The United Kingdom’s National Health Service, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on July 5, is imploding

U.K.'s Healthcare Horror Stories Ought To Curb Dems' Enthusiasm for Single-Payer

Sally PipesContributor

Policy

I cover health policy as President of the Pacific Research Institute

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Healthcare...from the trenches

I didn't include this man's personal experience in the following summary...but I really hope you will read the whole story.

The non-profit has found that their average recipient only needs one to two years of assistance, ranging from $5-15,000 in total. That is all it takes to keep these families from financial ruin.

“Some of the families would then be able to support their own costs after the disease was managed. Others were able to move and find employment that provided them with better health insurance,” Kuhn said.

Kuhn says PSI never had an insurance company reject their cost-sharing payments until 2014, when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services under former President Obama issued a ruling allowing insurance companies to prohibit their insureds from accepting charitable support (from non-profits, including churches).

Kuhn then took the fight to Washington, D.C., and was able to convince Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota to put forth legislation in 2015 with the backing of 146 cosponsors. He then was able to get Cramer to send a letter in 2017 signed by 183 members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats — to Health and Human Services asking the agency to overturn the ruling. The effort was unsuccessful, as was another in 2017, but Kuhn is trying once again to rally lawmakers behind his cause.

Cramer is trying once again to introduce legislation asking for a repeal of the rule. Cramer put forth a measure in October 2017, a bill that currently has roughly 47 cosponsors.

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COMPARE PROPOSALS TO REPLACE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (Interactive)

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
(Interactive)
COMPARE PROPOSALS to REPLACE THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have committed to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). How do their replacement proposals compare to the ACA? How do they compare to each other?

Plans available for comparison:

• The Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (PDF) – Updated 6.26.2017
• The American Health Care Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on May 4, 2017 (PDF)
• The Affordable Care Act, 2010 (PDF)

More plans for comparison:

• Rep. Tom Price’s Empowering Patients First Act, 2015 (PDF)
• House Speaker Paul Ryan’s A Better Way: Our Vision for a More Confident America, 2016 (PDF)
• Sen. Bill Cassidy’s Patient Freedom Act, 2017 (PDF)
• Sen. Rand Paul’s Obamacare Replacement Act, 2017 (PDF)
• House Discussion Draft, February 10, 2017 (PDF)

And now: The healthcare plan that we should have had in the first place!

Republicans will say to Democrats, "Help us create the new insurance system or be responsible for the consequences." Some are saying the Democrats won't cooperate. Here is why they will. In 2018, there are 23 Democratic and two Independent Senators (who caucus with the Dems) that will be up for reelection––a great many in states that Donald Trump won last night! There is a clear mandate here to replace Obamacare. If these Democrats fight it and that arguably results in millions of people thrown off their coverage they will do so at their peril.

The best news here is that defunding and then replacement of Obamacare could ironically set the table for the first real bipartisan legislative effort in a very long time. The one we should have had in the first place.

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