Although a successful passage of the current version of zombie Trumpcare appears unlikely, as Booman has discussed recently, we should remain vigilant. For starters, Trump did have a lunch meeting with the GOP Senators, and one outcome of that was for all of the holdout members of the Senate GOP to meet tonight to iron out their differences. Maybe nothing comes of that. But the truth is we don’t know. Senators don’t even know what they are voting on next week. To say the least, that is crazy-making.
What we do know is that the CBO has scored the repeal and delay plan that the Senate will presumably vote on sometime next week. It will lead to 32 million people uninsured in the US by 2026 (17 million by next year, and 27 million by 2020). Yes, that is one in ten Americans. Premiums would skyrocket if that bill became law. Premiums will initially be 25% higher relative to what they would be under the ACA next year, and would be double the premiums under ACA by 2026. The damage to human lives would be tremendous. Deficit hawks and those who love to give money to rich people will love that.
For all we know, the Senate will try to vote on something. We can expect that no matter what, it will represent the most sweeping attempt to transfer wealth to the rich on the backs of the rest of us that I have ever seen in my lifetime. I want to be optimistic that their efforts will fail. Honestly, I won’t really rest easily until the August Recess finally begins. Keep calling your Senators in the meantime, especially those of us who live in red states. Assume the zombie is not dead yet.
