Viewpoints: There’s A Good Plan Out There To Replace ACA — But Don’t Expect It To Go Anywhere
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Los Angeles Times:
Looking For A Really Good Obamacare Replacement? Here It Is
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has introduced a bill that would expand Medicare to “provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents.” In other words, it would build on the successful single-payer insurance program that already covers more than 55 million people and bring the United States in line with almost all other developed nations in providing taxpayer-funded health coverage for everyone. Needless to say, the legislation — HR 676 — has no chance of passage by the Republican-controlled Congress. However, the fact that such a bill exists serves as a reminder that there are some in positions of power who understand the pitfalls of the U.S.’s private-sector-dominated health insurance system, and who are willing to place national interest ahead of corporate profits. (David Lazarus, 2/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Don't Worry: Obamacare Repeal Won't Hurt Congress' Own Health Coverage
President Trump and Republican members of Congress charge full speed ahead with repealing and replacing Obamacare, [a reader] asks: “What is the current state of congressional reps’ coverage?” Another way of phrasing that might be: Aren’t these guys shooting themselves in the foot? (David Lazarus, 2/1)
Los Angeles Times:
A Health Insurance CEO Explains How Republican Actions Could Sabotage Obamacare
Molina Healthcare, a Long Beach-based health insurer known traditionally as a Medicaid provider, is also one of the more important insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, covering roughly 600,000 ACA enrollees in nine states. So when its chief executive warns that Republican dithering over repealing and replacing Obamacare has the potential to damage the marketplace, it’s time to sit up and listen. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/27)
Los Angeles Times:
Obama Focused On Healthcare Over Jobs At Great Cost. Will Trump Do The Same?
Early in his presidency, Barack Obama invested his political capital in a push to reform the health insurance system. Universal coverage was a long-held liberal priority. It was not, however, the priority of most Americans during the Great Recession. Although Obama succeeded in passing the Affordable Care Act, he paid an immense political price. His choice to focus on healthcare — and therefore sideline economic initiatives — led to his party’s historic losses in Congress and undercut Democrats’ appeal to many working-class voters who went on to support Donald Trump. Now President Trump is committing a similar mistake. (David Paul Kuhn, 2/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Citing GOP Delay On Replacement, Aetna Signals Full Withdrawal From Obamacare In 2018
Healthcare experts have been warning that Republican dithering on a replacement for the Affordable Care Act would be a further discouragement for participating insurance companies. Now, the first shoe has dropped: Aetna, which sharply reduced its ACA footprint this year, is signaling that it will be entirely out of the market in 2018. (Michael Hiltzik, 2/1)
Sacramento Bee:
A Jurist Who Sees The Law As A Defense For The Weak
It is the gist of much Neil Gorsuch coverage that he is a brilliant jurist with one large weakness: being firmly anti-choice. Exhibit A is his book, “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” in which he scandalously defends the “idea that all human beings are intrinsically valuable.” “The intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong,” he continues, along the same shocking lines. (Michael Gerson, 2/2)
Los Angeles Times:
Politicians Aiming To Cut Social Security And Medicare Use Weasel Words To Hide Their Plans. Let's Call Them On It.
In this era in which the Orwellian manipulation of language by politicians to say the opposite of what they mean has reached a fever pitch, we should be especially wary when conservatives hide their plans to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits behind a smokescreen of euphemism. Jared Bernstein, a fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and a former chief economist to Vice President Joe Biden, has put in a plea to journalists to call out policy makers when they pull this stunt—and not to empower politicians by doing the same thing. (Michael Hiltzik. 2/1)
Los Angeles Times:
Another Casualty Of Trump's Muslim Ban: U.S. Medical Training And Rural Healthcare
The chaos among immigrant families and at airports wreaked nationwide by President Trump’s executive order barring nationals of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States has been well documented. Not as well understood are the effects his order will have on U.S. medical training and healthcare, especially in poor and rural neighborhoods. (Michael Hiltzik, 2/1)
Los Angeles Times:
'Calexit' Would Be A Disaster For Progressive Values
Imagine if President Trump announced that he wanted to oust California from the United States. If it weren't for us, after all, Trump would have won the popular vote he so lusts after by 1.4 million. Blue America would lose its biggest source of electoral votes in all future elections. The Senate would have two fewer Democrats. The House of Representatives would lose 38 Democrats and just 14 Republicans. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, among the most liberal in the nation, would be changed irrevocably. And the U.S. as a whole would suddenly be a lot less ethnically diverse than it is today. (Conor Friedersdorf, 1/27)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Navigation Centers Offer A Path Off The Streets To Homeless
Although people living on our streets and in encampments are literally in the public eye, the depth of the trauma and crisis that they face is often hidden. Neighborhoods share the consequences of the untreated trauma and crisis unfolding on our streets. To help people resolve their individual problems and support neighborhoods with these challenges, our department has been leading a coordinated citywide effort with two efforts — Navigation Centers and the new Encampment Resolution Team — at the core. It is important that San Franciscans understand these programs. (Jeff Kositsky, 1/31)