24 Million People to Lose Insurance Under Trump's Plan While Rich Get Big Tax Breaks;

The Republican controlled Congress is making another attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as "Obamacare").

But several Republicans are already balking, and saying they won't support this new, new GOP plan.

Read more at:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/...ailsignout

https://www.nytimes.com/2....html?_r=0

And, it seems President Trump is unclear on some of the details.

https://www.nytimes.com/2...-care.html

The U.S. House of Representatives today (05/04/17) passed its version of Trumpcare -- repealing and replacing Obamacare. Now the bill is headed to the U.S. Senate to be studied and voted on.

If you are interested in knowing who are the winners and losers under the House version of Trumpcare, and how it will affect you, here are a few links. It will be more fun listening to the analysis of Trumpcare soon to be provided by the comedians -- then again, maybe not!

If you do not like the version of Trumpcare passed by the House of Representatives, I suggest you call or write Senator Tester and Senator Daines.

https://www.nytimes.com/2...pe=article

https://www.washingtonpos...24b1beb6c1

https://www.nytimes.com/2...ction&_r=0

Among those health organizations who opposed Trumpcare (which I like to call TrumpCaresNot) passed by the House Republicans yesterday were: The American Medical Association, AARP, American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the Heart Association, the Diabetes Association, the March of Dimes, the National Rural Health Association, the American Thoracic Society, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and the National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease.

If you have a preexisting condition, will ever need an ambulance, are disabled, old, chronically ill, and poor you are in trouble under Trumpcare.

And, as usual, the comedians do a great job of analyzing and delivering the bad news about TrumpCaresNot.

Here's Trevor Noah's take:

Oh yes, and if you may need maternity care in the future, good luck with the new GOP wealthcare plan.

Stephen Colbert does a good job of explaining things. But, don't laugh too hard because you might get arrested like the woman did for laughing at Jeff Sessions at his confirmation hearing.

Bernie Sanders explains TrumpCaresNot to Anderson Cooper.

By the way, how about that big tax cut for the wealthiest Americans that is part of the TrumpCaresNot Wealthcare Bill passed by the Republican controlled Congress yesterday!

This is how Republican legislators looked as they celebrated the passage of their health care bill which was opposed by more than 50 major U.S. health organizations and associations. See the list of those organizations at:

https://cooper.house.gov/...ealth-plan

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III explains TrumpCareNot this way: "There is no mercy in a system that makes health care a luxury. There is no mercy in a country that turns their back on those most in need of protection: the elderly, the poor, the sick, and the suffering. There is no mercy in a cold shoulder to the mentally ill. This is not an 'act of mercy.' It is an act of malice.

While some Republican senators are meeting in closed committee sessions, considering whether and how to revise the House passed American Health Care Act (AHCA), other U.S. Senators, mostly Democrats and a few Republicans, are expressing frustration at having no information about what is being considered. The full Senate is expected to vote on its version of the health care bill by July 4, 2017. One can only hope the Senators have a chance to read the entire bill before they vote on it.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking that 100 years from now, when future citizens of this country look back at this era, I’m thinking they will think that we had a very cruel health care system –- in much the same way as we now look back at the era of slavery and think it was a cruel system. From the vantage point of history, slavery is not even debated. It is universally agreed that it is one of the cruelest human rights abuses there is. Yet, in the 1860s, our country was terribly divided, and went to war over the issue of slavery. In the U.S. Civil War, 620,000 soldiers died. In comparison, 644,000 U.S. soldiers have died in all other conflicts.* What a horrific and nightmarish way to resolve a policy conflict!!

Yet, really think about it, isn’t it strange that under the House passed AHCA we are willing to let 23 million Americans go without access to something as basic and essential to human beings as health care. If health care is only for those people who can afford it, it seems like a predatory system. Under the AHCA, insurance rates for the elderly will increase by as much as 5 times, at a time when many can no longer work and are becoming physically frail and vulnerable and in need of more health care; people with pre-existing conditions will also be paying more; and poor Americans will have no health care because Medicaid will be mostly de-funded!

Now consider this: every month Harper’s Magazine publishes the “Harper’s Index” composed of unusual or little known facts. Here’s one from the July, 2017 issue: “Estimated amount of U.S. public funds that have been invested in N.F.L. stadiums since 1996: $6,700,000,000. (That’s 6 Billion, 700 hundred million dollars.)*

Isn’t it strange that as a society we don’t mind spending public funds on NFL football stadiums, but balk at spending public funds on health care for the poor, elderly and sick. Think about that next time you are rooting for your favorite football team! I think our values are screwed up!

Finally, Bernie Sanders was interviewed by Rachel Martin this morning on NPR's "Morning Edition". Here’s the link in case you want to hear what he had to say.

http://www.npr.org/2017/0...-obamacare

*Sources:

https://www.civilwar.org/...casualties

https://www.nytimes.com/2...pe=article

http://www.foxsports.com/...les-033116

http://profootballtalk.nb...taxpayers/

The Montana Budget and Policy Center in Helena has reviewed the Senate version of Trumpcare which was released yesterday (06/22/17), and reports it's not much better than the House passed version. Their analysis of the bill, and how it will affect Montanans is below. Senator McConnell wants the Senate to vote on the bill by the July 4th holiday. Call Senator Steve Daines at 202-224-2651 in Washington, or Billings 406/245-6822 to request a NO vote.

http://www.montanabudget..../medicaid/

Senator Jon Tester strongly opposes the bill. His office released this statement:

"After no public input, this bill emerged from the shadows-—where it was written in secret-—with a warning label for rural America. It will rip away Medicaid from thousands of Montanans, impose an age tax on folks in their 50s and 60s, make it harder to get coverage if you have a pre-existing condition like high blood pressure, all while cutting taxes for corporations and the extremely wealthy. We need to take steps to make health care more accessible and affordable for every Montanan, but this bill will leave thousands of Montanans without health care and doesn't address rising costs."

https://www.tester.senate...se&id=5324

Read more at:

http://missoulian.com/new...94cb1.html

Where senators stand on the bill (so far):

https://www.nytimes.com/i...count.html

It's really a wealth care bill. Here's an article about "7 Huge Tax Breaks in the Senate GOP Health Care Plan."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/...li=BBnb7Kz

Are Montana’s Republicans ready for what their new president and the Republican congress is going to do for them and to us? Starting with healthcare, anyone who thinks the proposed massive cuts in Medicaid will not adversely affect us has not thought this through. How will severe Medicaid cuts affect our rural medical communities, including rest homes, assisted living businesses and small rural hospitals? Those hits to local economies, coupled with the Trump Administration’s plans of severe cuts in funding domestic programs will cause all of us, and especially rural Montanans, to be economically “body slammed.”
Trump, furthering his proposed spending and budget goals, shamefully called for our government to “shut down in September.” His values are clear in his budget and health care proposals. Both the Republican House and the Senate’s secret health care plans take from the poor and middle class and give to the ultra rich.
Recently in the Rose Garden, Trump celebrated the House’s Republican healthcare bill. This bill slashes medicaid funding, brings back pre-existing conditions and drastically increases health costs for those over 50 years of age. While removing health coverage from 20 plus million Americans it funds an $800 billion tax cut, INCLUDING RETROACTIVE PAYMENTS, for millionaires. Since the Republican Senate is marching lock step with the House and both Gianforte and Daines have said they want input from Montanans, while you may as well whistle in the wind, call them and insist that they vote against the Republican health care proposals in the House and Senate.

Here's what Senator Tester has to say about the proposed Senate Health Care Bill:

"In just 72 hours, the U.S. Senate will vote on a bill to completely upend our nation’s health care system and rip health care away from thousands of Montanans.

After no public input, this secret bill emerged from the shadows and Montanans were only give six days to find out what’s in it.

I read the entire bill and it is bad for Montana.

Frankly, this bill charges people more money for less health care coverage and it does so while providing huge tax breaks to corporations and millionaires."



Please call Senator Tester's offices and request a NO Vote on the Senate Health Care Bill.

BILLINGS
2900 4th Ave N.
Suite 201
Phone: (406) 252-0550
Fax: (406) 252-7768

BOZEMAN
1 E Main Street
Suite 202
Phone: (406) 586-4450
Fax: (406) 586-7647

BUTTE
125 W Granite
Suite 200
Phone: (406) 723-3277
Fax: (406) 782-4717

GLENDIVE
122 W Towne
Phone: (406) 365-2391
Fax: (406) 365-8836

GREAT FALLS
119 1st Avenue N.
Suite 102
Phone: (406) 452-9585
Fax: (406) 452-9586

HELENA
208 N Montana
Suite 202
Phone: (406) 449-5401
Fax: (406) 449-5462

KALISPELL
8 Third Street E
Phone: (406) 257-3360
Fax: (406) 257-3974

MISSOULA
130 W Front Street
Phone: (406) 728-3003
Fax: (406) 728-219

Breaking News!

"Facing a rebellion within their own ranks, Senate Republican leaders on Tuesday postponed a vote to overhaul the 2010 Affordable Care Act until after the July Fourth recess."

Read more at:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/...ailsignout

https://www.vox.com/polic...to-proceed

https://www.washingtonpos...b3d094c46f

In case you missed Terry Hanson's letter to the editor in last night's (06-26-17), Miles City Star, here it is:

Editor:

Are Miles City’s Republicans ready for what their new president and the Republican congress is going to do for them and to us? Starting with health care, anyone who thinks the proposed massive cuts in Medicaid will not adversely affect us has not thought this through. You may personally have health insurance but how will severe Medicaid cuts affect our medical community, including local rest homes and assisted living businesses, EMI, the Holy Rosary Hospital, the Billings Clinic, Eastern Montana Mental Health and the Custer Community Health Center? Those hits to our local economy, coupled with the Trump Administration’s plans of severe cuts in funding domestic programs nationally and locally, in funding for the BLM, Veterans Administration facility and the Fort Keogh Agricultural Station, will cause us, and the rest of rural Montana, to be economically “body slammed.”

It’s bad enough that Trump, to further his proposed spending and budget goals, shamefully called for our government to “shut down in September.” His and congressional Republican values are clear in their budget and health care proposals. The Senate’s secret health care plan proposes to take from the poor and middle class and give to the ultra rich.

We recently saw Trump celebrating in the Rose Garden that the House had passed the House’s Republican health care bill. This proposed bill, in addition to slashing Medicaid funding, brings back pre-existing condition exclusions and drastically increases health insurance costs for those more than 50 years of age. It removes health coverage from 20-plus million Americans to fund an $800 billion tax cut for our national’s multimillionaire citizens. The Republican Senate is marching lock step with the House on health care. It’s time that everyone, especially you Montanans that supported Gianforte and Daines, to get on the phone to them and do something for Montana. Both Dianfore and Daines have said they want input from Montanans on its impact on Montana. Call them and insist that they vote against the Republican health care proposals in the House and Senate.

I love it. The Trumpsters have now formed a PAC to run attack ads against a Republican Senator because of his opposition to this terrible health care bill.

https://www.yahoo.com/fin...13053.html

Lordy, Lordy, you Republicans are stupid. It amazes me that your brains have the capacity to send neural signals to your mouth and nose to breathe regularly.

It's gonna hurt Montana quite a bit if it goes through.

http://missoulian.com/new...00c7d.html

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) explains the Senate wealthcare bill -- I mean, healthcare bill -- under consideration.

And, of course, even after the Congressional Budget Office's analysis about how bad the Senate health care bill will be for the majority of Americans, Trump still wants the Senate to pass Trumpcare.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/...ailsignout

Wake Up, America!

"Don’t Sugarcoat This. Trump Just Called for 32 Million People to Lose Health
Coverage" by Greg Sargent, Washington Post, June 30, 2017

Read more at:

https://www.washingtonpos...1bedcaf955

Here's what Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) is writing about the health/wealth care debate -- in a guest opinion entitled, "Fight for What Really Matters" Great Falls Tribune, July 4, 2017.

http://www.greatfallstrib...103425008/

Jon Tester is a total idiot, the only thing he has gained since his election is fat and girth. Like extra 70 #'s. Max Baucus wrote Obama Care all 2200 pages! When it rolled out, he told PRESIDENT OBAMA it was headed for a wreck. That got him banished off to China with his mistress. .

In April 2009, The Associated Press reported that Baucus and his second wife, the former Wanda Minge, are divorcing after 25 years of marriage and have "parted ways amicably and with mutual respect.".[71] Starting in 2008, Senator Baucus has been romantically linked with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, whom he later nominated to the vacant position of U.S. Attorney in Montana.[72] Hanes then withdrew her nomination before the conflict of interest was discovered, because according to Baucus they wanted to be together in Washington, D.C. Both the Senator and Ms. Hanes had ended their marriages within the previous year. Senator Baucus said he was separated from his wife before he began seeing Ms. Hanes.

Tester partner idiot in the Senate is none other than Al Franken.
I sure hope the Montana Democratic Party can find a good candidate too replace Tester or It's likely Greg Gianforte will be Tester replacement.
The Montana Democratic party sure put up an Idiot in Rob Quist even with Govenor BULLOCK doing his best too complicate an unplanned election.

Yes there are major complications with with the entire medical insurers and Medicare. So as the government is trying to find a way too meet in the middle don't count on it to be very good.
Move your assets into Trusts and try too live the best life you can while your health lasts. Then plan on walking off into too a blizzard to die a painless death.
OBAMA CARE HAS RUINED THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Mr. Non sequitur, the man from snowy plains, throws around insults to others intelligence while he, or she, doesn’t have the balls, or ovaries, to emerge from behind his, or her, pseudo name. It's a curiosity that his, or her, arbitrary conclusions fail to be supported by an opening premise or any logical connection.

Sounds like TMFSP is advocating mass suicide after a certain age, instead of health care! There is a problem, however, because the old and sick can only take a death walk to their "painless" death on the snowy plains in winter time. I wonder what his plan is for the other half of the year.

Phil Hands/Wisconsin State Journal/Tribune Content Agency

CHART: Who Wins, Who Loses With Senate Health Care Bill.

http://www.npr.org/sectio...-care-bill

And another:

CHART: Congressional Budget Office Weighs Who Wins, Who Loses With Senate Health Care Bill

http://www.npr.org/sectio...-care-bill

In brief, those who lose the most are people -- those include sick people with pre-existing conditions, the developmentally disabled, the mentally ill, the old, women, children and the poor (many of whom are poor because of any one of the medical conditions listed above).

Stay tuned! The Senate is scheduled to vote on this bill by August 14th!

.......and Trumpcare v2 has now gone down in flames.

Seriously, you hicks, hayseeds, and rubes who continue to support President Tiny Hands, when will you give it up? Did your mother slam your head on the crib after dad came home from drinking too many Busch lights at the bar? This is a national travesty unveiling. What does it take for you to wake up?

Nicholas Kristof has written a brilliant piece entitled, "If Trump Were Your Surgeon."

https://www.nytimes.com/2...dline&te=1

The wealth care, I mean, health care battle continues in the U.S. Senate, except this time there is no bill, and nobody really knows what is going on. Stephen Colbert explains it best.

The Senate has voted. No repeal. No replacement.

Read more at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2...-vote.html

“We must now return to the correct way of legislating and send the bill back to committee, hold hearings, receive input from both sides of aisle, heed the recommendations of nation’s governors, and produce a bill that finally delivers affordable health care for the American people. We must do the hard work our citizens expect of us and deserve.”

- Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), after the casting the deciding vote to defeat the Republican so-called "Skinny Health Care" plan.

Wow! What drama in terms of profiles in courage the United States Senate provided last night during the "skinny repeal" health care vote. And, what a true American hero Senator John McCain is. Some people believe Senator McCain lived up to his maverick nickname. However, I think there is nothing like a brain tumor to clarify matters in guaranteeing every American access to health care. I feel certain Senator McCain was thinking, at some point, what it would be like to have a brain tumor (or any other serious health problem) and not have access to health care. When asked why he voted "no," McCain responded, "because it was the right thing to do." He is absolutely right. It was the right thing to do.

For me, it was also a beautiful moment of poetic justice that Senator McCain was able to cast the deciding vote thereby delivering the knockout blow to President Trump's plan to repeal Obamacare. You will remember last year candidate Trump, who had 5 draft deferments during the Vietnam War, had the audacity to criticize Senator McCain (a former Navy pilot), calling him a loser, for being shot down, captured and tortured as a prisoner of war for 5-1/2 years. Last night Senator McCain got to show Trump two things -- (1) what it is to be a real loser and, (2) what a real American hero is -- something I believe future history books will never show Trump to be. It was a beautiful moment in U.S. history. Those Navy guys really know how to deliver a punch! Go Navy! Thanks also to Senators Collins and Murkowski. I also wish Senator McCain good luck with his medical treatment in the future.

See and read more at:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/0...index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2...ecord.html

Today, after the failure of the "skinny repeal" Trump tweeted that he still wants to sabotage Obamacare to make it fail and then deal; however, many others in the U.S. Senate want to fix what is wrong make it even better.

It's still not over. Here are 3 ways Trump could still sabotage the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

http://www.nbcnews.com/po...at-n788321

Well, here we go again. Republicans in the U.S. Senate are again trying to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as Obamacare.

The newest attempt to repeal the ACA seems to have gained momentum as Republicans head into the last two weeks available to them under the current reconciliation bill (which allows them to pass a repeal with a simple majority in the Senate). The Cassidy-Graham bill, written by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), is only one vote away from reaching the 50 votes needed to pass the bill. A recent report from Manatt Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation estimates that Graham-Cassidy would result in a $1.5 billion loss of federal funds in Montana alone by 2026, and AARP estimates that the total cuts could reach up to $7.5 billion in Montana by 2036.

And, as before, the insurance industry, hospitals, medical advocacy groups such as the American Medical Association, American Heart Association and American Cancer Society, the AARP advocacy group for the elderly and consumer activists have come out against the bill. A bipartisan fix was abandoned this week. 30 million Americans stand to lose their insurance.

If you are against the Graham-Cassidy Bill, please call Montana's Senators and urge them to vote against it:

Senator Daines: (202) 224-2651
Senator Tester: (202) 224-2644

Read more at:

https://www.forbes.com/si...9d7d43a640

https://www.reuters.com/a...SKCN1BW24G

http://www.aarp.org/conte...7-aarp.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2...peal-.html

This article, "If the U.S. Adopts the G.O.P.'s Health-Care Bill, It Would Be an Act of Mass Suicide" was written by a surgeon/health care researcher Dr. Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, September 22, 2017

https://www.newyorker.com...ss-suicide


Also, Senator John McCain said today, he cannot support the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017...-bill.html

John McCain is a great American patriot. Unlike a certain dotard.

Well, it looks like the latest GOP attempt at health care reform is finished for now. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) said she opposed the bill because "the legislation would make devastating cuts in the Medicaid program for poor and disabled people, drive up premiums for millions and weaken protections Obama's law gives people with pre-existing medical conditions." She considers the legislation "deeply flawed" as do the major U.S. health organizations who were against the proposed Senate bill, known as the Graham-Cassidy bill.

Read more at:

https://www.collins.senat...care-bills

The Billings Gazette weighed in on the latest healthcare debate in an opinion entitled: "Montana Big Loser in GOP Repeal-Bill"

http://billingsgazette.co...bda16.html

Finally, the New York Times is reporting today that GOP Senate leaders will not bring the bill up for a vote. They know it will fail.

http://nytimes.com/2017/0...ml?mcubz=3

Lastly, I think the new GOP strategy on health care reform should be to "accept and improve" Obamacare.

Well MCD, Lets get on with fixing it's shortfalls. Lead the way. Your obviously not paying out of pocket. What's your secret. I'm just paying my annual fine and rolling the dice.

TMFSP the annual fine was removed, by executive order. It was effective on last years taxes, and hear forward. Makes me wonder do you pay taxes? And when you say roll the dice. Does, that mean that you don't have heath insurance?

Your correct DJ4, Just payed fine a couple years so far. Early in life I learned he two things for certain is pay taxes and die. I pay my taxes the 3rd and 4th sister each year. I claim many dependents during the year. I have this thing, The Uncle Sam doesn't pay interest so I Don't get any refund. Just bank it in a savings account. Staying well within current tax law it is easy to move $ from S corp to ag assets. Oh sure, my contributions to the community comes in the form of paying good accountants. There it stays within the local community.
Nope on OBAMA CARE, Assets are in a trust..Pay cash for medical. So far so good.

Yes, "let's get on with fixing it's shortfalls" is what every reasonable person has wanted to do for the last 5 years or so.

My Lord. What makes you Republicans so mindnumbing stupid?

My theory is it's the water. The water treatment plant at the pump house is not equipped to deal with second hand meth coming from the Billings WWTP. There is a lot of hopped up piss that enters that facility.

Here we go again! So, instead of fixing the flaws in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (Obamacare), Trump has decided to undermine it with today's Executive Order. We will be reading more about this in the days ahead but here's a preliminary analysis.

"Under the president’s order, association health plans will be able to avoid many ACA rules, including the law’s benefits requirements, limits on consumers’ yearly and lifetime costs, and ban on charging more to customers who have been sick. Critics warn that young and healthy people who use relatively little insurance will gravitate to those plans because of their lower price tags, leaving older and sicker customers concentrated in ACA marketplaces with spiking rates."

Read more at:

https://www.washingtonpos...07f8fa6999

Also:

"Foiled in Congress, Trump Signs Order to Undermine Obamacare" by Robert Pear and Reed Abelson, The New York Times, October 12, 2017

https://www.msn.com/en-us...ailsignout

Trump took another dagger to Obamacare today!

https://www.msn.com/en-us...ailsignout

https://www.msn.com/en-us...ailsignout

http://money.cnn.com/2017...index.html

Here are a couple of articles detailing how the insurance companies selling plans on the ACA insurance exchanges in Montana will not be able to stay in business without the subsidies Trump just ended.

https://www.seattletimes....t-subsidy/

http://helenair.com/news/...449fa.html