfishness to say, "Nobody dies because

they don't have access to health care."

 

Well, a 2009 study published by the American Journal of Public Health prior to when the Affordable Care Act became law, found that 45,000 people die each year because they don't have health insurance.