“The CDC’s alteration of its advisory on autism and vaccines: On the left, the original webpage, stating forthrightly that ‘there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing ASD.’ On the right, the new version, casting doubt on decades of studies finding no link and placing an asterisk next to its former advisory, explaining it was retained only because of a promise made by [RFK, Jr.] to [Medical Doctor] Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.).”
LA Times Columnist, Michael Hiltzik, November 25th
Is “Republican Healthcare” an Oxymoron?
“Somebody said I want to extend them [ACA subsidies] for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all.. Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done, because the un-Affordable Care Act has been a disaster.”
Donald Trump, November 25th
From the moment the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) was passed in 2010, the Republican Party has continuously prioritized repealing it, promising a better and less expensive plan which never materialized, but in fact wanting it gone, gone, gone. ACA subsidies are an annoying cost that makes the massive tax cut for the rich in the Big Beautiful Bill a true multiple trillion-dollar deficit buster. There are GOP diehards in the House and Senate who will never support the ACA or any proposed substitute for it. Unfamiliar with (or choosing to ignore) the dictionary definition of “socialism,” still distorting the English language, they call it “creeping socialism,” even generating a House vote condemning “socialism,” even though they do not know what it really means.
A decade and a half later, the Supreme Court is still entertaining challenges to the law. “The ongoing Kennedy v Braidwood Management case centers on whether the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which recommends services insurers must cover, wields authority that requires its members to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.” Cornell University’s The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC), April 25th. But the statute, somewhat trimmed down by some judicial rulings and amendments, lumbers on. “The ACA has survived major legal challenges, including NFIB v Sebelius, which upheld the individual mandate as a tax, and King v Burwell, which preserved federal subsidies… Legislative efforts to repeal the ACA, such as the Better Care Reconciliation Act and the Health Care Freedom Act, were unsuccessful, maintaining the law's provisions.” AJMC.
The big “shutdown” ACA Democratic holdout, the resignation of MAGA mainstay Marjoria Taylor Greene from the House and Trump’s pledge for a new healthcare bill (along with a pile of seriously misleading proposed GOP alternatives) are/were all about the developed world’s worst healthcare coverage and, at 17% of our GDP, also far and away the world’s most expensive. Every other developed nation has universal healthcare, including all the (non-socialist) Western world… except the United States. We continue to prioritize pharma (with a few, rare exceptions), insurance company and major hospital/doctor profits way, way, way above the health of Americans, who are experiencing a decline in life expectancy as a result. The GOP proposals mostly cancel subsidies and pass that savings to taxpayers… who can then tap the private market for a policy. Aside from the complexity of shopping, clearly insurance companies can set rates based on exclusions and existing conditions. This is a recipe for a new level of healthcare disaster.
If that’s not bad enough, a former heroin addict who lived through a worm burrowing in his brain, a QAnon mega-conspiracy theorist with no healthcare degrees, has violated his Senate confirmation pledge to leave vaccinations alone, returning to his fabricated world of “vaccines and Tylenol cause autism” (totally false with so much well-tested global medical research), replaced tons of seriously qualified doctors and medical experts with advanced degrees and years of experience, cancelled the most competent and advanced medical research on earth and, as confirmed Secretary of Health & Human Services, left one of the once most credible and huge federal agencies as a global joke. Robert Kennedy, Jr., disowned by his own family, has so decimated the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control, that many states are now combining to fund a credible alternatives for their own citizens.
While RFK, Jr. has implemented some beneficial policies against food additives and encouraging healthier diets (but see the above photo to see that he does not practice what he preaches), he seems to be hell-bent to reject and repeal modern medicine as well as any related scientific research. And notwithstanding the abysmal shortage of healthcare professionals, the Trump administration is denying loans for advanced degrees to nurses. “While graduate students could previously borrow loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules would set caps depending on whether the degree is considered a graduate or professional program… The Education Department is defining the following fields as professional programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology… Left out are nursing, physical therapy, dental hygiene, occupational therapy and social work…” Associated Press, November 25th. Medical education should really be free but require time within governmental healthcare.
RFK Jr’s position against the measles vaccine resulted in multiple deaths in Samoa. As Los Angeles Times journalist, Michael Hiltzik, points out (November 25th) what this healthcare wrecking ball has wrought: “I’ve been reporting on RFK Jr.’s assault on public health since his name first surfaced as a possible cabinet appointee in President Trump’s second term. Since taking office, Kennedy summarily fired the 17 public members of the CDC’s authoritative Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing its cadre of experienced physicians and vaccine experts with a collection of established antivaxxers and others without detectable scientific expertise…
“In April, at his first news conference since taking office, Kennedy spouted a fountain of misinformation about autism. He called it an ‘epidemic’ that is ‘running rampant,’ which is untrue. He said ‘most cases now are severe,’ which is untrue. In fact the vast majority of new cases involve children without the intellectual disabilities often associated with stereotypical autistic behavior, such as sensitivities to touch and an absence of verbal skills. The prevalence of more severe cases actually has declined in recent years, according to a study from Rutgers… Kennedy consistently has cited statistics pointing to years of increased autism prevalence, as reflected in ever larger diagnoses, suggesting they point to an “epidemic” of autism and blaming childhood vaccines as a likely factor.”
As a “concession” ending the shutdown, the Republicans who control Congress agreed to put healthcare to a vote by mid-December. “The enhanced [ACA]subsidies expire at the end of the year. .. As part of the new plan, the White House has discussed imposing income caps for Affordable Care Act enrollees to qualify for the enhanced subsidies, as well as measures to crack down on healthcare fraud, some of the people said. Republicans also have discussed moving the subsidy money into newly created health savings accounts and barring taxpayer funds from going toward plans that cover abortion and transgender care, the people said.
“White House officials cautioned that Trump hadn’t settled on a plan, and they said it was unclear when the plan would be formally unveiled. ‘Until President Trump makes an announcement himself, any reporting about the Administration’s healthcare positions is mere speculation,’ said White House spokesman Kush Desai.” Wall Street Journal, November 24th. Answering the title question: GOP Healthcare is absolutely an oxymoron!!!
I’m Peter Dekom, and with all the cutbacks in medical research and the spread of false, and dangerous, medical information, I wonder how many Americans will die or suffer needlessly from preventable diseases.
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