You know those claims about tax loopholes? OK. They aren’t claims, they are basically true. The problem is that one person’s loophole is another’s tax preference. After all, those who rent their homes don’t get any assistance, but those who borrow $ 999,999 to pay off their home in 30 years- they get to deduct their mortgages. And, we know that those who rent are generally of lower income than those who have these high mortgages.

Well, the same sort of logic is being applied to our health insurance program.

Let’s consider the past- and compare it to the present. When PPACA (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) was passed, “risk corridors” were created. These were invented to spread the risk across the various insurers- since we had no clue who would buy insurance or where those folks may be across the US. So, those pioneers who provided insurance needed some means of protection for being the first, for offering insurance to Americans under the plan. Except the GOP (Marco Rubio was the biggest claimant- but it wasn’t his idea, nor did he propose the bill) claimed this was an insurance company bailout and banned funding the corridors.  Which, of course, led to the insurance rate increases that developed shortly thereafter in 2016 and 2017, when the insurance firms weren’t reimbursed as promised.

Now? The Republicans have incorporated TENS of billions of dollars for insurance companies to bolster their American Health Care Act (AHCA). Isn’t that also a bailout? No, the GOP assures us this larger pool of money is simply a “stability fund”, so can we please sit down and shut up.

Or, those high risk pools? The GOP assures us will handle all those who have pre-existing conditions. You know, this high risk pool program was funded with $ 8 billion. Sounds like a lot of money- but that’s a boatload less than the states used in previous years for their high risk pools- and they all ran out of money. (Oh, yeah. Another reason why Obamacare was needed to ensure that ALL Americans could obtain health insurance.)

I am pretty sure that every single Congressman graduated from Junior High School. Of course, they’re being lawyers, they probably didn’t really learn their arithmetic well. After all, a moderately serious illness will run at least $ 20K in a year. And, we know that Hepatitis C treatment runs $ 80+K.  So, that means the $ 8 billion they’ve allocated to high risk folks will barely cover 400,000 Americans.  Oops.  We already have some 650,000 folks filing bankruptcy in the US, because they can’t pay medical bills. D-uh. There really isn’t a high risk pool fund after all.

And, what is a pre-existing condition?  Given the AHCA permission to charge more for those with pre-existing conditions, that means the bills for these folks will be significantly higher- probably so high they won’t have enough funds to pay for insurance. After all, the AHCA lets insurance companies charge up to 5X the rates for those over 50 than for Millennials. And, that’s not including the pre-existing clause. Moreover, 86% of Americans OVER the age of 45 have pre-existing conditions.

Then, there’s the definition of essential services. The AHCA no longer considers maternity care, mental health, or children’s dental benefits to be essential. Which also lets health care providers charge more for these services that won’t be covered. Oops. More unpaid health care bills- exactly what Obamacare was trying to stop. Because that’s the leading cause of hospital failure in rural communities.

Now, we’ve finally heard from the (non-partisan) Government Accounting Office.  Who’ve scored the proposed program and determined that 23 million Americans will lose their insurance.  And, therefore, visit the emergency rooms for their health care.  Who won’t pay their bills.  And, leave the hospitals with bills that the states and the feds will be forced to pay, to bail the hospitals out.  Or, the hospitals will fold.

Couple that with the insane (non)budget that The Donald proposed.  That will slash Medicaid.  Leaving even more unpaid bills for the hospital.  Which will mean that our government will spend even more money to keep the hospitals afloat.  Hmm.  Is it better to spend $ 2000 to insure the poor, cover their $ 1000 or so health care costs- or to pay $ 4200 for an emergency visit when we cut Medicaid funding?   Again, someone never learned arithmetic.

This reminds me of the old Cambridge joke.  A Millennial is waiting on the express line, with signage indicating 10 items or less.  And, the dork has 14 items in his basket.  The clerk asks, “So tell me.  Did you go to Harvard and can’t add or MIT and can’t read?”

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