NYT video report on health care bill being drafted secretly in USA Senate; USA NJ resident Geoff Ginter's very harsh criticism of AHCA in May 2017 Townhall
https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/1875839599300220/, 3 min 23 secs, published by New York Times on 18 Jun 2017 (Indian Std. Time).
BTW the short video clip in the above video of a USA citizen complaining to (or rather accusing) a USA Congressman (Tom MacArthur of New Jersey) of being a threat to his family due to the health care bill, led me to browse for a video it. Here's that video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TDkgIEn5Ac, 11 min. 46 secs, published May 11th 2017. It has some very strong words from the USA citizen about the health care bill passed by USA House of Representatives. The citizen is reported to be Geoff Ginter, a healthcare professional/worker, who was wearing his hospital dress at this Townhall. Note that MacArthur chose to have the townhall in an area of his constituency where he got limited vote (12 percent if I got that right). He said he wanted to hear their views. That willingness of MacArthur to hear his opposing side out has to be appreciated.
I have given below some of the words said by Ginter in the video above:
[From around 2:50 in the video]
My wife was diagnosed with cancer when she was 40 years old. She beat it. But everyday, everyday, she lives with it. She thinks about it. Every pain. Every new - something going on somewhere. Is it coming back? Is this cancer? Do I have it again? Is it going to kill me this time? Is it going to take me away from my children? Speaking of which, my children - both have preexisting conditions from birth - one cardiac, one thyroid.
[Said with great passion/anger:] You have been the single greatest threat to my family in the entire world. You are the reason I stay up at night. You are the reason I can't sleep. What happens if I lose my job?
I am very fortunate sir. I have a really good job. And I have really good health insurance. And we can all .. have peace of mind. But now my wife, who everyday, is wondering if she is going to get cancer. Is it happening now? .. But what about now? Now [she] also has to contend with, what if my husband loses his job? If I lose my job we can't afford COBRA [COBRA seems to be some health insurance available in NJ]. We can't afford to get private insurance. We get it from my employer. If I lose it, its gone.
If I lose my job on a Monday, if I am lucky enough to find a job on [next day] Tuesday, which never happens - they will not have insurance ready for me. I will not be eligible for three to six months. If I lost my coverage, within sixty three days, suddenly I am in a high-risk pool. My pre-existing conditions which I don't give a shit about - go after me, come after me, I don't care. But you came after my - you came after my wife. You came after my kids.
I have sympathy for your mother. I have sympathy for your daughter. [MacArthur's mother (at a relatively young age) and daughter passed away due to illness, if I got that right.] But you did not learn the lessons they were trying to teach you. Because this is what you did to us. [Applause]
...
Your actions affect the entire country. There is no one in this country that your actions are not going to affect. So everyone's voice is important and when seventeen percent of the population said, don't do it, you did it. This man is correct when he said that you brought it [House healthcare (AHCA) bill] back from death. Ryan [Speaker of the USA House of Representatives] said it is dead. Trump [USA President] said it is dead. And you said, No. I got a better idea.
...
The CBO scored it. 24 million people off of health insurance. And they [Republicans] called that choice! Like we are choosing not to have health insurance if we can't afford it. [Applause] That is insulting! That is detrimental to the mental health of us as a nation. But all of this - all of this - totally misses the point.
Healthcare is not a good - you do not buy health insurance the same way you buy a car, the same way you buy a house. Those are already complicated things to do. You got to know about cars. .. But there are reasonable ways to be educated about those things and make reasonable choices.
I work in healthcare sir. It is complicated. ... And you are working with him to take something that he [USA president Trump] doesn't understand, that he won't be responsible for, because he's going to be fine. You're working with him. You are working with Ryan. You are working with people that don't care about us.
If you want to make something better you could have made the ACA better. Directly! You could have made sure that all of the funding that you say we need right now - just put it in there. Into this bill. Show me what you are made of. Show me that you know what's going on (and) that you can actually do something instead of siding with people that clearly, by the virtue of their own words, do not care. They want their money back. That's their version of compassion.
...
But the point is, is that healthcare is not like buying anything else. You cannot expect people to be good consumers of healthcare. Another wonderful talking point. ... "We need to be better consumers of healthcare". You are supposed to be vetting doctors and vetting hospitals and knowing what an MRI costs and knowing what a CT scan costs and if I need a cardiac catheterization how much does that cost. And is the cost different if I have this doctor or this doctor.
Its completely immoral! And this is the point Congressman. This is the point. Because health insurance as a for-profit business IS immoral. [Applause] When I am drowning and you insist I pay before you'll save me, that is immoral, sir! Completely! You have no legs to stand on. You want to make money off of me... And the reason that it is not going to go to single payer is not because you don't believe it. Its because you know that the insurance companies have a powerful lobby and they would decimate you.
...
I don't have any choice with an insurance company. I have no value to an insurance company. I can't do anything to their CEO. I can't do anything to their employee. Nothing. I can argue till I am blue in the face. But a single payer run by the government? Oh yeah, its got problems. But its also got elections. And you're gonna find that out in 2018. [Applause]
--- end Geoff Ginter words ---
Here is an article about the above Townhall meeting which was held in Willingboro, New Jersey, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/tom-macarthur-republican-town-hall-health-care/526338/, dated 11th May 2017.
Some extracts relevant to this topic from Congressman MacArthur's wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_MacArthur, are given below:
MacArthur has repeatedly called for repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). However, in January 2017, he was one of nine Republicans who voted no on its repeal.
On March 20, 2017, MacArthur announced his support for the American Health Care Act of 2017 (sometimes referred to colloquially as 'TrumpCare').
On April 25, 2017, MacArthur introduced an amendment to the Act that would permit states to waive out of Obamacare’s ban on pre-existing conditions, allowing insurers to charge sick people higher premiums than healthy people. However, the amendment would also dictate that health insurance offered to members of Congress and their staffs not be included in the exemption from covering pre-existing conditions. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in April 2017, found that 70 per cent of Americans favored protections for pre-existing conditions.
In response to MacArthur's vote to pass the AHCA, which would partially repeal and replace Obamacare, there were protests in his district, and difficult Town Halls with constituents questioning MacArthur about his vote. A widely reported comment at one of his Town Hall meeting was from Geoff Ginter, a health professional, who called MacArthur the "single greatest threat" to his family, citing his concerns about his wife and daughters who have preexisting conditions that may affect their health coverage under the AHCA.
MacArthur resigned as chair of the Tuesday Group in May 2017 due to disagreements among its members over the AHCA.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: I think that the burden that USA Congressmen/women and Senators have to get this health care bill done right is an IMMENSE ONE. If I was in MacArthur's place I would be entirely crushed by the very strong attacking words used by Ginter. Now I do not know how truthful Ginter's attacking words are. I have not heard MacArthur's response yet. Plan to do that later by looking up other videos on this event which may have his response, and then update this post with it so that readers get to see both sides of the story.
Whatever the reality may be, I do appreciate the courage and tolerance that people like MacArthur show by going to such townhalls and listening to such attacking criticism on them. I doubt such courtesy/tolerance to severe criticism would be shown by most politicians in India in their face-to-face interactions with their constituents.
Of course, the bigger issue is whether USA Congress gets USA healthcare right and does not jeopardize the health care of millions of USA citizens. One political reality is that withdrawing healthcare services that is currently being offered to significant number of people, will be INTENSELY DISLIKED by not only those people but by many others who sympathize with them. That would, in all probability, translate to a political cost that will have to be paid in forthcoming elections in the near future in the USA. In this case, that would be the 2018 elections for all House of Representatives and for some Senators (as I understand it/if I am not mistaken).
====================================================
Update: Here's a longer video clip of the Congressman MacArthur townhall, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uTTn9uDZzc. Unfortunately, the video freezes around 19:06 which corresponds to the close of the earlier video having Geoff Ginter's comments. When it restarts properly around 19:10, it seems as if some part of the video was cut, as MacArthur is heard asking for people to calm down as he says 'This is not going to just turn into a free-for-all which it is close to now'. A policeman is also seen in front of the people in the front row (facing them), and then the video shows other policemen and policewomen among the townhall people. MacArthur allows another person to ask a question which is on a different topic.
I could not get other videos which had MacArthur's response to Geoff Ginter's question. This USA Today article, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/13/n-j-rep-tom-macarthur-faces-angry-town-hall-over-health-care/321197001/, mentions some part of Ginter's comments. Then it states, "The two-term congressman, a former insurance executive, responded that he was not going to turn the meeting into a free-for-all and then took other questions."
The article also states that MacArthur " kept his promise to take every question no matter how long it took"! He told a media outlet after the meeting, "I expected that much anger but not that much disrespect" .. "I wanted to be here and have no regrets about it."
The townhall session took nearly five hours and ended close to midnight.
Ravi: I admire Congressman MacArthur for the dignified comments above. Geoff Ginter did use words which were disrespectful. But MacArthur let him have his say. That shows an extraordinary commitment to democracy and free speech from USA Congressman MacArthur, in my considered opinion.
I would like to provide MacArthur's general views about the AHCA and his role in it. So I decided to transcribe some part of his opening remarks at this townhall from this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBUP_UxHYLs, 2 hr 8 mins.
[Around 0:45]
MacArthur: All right! We are in Willingboro tonight .. where Donald Trump won 9 percent of the vote. And .. I crushed it with 12 percent of the vote. [Some laughter.] We are here for a reason. I am in this town for a reason tonight. Because I recognize (there is) a lot of anxiety in the country. There is a lot of anger. And I represent everybody in this district. Not just .. the ones who voted for me. And I am in this town tonight because I want to make it clear - I am going to listen to you. I am going to ask you to listen to me tonight as well.
I came to this town because I want to meet with my constituents and .. tell you the things that matter to me - the things that I am doing and why I am doing them. Is that fair? All right.
This district - I recognize that people here might feel like everyone thinks one way in this district. And in this part of the district there are twenty thousand more Democrats than Republicans in Burlington county. But when I drive across the ... to home, and when I get out on/to the other side on Ocean county I will be in the district [Ravi: did he mean county?] that Donald Trump won by 90,000 votes.
...
This is one of the few swing districts in the United States. That's actually somewhat balanced. Most districts are like this part of the district or the other part of the district. This is one of the few that actually has ... balance and I have to represent both sides. This side .. and also the other side where our president won, two to one. Two to one!
...
Before I take questions, all of us are coming (from a different perspective). All of us! We have our own life experience . We all see things certain ways. I want to take a few moments to tell you where I am coming from. And then I will take your questions as long as it goes. I am not in any hurry tonight. Okay? I am going to ask that we respect each other - I am going to ask that we respect each other. But I will take the questions (as long) as it goes. First I want you to understand where I am coming from.
[Ravi: MacArthur relates a very moving story about his personal life including health challenges faced by his mother and then daughter. I am squeezed for time to capture more of the transcript.]
--- end short initial transcript of MacArthur opening remarks ---
Here is MacArthur’s Statement on the Passage of the American Health Care Act, May 5, 2017 Press Release, https://macarthur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/macarthur-s-statement-passage-american-health-care-act, which I think would have the main views of MacArthur on the health care bill passed by the USA House of Representatives. I have given extracts from that statement below:
Repairing the health care system has always been about people—not politics for me. My mother died when I four years old and I watched my father, who had no insurance, struggle his whole life to pay off her medical bills. My first daughter, Gracie, was born with severe special needs, and passed away at the age of 11. The emotional cost to our family was devastating and the financial cost added up to more than $1 million in medical bills. This is the perspective I’ve carried with me as I’ve negotiated to make this bill better.
...
Last week, I introduced an amendment to the AHCA that would make coverage of pre-existing conditions sacrosanct for all Americans and ensure essential health benefits remain the federal standard. Protecting preexisting conditions was critical for me and I could not support legislation that did not maintain this standard. In my amendment, states have the option to obtain a waiver from some federal standards, but the state must attest that its purpose is to reduce the cost of health care or increase the number of people with health care coverage. Under no circumstance can states obtain a waiver for pre-existing condition protection—period. This option gives flexibility to the states to decrease costs while maintaining important protections.
I’ve said many times that this bill is not perfect, but it’s an improvement from where it started and I stand by my efforts to make it better. It’s important that Congress was able to pass the AHCA and take this important step that will provide the American people with patient-centered, affordable care.
--- end extracts of MacArthur statement ---
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in USA elections.
[I thank wikipedia and macarthur.house.gov, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
BTW the short video clip in the above video of a USA citizen complaining to (or rather accusing) a USA Congressman (Tom MacArthur of New Jersey) of being a threat to his family due to the health care bill, led me to browse for a video it. Here's that video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TDkgIEn5Ac, 11 min. 46 secs, published May 11th 2017. It has some very strong words from the USA citizen about the health care bill passed by USA House of Representatives. The citizen is reported to be Geoff Ginter, a healthcare professional/worker, who was wearing his hospital dress at this Townhall. Note that MacArthur chose to have the townhall in an area of his constituency where he got limited vote (12 percent if I got that right). He said he wanted to hear their views. That willingness of MacArthur to hear his opposing side out has to be appreciated.
I have given below some of the words said by Ginter in the video above:
[From around 2:50 in the video]
My wife was diagnosed with cancer when she was 40 years old. She beat it. But everyday, everyday, she lives with it. She thinks about it. Every pain. Every new - something going on somewhere. Is it coming back? Is this cancer? Do I have it again? Is it going to kill me this time? Is it going to take me away from my children? Speaking of which, my children - both have preexisting conditions from birth - one cardiac, one thyroid.
[Said with great passion/anger:] You have been the single greatest threat to my family in the entire world. You are the reason I stay up at night. You are the reason I can't sleep. What happens if I lose my job?
I am very fortunate sir. I have a really good job. And I have really good health insurance. And we can all .. have peace of mind. But now my wife, who everyday, is wondering if she is going to get cancer. Is it happening now? .. But what about now? Now [she] also has to contend with, what if my husband loses his job? If I lose my job we can't afford COBRA [COBRA seems to be some health insurance available in NJ]. We can't afford to get private insurance. We get it from my employer. If I lose it, its gone.
If I lose my job on a Monday, if I am lucky enough to find a job on [next day] Tuesday, which never happens - they will not have insurance ready for me. I will not be eligible for three to six months. If I lost my coverage, within sixty three days, suddenly I am in a high-risk pool. My pre-existing conditions which I don't give a shit about - go after me, come after me, I don't care. But you came after my - you came after my wife. You came after my kids.
I have sympathy for your mother. I have sympathy for your daughter. [MacArthur's mother (at a relatively young age) and daughter passed away due to illness, if I got that right.] But you did not learn the lessons they were trying to teach you. Because this is what you did to us. [Applause]
...
Your actions affect the entire country. There is no one in this country that your actions are not going to affect. So everyone's voice is important and when seventeen percent of the population said, don't do it, you did it. This man is correct when he said that you brought it [House healthcare (AHCA) bill] back from death. Ryan [Speaker of the USA House of Representatives] said it is dead. Trump [USA President] said it is dead. And you said, No. I got a better idea.
...
The CBO scored it. 24 million people off of health insurance. And they [Republicans] called that choice! Like we are choosing not to have health insurance if we can't afford it. [Applause] That is insulting! That is detrimental to the mental health of us as a nation. But all of this - all of this - totally misses the point.
Healthcare is not a good - you do not buy health insurance the same way you buy a car, the same way you buy a house. Those are already complicated things to do. You got to know about cars. .. But there are reasonable ways to be educated about those things and make reasonable choices.
I work in healthcare sir. It is complicated. ... And you are working with him to take something that he [USA president Trump] doesn't understand, that he won't be responsible for, because he's going to be fine. You're working with him. You are working with Ryan. You are working with people that don't care about us.
If you want to make something better you could have made the ACA better. Directly! You could have made sure that all of the funding that you say we need right now - just put it in there. Into this bill. Show me what you are made of. Show me that you know what's going on (and) that you can actually do something instead of siding with people that clearly, by the virtue of their own words, do not care. They want their money back. That's their version of compassion.
...
But the point is, is that healthcare is not like buying anything else. You cannot expect people to be good consumers of healthcare. Another wonderful talking point. ... "We need to be better consumers of healthcare". You are supposed to be vetting doctors and vetting hospitals and knowing what an MRI costs and knowing what a CT scan costs and if I need a cardiac catheterization how much does that cost. And is the cost different if I have this doctor or this doctor.
Its completely immoral! And this is the point Congressman. This is the point. Because health insurance as a for-profit business IS immoral. [Applause] When I am drowning and you insist I pay before you'll save me, that is immoral, sir! Completely! You have no legs to stand on. You want to make money off of me... And the reason that it is not going to go to single payer is not because you don't believe it. Its because you know that the insurance companies have a powerful lobby and they would decimate you.
...
I don't have any choice with an insurance company. I have no value to an insurance company. I can't do anything to their CEO. I can't do anything to their employee. Nothing. I can argue till I am blue in the face. But a single payer run by the government? Oh yeah, its got problems. But its also got elections. And you're gonna find that out in 2018. [Applause]
--- end Geoff Ginter words ---
Here is an article about the above Townhall meeting which was held in Willingboro, New Jersey, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/tom-macarthur-republican-town-hall-health-care/526338/, dated 11th May 2017.
Some extracts relevant to this topic from Congressman MacArthur's wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_MacArthur, are given below:
MacArthur has repeatedly called for repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). However, in January 2017, he was one of nine Republicans who voted no on its repeal.
On March 20, 2017, MacArthur announced his support for the American Health Care Act of 2017 (sometimes referred to colloquially as 'TrumpCare').
On April 25, 2017, MacArthur introduced an amendment to the Act that would permit states to waive out of Obamacare’s ban on pre-existing conditions, allowing insurers to charge sick people higher premiums than healthy people. However, the amendment would also dictate that health insurance offered to members of Congress and their staffs not be included in the exemption from covering pre-existing conditions. A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in April 2017, found that 70 per cent of Americans favored protections for pre-existing conditions.
In response to MacArthur's vote to pass the AHCA, which would partially repeal and replace Obamacare, there were protests in his district, and difficult Town Halls with constituents questioning MacArthur about his vote. A widely reported comment at one of his Town Hall meeting was from Geoff Ginter, a health professional, who called MacArthur the "single greatest threat" to his family, citing his concerns about his wife and daughters who have preexisting conditions that may affect their health coverage under the AHCA.
MacArthur resigned as chair of the Tuesday Group in May 2017 due to disagreements among its members over the AHCA.
--- end wiki extracts ---
Ravi: I think that the burden that USA Congressmen/women and Senators have to get this health care bill done right is an IMMENSE ONE. If I was in MacArthur's place I would be entirely crushed by the very strong attacking words used by Ginter. Now I do not know how truthful Ginter's attacking words are. I have not heard MacArthur's response yet. Plan to do that later by looking up other videos on this event which may have his response, and then update this post with it so that readers get to see both sides of the story.
Whatever the reality may be, I do appreciate the courage and tolerance that people like MacArthur show by going to such townhalls and listening to such attacking criticism on them. I doubt such courtesy/tolerance to severe criticism would be shown by most politicians in India in their face-to-face interactions with their constituents.
Of course, the bigger issue is whether USA Congress gets USA healthcare right and does not jeopardize the health care of millions of USA citizens. One political reality is that withdrawing healthcare services that is currently being offered to significant number of people, will be INTENSELY DISLIKED by not only those people but by many others who sympathize with them. That would, in all probability, translate to a political cost that will have to be paid in forthcoming elections in the near future in the USA. In this case, that would be the 2018 elections for all House of Representatives and for some Senators (as I understand it/if I am not mistaken).
====================================================
Update: Here's a longer video clip of the Congressman MacArthur townhall, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uTTn9uDZzc. Unfortunately, the video freezes around 19:06 which corresponds to the close of the earlier video having Geoff Ginter's comments. When it restarts properly around 19:10, it seems as if some part of the video was cut, as MacArthur is heard asking for people to calm down as he says 'This is not going to just turn into a free-for-all which it is close to now'. A policeman is also seen in front of the people in the front row (facing them), and then the video shows other policemen and policewomen among the townhall people. MacArthur allows another person to ask a question which is on a different topic.
I could not get other videos which had MacArthur's response to Geoff Ginter's question. This USA Today article, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/13/n-j-rep-tom-macarthur-faces-angry-town-hall-over-health-care/321197001/, mentions some part of Ginter's comments. Then it states, "The two-term congressman, a former insurance executive, responded that he was not going to turn the meeting into a free-for-all and then took other questions."
The article also states that MacArthur " kept his promise to take every question no matter how long it took"! He told a media outlet after the meeting, "I expected that much anger but not that much disrespect" .. "I wanted to be here and have no regrets about it."
The townhall session took nearly five hours and ended close to midnight.
Ravi: I admire Congressman MacArthur for the dignified comments above. Geoff Ginter did use words which were disrespectful. But MacArthur let him have his say. That shows an extraordinary commitment to democracy and free speech from USA Congressman MacArthur, in my considered opinion.
I would like to provide MacArthur's general views about the AHCA and his role in it. So I decided to transcribe some part of his opening remarks at this townhall from this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBUP_UxHYLs, 2 hr 8 mins.
[Around 0:45]
MacArthur: All right! We are in Willingboro tonight .. where Donald Trump won 9 percent of the vote. And .. I crushed it with 12 percent of the vote. [Some laughter.] We are here for a reason. I am in this town for a reason tonight. Because I recognize (there is) a lot of anxiety in the country. There is a lot of anger. And I represent everybody in this district. Not just .. the ones who voted for me. And I am in this town tonight because I want to make it clear - I am going to listen to you. I am going to ask you to listen to me tonight as well.
I came to this town because I want to meet with my constituents and .. tell you the things that matter to me - the things that I am doing and why I am doing them. Is that fair? All right.
This district - I recognize that people here might feel like everyone thinks one way in this district. And in this part of the district there are twenty thousand more Democrats than Republicans in Burlington county. But when I drive across the ... to home, and when I get out on/to the other side on Ocean county I will be in the district [Ravi: did he mean county?] that Donald Trump won by 90,000 votes.
...
This is one of the few swing districts in the United States. That's actually somewhat balanced. Most districts are like this part of the district or the other part of the district. This is one of the few that actually has ... balance and I have to represent both sides. This side .. and also the other side where our president won, two to one. Two to one!
...
Before I take questions, all of us are coming (from a different perspective). All of us! We have our own life experience . We all see things certain ways. I want to take a few moments to tell you where I am coming from. And then I will take your questions as long as it goes. I am not in any hurry tonight. Okay? I am going to ask that we respect each other - I am going to ask that we respect each other. But I will take the questions (as long) as it goes. First I want you to understand where I am coming from.
[Ravi: MacArthur relates a very moving story about his personal life including health challenges faced by his mother and then daughter. I am squeezed for time to capture more of the transcript.]
--- end short initial transcript of MacArthur opening remarks ---
Here is MacArthur’s Statement on the Passage of the American Health Care Act, May 5, 2017 Press Release, https://macarthur.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/macarthur-s-statement-passage-american-health-care-act, which I think would have the main views of MacArthur on the health care bill passed by the USA House of Representatives. I have given extracts from that statement below:
Repairing the health care system has always been about people—not politics for me. My mother died when I four years old and I watched my father, who had no insurance, struggle his whole life to pay off her medical bills. My first daughter, Gracie, was born with severe special needs, and passed away at the age of 11. The emotional cost to our family was devastating and the financial cost added up to more than $1 million in medical bills. This is the perspective I’ve carried with me as I’ve negotiated to make this bill better.
...
Last week, I introduced an amendment to the AHCA that would make coverage of pre-existing conditions sacrosanct for all Americans and ensure essential health benefits remain the federal standard. Protecting preexisting conditions was critical for me and I could not support legislation that did not maintain this standard. In my amendment, states have the option to obtain a waiver from some federal standards, but the state must attest that its purpose is to reduce the cost of health care or increase the number of people with health care coverage. Under no circumstance can states obtain a waiver for pre-existing condition protection—period. This option gives flexibility to the states to decrease costs while maintaining important protections.
I’ve said many times that this bill is not perfect, but it’s an improvement from where it started and I stand by my efforts to make it better. It’s important that Congress was able to pass the AHCA and take this important step that will provide the American people with patient-centered, affordable care.
--- end extracts of MacArthur statement ---
Please note that I have a PUBLICLY NEUTRAL informal-student-observer role in these posts that I put up about the USA politics. Of course, as I am an Indian citizen living in India, there is no question of me having voted in USA elections.
[I thank wikipedia and macarthur.house.gov, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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