The American Interest
"The emerging Democratic attack against the GOP’s health bill, unveiled today in the Senate goes something like this: This is not a healthcare bill but a reverse class warfare bill—a tax cut for the rich financed by Medicaid cuts for the poor.
"This argument is powerful because there is a good deal of truth to it. The Senate bill would cut taxes deeply, including by repealing an Obamacare tax on investment income for high-earners. The bill remains revenue neutral in part by cutting Medicaid spending in ways that conservatives say would make the program work better, but that would also leave more low-income people without coverage.
"This critique may be enough to kill the bill. And maybe the bill deserves to be killed. But it also inadvertently highlights Obamacare’s underperformance.
"When Obamacare was pitched, its champions promised a sweeping, root-and-branch reform that would foster competition and bring down premiums and change the way insurance was purchased and care was delivered. David Brooks, writing last year, recalled the heady mood perfectly: “The supporters argued that the system would help Americans purchase health insurance through carefully regulated state exchanges. President Obama envisioned a day when consumers could shop for health coverage ‘the same way you’d shop for a plane ticket on Kayak or a TV on Amazon.'”
"As it turns out, the bill has fallen far short of those expectations. " . . .
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