What Would Repeal of Health Care Reform Mean

What Would Repeal of Health Care Reform Mean

On Wednesday, House Republicans will keep half of their grandstanding promise to "repeal and replace" the 2010 health care reform law. But the easy part ends there. As the Washington Post explains, GOP leaders are still far offering anything to replace the Affordable Care Act they hope to kill in whole or in part. Worse still, their quixotic effort comes after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed the GOP's repeal bill would not only lead to higher out of pocket costs, reduced benefits and saddle employers with higher premiums, but would fatten the national debt by $230 billion over the next decade. And with Americans now benefiting from a bevy of new patient protections, it's no wonder voters - including an increasing number of Republicans - are losing their stomach for repeal.

Contrary to Republican mythmaking, there are no "death panels," no "government takeover of health care" and no "job-killing" plans from Washington. Instead, Americans won't have to worry about pre-existing conditions, losing insurance when they get sick, finding coverage for their children up to age 26, hitting life-time benefits and the Medicare "donut hole" - all thanks to Democrats. And by 2019 an estimated 32 million more people will get health insurance.

Almost a year after the ACA became law, the GOP is still offering nothing but a deepening crisis for the U.S. health care system. Here, then, is the Republican Patients' Bill of Wrongs:

1. 50 Million Uninsured
2. 25 Million More Underinsured
3. Rapid Deterioration of Employer-Based Coverage
4. 1 in 5 Americans Already Postponing Their Medical Care
5. Over 60% of Bankruptcies Due to Medical Bills
6. Family Premiums Would Double in 10 Years
7. Near-Monopoly Status in 94% of Insurance Markets
8. Dramatic Decline in Emergency Room Capacity
9. 45,000 Uninsured Americans Needlessly Dying Each Year
10. Continued Faiure for Red State Health Care

There is more documentation of the consequences of repealing health care reform (Affordable Care Act) at the link. Not mentioned is the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates repealing health care reform could add as much as a trillion dollars to the deficit in the next twenty years.