Meet the New Horrible GOP Health Care “Plan”, Same as the Old Horrible GOP Health Care “Plan”
By Congressional Republicans are claiming to have a plan to replace the ACA. It is, first of all, not a “plan” in the sense that Republicans have the slightest intention of enacting it. The point is to not to make health care policy but to give an excuse for five judges who may be ready to embrace absurd legal arguments to strip millions of people of their health insurance, and perhaps fool a few more gullible rubes into thinking the Republicans actually have an alternative to the ACA.
In addition, this plan is not really “new”; it’s only a very minor variation from last year’s Burr-Hatch-Upton Potemkin proposal. Which means that on the one hand it would ensure many fewer people, and on the other hand involve substantial middle class tax increases and utterly savage attacks on the poor (not only ending the Mediciad expansion but cutting the Mediciad status quo ante.)
Which is why Republicans prefer talking about magic ponies to actually making health care policy.