...Back before the compassion leaked out of the conservatives.
Even more alarmingly is the loss of a sense of public responsibility. The reason that legislation like Hill-Burton and EMTALA was passed was to send a message to the healthcare industry: "You don't pay income taxes because you're 'not-for-profit'. The federal government is sending you billions of dollars through Medicaid and Medicaid. Take care of the people in your community,
regardless of their ability to pay".
On another subject about healthcare finance...
There's a lot of propaganda out there saying that the ACA is running up the deficit. When the Congressional Budget Office signed off on the ACA in 2009, they attested that the overall plan was "budget neutral" when viewed over a 10 year period. Basically, that means that the plan was structured so that taxes and reduction in payments offset the increased cost of the bill.
This was a big deal.
One of the things that hospitals have been very frustrated about is that
the hospital industry agreed to $155 billion in Medicare payment reductions to offset the costs of the ACA. Because many Southern states in the US did not accept the Medicaid expansion and because there has not been pressure to get younger citizens to enroll in insurance plans, hospitals are still having to eat the cost of care for uninsured patients in those states.
If the ACA gets repealed, the cost reductions to Medicare go away. ACA reductions in supplemental payments for underserved areas and cost reductions agreed to by the pharmaceutical industry will also be repealed.
This is clearly explained in a
CBO report.
Here's the report and here's the graph that shows what will happen.
CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that, over the next decade, a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would probably increase budget deficits with or without considering the effects of macroeconomic feedback.
So, ask yourself why are the Republicans in such a hurry to repeal the ACA? Well, it's because ultra-rich donors (the Koch Brothers, the DeVos family, Corbin Robertson Jr, Richard Gilliam, Phillip Anschutz, Richard Strong, Ken Langone, Robert Mercer and others) are paying a substantial tax to support the ACA. They don't want to pay the tax and they're pressuring the recipients of their lobbying fund to repeal it through front organizations like Americans For Prosperity, Freedom Partners Action Fund, et al.
In the face of expanding energy regulations, stepped-up Democratic attacks and the ongoing fight over Obamacare, the billionaire Koch brothers and scores of wealthy allies have set an initial 2014 fundraising target of $290 million which should boost GOP candidates and support dozens of conservative groups--including a new energy initiative with what looks like a deregulatory, pro-consumer spin, The Daily Beast has learned.
Source
Who is the front man for the repeal effort?
Mike Pence.
As Trump prepares to take office, Pence -- a 12-year veteran of Congress -- is becoming his liaison to Capitol Hill. Trump is even tapping Marc Short, a longtime Pence aide and Koch brothers operative, as his legislative adviser.
There was an article in
USA Today laid out the numbers:
It turns out that taking away health insurance from struggling families can be a windfall for the well-to-do. The top 0.1% of households—those with income of at least $3.7 million a year—would receive a tax cut of about $197,000 in 2017, on average, if the ACA is repealed, according to the Tax Policy Center.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans would see the cost of their private health insurance skyrocket because they would lose ACA subsidies used to pay their premiums. The increased costs would range from about $4,000 to $6,000 per family, depending on income level. Taking away subsidies would make health insurance unaffordable for most of these families.
