Congress Healthcare

The GOP’s Big Obamacare Replacement Won’t Actually Be Written Down

Written by SK Ashby

The taskforce created by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to come up with a replacement for Obamacare says they're within sight of a replacement except not at all.

Their replacement, if you could call it that, literally will not be written. It will only exist in theory.

The plan will not be put into legislative text, however, meaning it will be less specific and the cost and effect on coverage levels will be harder to assess. Instead, the plan will be a “white paper,” according to Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.).

The proposal will include a version of Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) long-standing proposal to make Medicare more market-based, giving seniors a kind of voucher to use for private insurance, according to two Republican lawmakers who attended the meeting.

The only thing we know for sure is that Paul Ryan's plan to convert Medicare into a glorified coupon system will be a big feature.

I can hardly contain my surprise.

I expect the plan, which will only be roughly outlined, will also undoubtedly include Ryan's proposal to convert Medicaid into a block grant system. Speaker Ryan also recently said his "replacement" will cover people with preexisting conditions by creating high risk pools, a failed idea straight out of the 1970s.

I was going to say the Republican party is a 'bad joke,' but that may not be fair. I can't stop laughing at the idea that their replacement won't actually be written.