DOUBLE-WHAMMY -- Trumpcare Is Medical Apartheid - by Jonathan Alter

[DonViejo]

Before Obamacare, if you were denied coverage and then got sick, you were thrown to the wolves.

JONATHAN ALTER
05.03.17 1:00 AM ET

Jimmy Kimmel was weeping on his show this week. After describing the heroic efforts of doctors to fix the heart defect of his newborn son, Billy, he said that baby Billy would be dealing with this congenital condition when he was a teenager and beyond. Then his thoughts turned to people who are not the children of late-night talk-show hosts. He told the audience that important meetings are underway in Washington right now. “No parent should have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life,” he said to thunderous applause.

Before 2010, millions of parents were faced with just that decision. As we wait to see if Republicans can ram through their new version of the health care bill—and I give them decent odds in the House—please join me on a quick trip back in time on this most wrenching of issues. It’ll help clarify the breathtaking cynicism of the GOP.

I’m talking here less about President Donald Trump, who wouldn’t know a community rating from a Nielsen rating if his life depended on it, than about other dishonest “public servants” who should know better, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, HHS Secretary Tom Price and Rep. Tom MacArthur, the New Jersey conservative who fashioned the latest compromise with the far-right Freedom Caucus.

Democrats are hardly covering themselves with glory on this one, either. Their efforts to defend Obamacare are often arid, abstract and disconnected from the powerful moral imperative at the heart of this issue.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/03/beware-the-gop-s-medical-apartheid-plan

[Stuart G]

1. I like the third paragraph of the above post,

"I’m talking here less about President Donald Trump, who wouldn’t know a community rating from a Nielsen rating if his life depended on it, than about other dishonest “public servants” who should know better, like House Speaker Paul Ryan, HHS Secretary Tom Price and Rep. Tom MacArthur, the New Jersey conservative who fashioned the latest compromise with the far-right Freedom Caucus. "

[meow2u3]

2. This passage may hold the key to Dems winning back Congress

Pricing sick people out of insurance coverage is abuse. It will make them go to the doctor less often, meaning less early detection and more early death.

And discrimination against sick people is as morally wrong as discrimination against people because of the color of their skin. High-risk pools are American Sowetos in a system of medical apartheid.

If Democrats can make this about discrimination against millions of Americans, they will crystallize the issue and re-take the Congress in 2018.

Those of us who have Democratic reps and/or Senators should contact them to suggest this plan of action. Let them know that health care discrimination against sick and/or disabled people is just as evil as any other form of discrimination.