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Zombie Trumpcare is back with a vengeance this week, with the popular vote loser himself taking the lead on the TV, in his rally speech, and of course on Twitter, backing up the major push by leadership and Vice President Trump to get it done this week. The problem is, Trump doesn't know what's actually in his bill.
[O]n Sunday, Mr. Trump insisted that the Republican health legislation would not allow discrimination against people with pre-existing medical conditions, an assertion contradicted by numerous health policy experts as well as the American Medical Association.
“Pre-existing conditions are in the bill,” the president said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And I mandate it. I said has to be.”
On Twitter, he promised that a new health care plan was “on its way.”
It will, he added on Twitter, “have much lower premiums & deductibles while at the same time taking care of pre-existing conditions!”
Which bill Mr. Trump was referring to is not clear. Since the first version of the American Health Care Act failed to win enough House support on March 24, revisions to win over the conservative House Freedom Caucus have undermined protections for the sick. The conservatives finally endorsed the legislation last week after House leaders revised it to permit states to opt out of several mandates in the Affordable Care Act.
No rush, says Trump. "Just relax. Take it easy. Take your time. Get the good vote and make it perfect." While his staff is saying they want the vote on Wednesday. To be clear, they are also not making it perfect. There's nothing in Zombie Trumpcare that protects people with pre-existing conditions. They foist that decision off on the states, which means it will be Medicaid expansion all over again. The good states will keep those protections, the Republican states won't and the people who voted for Trump will be the most hurt. Which Trump totally either doesn't understand or care about. Because, somehow, he's back with the "phases" thing they were talking about a month and a half ago.
Trump and House Republicans are hell-bent on ripping away our health insurance. Call your member of Congress at 202-224-3121, and demand they vote NO on a renewed Trumpcare that is worse than the one before. Remind them they work for you.
Back to Face the Nation:
TRUMP: This bill is much different than it was a little while ago, OK? This bill has evolved. And we didn't have a failure on the bill. You know, it was reported like a failure. Now, the one thing I wouldn't have done again is put a timeline. That's why, on the second iteration, I didn't put a timeline. But we have now preexisting conditions in the bill. We have—we've set up a pool for the preexisting conditions, so that the premiums can be allowed to fall. We're taking across all of the borders or the lines, so that insurance companies can compete...
DICKERSON: But that's not in...
TRUMP: ... nationwide.
DICKERSON: ... this bill. The borders, it's not in this bill.
TRUMP: Of course it's in.
DICKERSON: It's in that third bill, right, because it's...
TRUMP: It's in the second phase.
DICKERSON: OK.
TRUMP: It's called phase one, phase two. And that's, in fact, second phase, which will get approved, which will quickly get approved.
"Of course it's in it." Well, not actually in it, but in that second phase. The one that totally hasn't been written yet. But it will be there. But it's just the same as being in this bill. Which totally protects people with pre-existing conditions because "pools are going to take care of the preexisting." And then, this. "I'll tell you who doesn't cover preexisting conditions. Obamacare. You know why? It's dead." (It's not.)
What else is or isn't in the bill. He totally doesn't know. He says "No, there were things in the other bill, the first version, which were not as good." Which isn't true. The base bill here is exactly the same as that first version. It just has the added amendment of letting states strip pre-existing conditions. Which makes it not just "not as good." It makes it fundamentally worse.