Some "goodies" hidden in the Republican bill

[Bob78164]

After reading this story about the giveaways and takeaways hidden in the bill, I understand better than ever why McConnell did his level best to keep the legislative language hidden as long as humanly possible. --Bob

[flockofseagulls104]

After reading this story about the giveaways and takeaways hidden in the bill, I understand better than ever why McConnell did his level best to keep the legislative language hidden as long as humanly possible. --Bob

Are there more or less than what is in Obamacare?

[jarnon]

Are there more or less than what is in Obamacare?

Obamacare had provisions that were bad for some groups, like removing subsidies to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage, taxes on medical equipment, and taxes on employers with very good insurance plans. I wouldn't call them hidden because they were debated at length before the bill passed.

The worst flaw in Obamacare came about because the Democrats didn't realize they couldn't force states to adopt Medicaid expansion. So people in those states in that income bracket don't get Medicaid, and they don't get the Obamacare subsidies that richer folks get.

[Bob78164]

Are there more or less than what is in Obamacare?

Obamacare had provisions that were bad for some groups, like removing subsidies to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage, taxes on medical equipment, and taxes on employers with very good insurance plans. I wouldn't call them hidden because they were debated at length before the bill passed.

The worst flaw in Obamacare came about because the Democrats didn't realize they couldn't force states to adopt Medicaid expansion. So people in those states in that income bracket don't get Medicaid, and they don't get the Obamacare subsidies that richer folks get.

They didn't realize it because it was new law adopted by the Roberts Court. And it'll be decades before the reverberations of that new (and previously undiscovered "principle") stop reverberating. --Bob

[jarnon]

The worst flaw in Obamacare came about because the Democrats didn't realize they couldn't force states to adopt Medicaid expansion. So people in those states in that income bracket don't get Medicaid, and they don't get the Obamacare subsidies that richer folks get.

They didn't realize it because it was new law adopted by the Roberts Court. And it'll be decades before the reverberations of that new (and previously undiscovered "principle") stop reverberating. --Bob

You're a lawyer and understand this stuff much better, but I've heard that the Tenth Amendment limits how much Congress can twist states' arms. The same principle applies to immigration enforcement:

Trump can’t force ‘sanctuary cities’ to enforce his deportation plans

[Bob78164]

The worst flaw in Obamacare came about because the Democrats didn't realize they couldn't force states to adopt Medicaid expansion. So people in those states in that income bracket don't get Medicaid, and they don't get the Obamacare subsidies that richer folks get.

They didn't realize it because it was new law adopted by the Roberts Court. And it'll be decades before the reverberations of that new (and previously undiscovered "principle") stop reverberating. --Bob

You're a lawyer and understand this stuff much better, but I've heard that the Tenth Amendment limits how much Congress can twist states' arms. The same principle applies to immigration enforcement:

Trump can’t force ‘sanctuary cities’ to enforce his deportation plans

It's one thing to say the executive can't strip unrelated funds from a state because it doesn't like how the state is treating your immigration policy. It's something very different to say that you can't change the terms and conditions of Medicaid funding and condition a state's continued use of Medicaid funding on its acceptance of the new terms and conditions. After all, Congress could clearly achieve the latter goal simply by repealing Medicaid and adopting "Medicaid 2" which is the same as Medicaid except with the new terms and conditions. The latter is what the Roberts Court did (over a strong dissent) and I believe the decision to have been literally unprecedented.

But my point is that because the legal theory that ultimately prevailed was, shall we say, creative, I don't think it's fair to criticize Congressional Democrats for failing to anticipate the possibility. --Bob