Our friends are applauding the Health bill

[pnwmom]

13. Are they assuming they will never need care in a hospital?

Because this bill will be stripping hospitals of huge amounts of money: the ACA included a reduction to hospitals for Medicare patients -- which will be RETAINED -- and the bill will end the Medicaid expansion, which will cause hospitals to end up with patients who can't pay turning up in the emergency rooms. And by law those hospitals are required to care for people whether they can pay or not.

When hospitals are grossly underfunded and understaffed, that affects patient care of EVERYONE there -- even the ones who are paying for their care with employer based insurance.

The bill will also cause the Medicare trust fund to run out 4 years earlier than otherwise, at which point they'll need to raise taxes or (GOP preference) end Medicare as we know it (and switch to coupons for low income people).

Will your friends care when Medicare is destroyed? Do they have parents? Plans to get older themselves?