Sacramento Bee Logo

Republicans are taking a radical approach to health care, and people will suffer | The Sacramento Bee

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • SacBee Rewards
    • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Apps
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube
    • News in Education (NIE)
  • Newsletters

    • Sacramento Region
    • Arena
    • City Beat
    • Crime
    • Local Govt Salary Database
    • The Homeless
    • Marcos Bretón
    • Transportation
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health & Medicine
    • Traffic Conditions
    • Weather
    • Communities
    • Elk Grove
    • Folsom/El Dorado
    • Roseville/Placer
    • Yolo
    • Sports
    • Kings
    • NBA News
    • 49ers
    • Giants
    • Oakland A's
    • High School Sports
    • Joe Davidson
    • More Sports
    • Raiders
    • NFL News
    • MLB News
    • River Cats
    • Soccer
    • Colleges
    • Golf
    • Autos Racing
    • Politics
    • Capitol Alert
    • State Workers
    • The California Influencer Series
    • Local Elections
    • PoliGRAPH
    • State Worker Salary Database
    • Legislative Gifts
    • Local Elections
    • California Elections
    • Election Endorsements
    • Election 2018
    • Voter Guide
    • Investigations
    • Data Tracker
    • Public Eye
    • Afghan Refugees
    • Nursing Homes
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Election Endorsements
    • Viewpoints
    • Influencers Opinion
    • California Forum
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • Jack Ohman
    • Editorial Board
    • Entertainment & Life
    • Arts & Theater
    • Books
    • Home & Garden
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Outdoors
    • Pets
    • Travel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Puzzles
    • TV Listings
    • Sacbee Rewards
    • Food & Drink
    • Restaurants News & Reviews
    • Restaurant Directory
    • Cooking & Recipes
    • Beer
    • Wine
    • Appetizers Blog
    • California
    • Big Valley
    • Marijuana
    • Wildfires
    • Water & Drought
    • Lottery
    • Business
    • Real Estate
    • Market Summary
    • Cathie Anderson
    • Nation & World
    • National
    • World
    • Technology
    • Family
    • Celebrities
    • TV news
    • Weird News
    • Video Break
    • News Obituaries
    • Death Notices
    • FAQ
    • ObitMessenger
    • In Memoriam

    • The Sacramento Bee Store
    • Golf Card
    • Farm to Fork Dining Card
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
  • Legal Notices
  • Place an Ad
  • Advertise
  • Mobile & Apps

Viewpoints

Republicans are taking a radical approach to health care, and people will suffer

By Jonathan Bernstein Bloomberg View

    ORDER REPRINT →

December 20, 2017 01:14 PM

Republicans in Congress who are voting for tax cuts – the measure cleared the Senate late Tuesday night and will pass in the House on Wednesday – may be rushing through an underdeveloped, sloppy bill. They may be guilty of hypocrisy for increasing federal budget deficits after campaigning against them (although in my view their actions have been consistent, and I don’t really care much about hypocrisy anyway).

Economists almost universally don’t believe that these tax cuts will have the economic effects that the bill’s supporters claim will happen.

But I’m quite confident that House Speaker Paul Ryan and most Republicans in the House and Senate sincerely believe they are improving the nation by passing this bill. I’m an outsider, so on-the-ground reporters might have insights I don’t have from my distance, but I think the bottom line here comes down to a party that agrees on almost nothing but the positive effects of cutting taxes, especially on the wealthy.

The same, however, cannot be said about the provision in this tax bill to eliminate the Obamacare individual health insurance mandate. In that case – and in all the other ways that Congress and the Donald Trump administration have tried to depress participation in the Affordable Care Act individual markets – they are actively trying to make the nation worse, in hopes that some good will come of it eventually.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

I know that because that’s what Republicans say they are doing. Bloomberg’s Stephen Dennis quotes Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn saying as much: “Arguably, doing away with the individual mandate makes the Affordable Care Act unworkable.”

Of course, Republicans have been saying for some time that Obamacare was in a death spiral, with fewer healthy customers buying insurance, thus producing higher premiums, thus pushing more people out of the market, thus raising premiums even more, and so on. Trump jumped to the end of that line, declaring over and over again that Obamacare was already dead. While the exchanges certainly have growing pains and other problems, none of this has actually been true – so much so that despite everything, enrollments this year were not catastrophic at all.

Republicans had pledged for years that they would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. They wouldn’t strand millions without health care. But they are now doing just that: repealing a key piece of the legislation in an attempt to collapse the individual market. Perhaps that will eventually yield new legislation after all. In the meantime, however, people without employer-linked insurance who don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare may wind up just out of luck.

Now, as it happens, it’s also extremely unlikely to work. Like it or not, people strongly tend to hold incumbents responsible for government actions, and justified or not – and now, it certainly will be – voters will tend to hold Republicans responsible for whatever happens with health care. However, that doesn’t change the political ethics involved.

I often call some Republicans radicals. This kind of thing is exactly why. Indeed, “radical” is a mild term for those who attempt to make things worse for citizens in hopes of benefiting from it in the longer run. It’s a terrible way for elected representatives in a democracy to behave. It’s bad enough when a sizable section of the House Republican conference attempts it. But this time it’s a consensus position within the party.

It’s an embarrassment to the once-good name of the Republican Party, and they deserve to suffer for it.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist, jbernstein62@bloomberg.net.

  Comments  

Videos

Painting the Delta

Homeless in Sacramento

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘Just please stop coming up here.’ Sierra travel can wait, officials say, as more snow moves in

February 16, 2019 03:40 PM

One dead in Tahoe City shooting, Placer County Sheriff’s Office says

February 16, 2019 05:58 PM

Home sales have dropped sharply in Sacramento. See how that’s affecting prices in your neighborhood

February 16, 2019 03:00 AM

‘Especially De’Aaron’: What Celtics star Kyrie Irving said about Kings’ De’Aaron Fox

February 16, 2019 03:17 PM

Williams CHP officer stabbed during traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Colusa County

February 16, 2019 05:06 PM

Read Next

Gov. Newsom’s decision to change high-speed rail plan doesn’t go far enough

Ben Boychuk

Gov. Newsom’s decision to change high-speed rail plan doesn’t go far enough

By Ben Boychuk Special to The Sacramento Bee

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 17, 2019 12:01 AM

Newsom is right that California’s high-speed rail costs too much, will take too long, and won’t live up to its utopian promise. That was always going to be the case. Let’s cancel this boondoggle and move on.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Sacramento Bee

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE VIEWPOINTS

Lots of luck to Amy Klobuchar. History shows she’ll need it

California Forum

Lots of luck to Amy Klobuchar. History shows she’ll need it

February 16, 2019 12:01 AM
One year after Parkland shooting, gun violence remains a threat

Viewpoints

One year after Parkland shooting, gun violence remains a threat

February 14, 2019 12:01 AM
Glowing coverage of Kamala Harris ignores reality

Bill Whalen

Glowing coverage of Kamala Harris ignores reality

February 12, 2019 12:01 AM
Californians deserve safe drinking water. It’s time for the Legislature to deliver it

Viewpoints

Californians deserve safe drinking water. It’s time for the Legislature to deliver it

February 12, 2019 12:01 AM
Prosecutors’ attack on youth justice reform undermines democracy

California Forum

Prosecutors’ attack on youth justice reform undermines democracy

February 10, 2019 12:01 AM
Commentary: School districts set poor example for students

California Forum

Commentary: School districts set poor example for students

February 10, 2019 03:01 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

The Sacramento Bee App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
Advertising
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Place a Legal Notice
  • Place a Digital Ad
  • Place a Newspaper Ad
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Corrections Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story