Donald Trump: We Must Destroy Obamacare To Save Henry Kissinger
If Dick Cheney drops by, we can share a nice bowl of kittens.
Donald Trump is preparing a beautiful new executive order that could destabilize Obamacare's individual markets in the name of "lower premiums." While we won't have the details until he actually releases the thing, probably tomorrow, he promised on Twitter Tuesday that he'll take action to "give great HealthCare to many people - FAST," which ought to worry anyone who's seen the failed Republican plans Trump also called "great health care."
Yesterday, Trump also seized on 94-year-old Henry Kissinger as a stringless, boneless marionette to call for wrecking the ACA, mostly because Kissinger was there in the Oval Office and there were cameras on him. After saying he'd be "signing something probably this week" that would take care of "a big percentage" of those who need health insurance, Trump explained we have to blow up Obamacare so Henry Kissinger won't see his insurance premiums go up:
Now, we’re going to have to do something with Obamacare because it’s failing. Henry Kissinger does not want to pay 116 percent increase in his premiums, but that’s what’s happening.
There's just one teensy problem there: As an AP fact check takes great pains to explain,
It is super safe to assume that Kissinger [...] is not bothered by rising Obamacare premiums. It's also against the law for an insurer to sell an Obamacare plan to someone who's covered by Medicare.
Kissinger is worth millions, and is more likely to be tried for war crimes than to be on an Obamacare plan. And he's in no danger of actually facing trial for war crimes, no matter how much he may deserve it.
For that matter, it's not even clear whose ass Trump pulled that "116 percent premium increase" out of -- the AP notes it's an atypical rate increase from Arizona, where unsubsidized premiums for a hypothetical 27-year-old were estimated to go up that much, but most real people buying insurance on the exchanges would see a much lower increase because they qualify for subsidies. And as we keep pointing out, the Congressional Budget Office determined that one of the greatest drivers of ACA premium increases has been insurers' uncertainty about whether the federal government will actually meet its own obligations under the ACA. Take away the Trumpfuckery, and the markets would stabilize.
But instead, Trump is determined to wreck the ACA however he can, which is why he's considering that executive order that would allow individuals and businesses to purchase "association health plans," broadening a regulatory loophole in the ACA that allows such plans an exemption from the ACA's requirements that insurance cover essential medical benefits and protect people with preexisting conditions. If lots of people shift to such cheaper junk insurance, the individual markets in Obamacare would likely be thrown into chaos.
We'll go into the details on THAT bit of Trumpfuckery when the executive action actually comes, but we can say this much already: Henry Goddamned Kissinger won't have to rely on that crappy insurance, either.
Remember back when dairy prices were going up and ice cream manufacturers were worried that the cost of a half gallon of ice cream would be cause sticker shock to their customers? What did they do? They kept the price per container the same (or reduced it a little) and made the carton smaller. It looked the same from the side in the shelves, but were not as deep. This is the same game the republicans are playing with insurance. It appears to be insurance. It is called "insurance." But when you really need it, it isn't really insurance.
I guess that's proof that Canada needs to go back to a market-based health care system.