Trumpcare (image credit: NotionsCapitol)
TrumpCare’s first draft was written in secret. Obamacare was written largely in the public view.
TrumpCare was written over the course of a few weeks. Obamacare was written over the course of four months.
When drafting Trumpcare, Republicans didn’t get public input from doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, or patients’ advocacy groups. Democrats held public hearings with doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and advocacy groups to get their input on early drafts.
TrumpCare was introduced to the House before the Congressional Budget Office had a chance to estimate how much money TrumpCare would save or cost, or how many people would lose their insurance. Obamacare went through multiple revisions, most of which were reviewed by the CBO.
TrumpCare was reviewed by two House committees in two marathon sessions, with all indications that the Republican-controlled Congress plans to push TrumpCare through Congress as quickly as possible. Obamacare was reviewed and amended and ultimately passed after six additional months of amendments and political wrangling in hopes of getting Republicans to sign on.
TrumpCare’s critics include patients’ advocacy organizations, and doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies. Those groups – including insurance companies – ultimately supported Obamacare.
TrumpCare supporters include… well, almost no-one. Even conservative think tanks hate TrumpCare, mostly because it’s not a full repeal of Obamacare.
Obamacare was a mostly successful attempt to improve healthcare for everyone. It was based on facts and the Democrats cared enough to try to do it right, even if the final result wasn’t perfect.
And TrumpCare? TrumpCare is an attempt to undo nearly everything good about Obamacare and amplify nearly everything bad, all in the service of Republican ideology rather than in the service of We The People.
Other folks pointing out the idiocy that is TrumpCare:
- Paul Krugman at the NYTimes
- Jennifer Rubin at the WaPo
- Inside Higher Ed on the effects of the repeal on adjunct educators
- Modern Healthcare on the impacts to Medicaid
- David Horsey at the LATimes
- CNN Money review of who wins and loses with repeal bill
Categories: Health, Politics/Law/Government
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 
Your very first sentence “Obamacare was written in the open” is laughable. Therefore, your entire article is without merit and false. Obamacare was written in secret, behind closed doors with the input only of Democrats and based on selling to the “stupid American voters” to get it over…
First off, you’re misquoting me. I wrote “Obamacare was written largely in the public view.” If you’re quote something, please quote it correctly. Especially when the fact I put the necessary qualifier “largely” in my original claim and that you omitted in your misquote has direct bearing on your attempt at rebuttal.
Second, even if I did make a mistake with that point, claiming that one error negates all the other facts is a Bad Reasons logical fallacy.
Third, no first draft of any bill is written in the committee room with CSPAN watching. But the ACA wasn’t under guard, preventing even fellow Republicans from reviewing it, while it was being written. I understand the desire to have no leaks to the press, but this was crazy.
And all indications are that the House wants to pass their repeal as quickly as possible – full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes. The Democrats held four months of committee hearings on the original draft, town halls on the subject (where they were roundly attacked by members of the newly founded astroturf Tea Party). The Republicans rammed their repeal through the first two committees in less than 36 hours of non-stop, all-nighter meetings, with no hearings of any kind. It’s too early to say what the Senate will do, but it’s pretty unlike that a new “Gang of Six” (which ultimately failed due to McConnell’s ideological intransigence and bullying of the three Republicans) will slow down the repeal bill enough for everyone to understand what the repeal really does before it becomes law.
So nice try. I give your rebuttal a “K” for “close.”