To cheer for their own demise.

The republicans call it the "American way of life" and idiots chant USA! USA! USA!.

And all these "American" assholes will vote for them again

to punch us in the gut. There is also the ignorant, really ignorant, factor, brought on by 30 years of RW radio and 20 of Fox News. Now, they can add Alex Jones too.

Some of them don't even believe this shit, but they just enjoy shooting the finger at people who are fact based.

Doubtful though.

Keep electing Republicans by razor-thin margins!

They (repugs) forget this is a representative democracy, not a winner-takes-all sporting competition.

And doing away with the subsidy is a foregone conclusion. So I'm out. I'm lucky I'm pretty healthy. I hope I stay that way, and will be very careful not to get injured for one year.

But it's not like I had health care, anyway. I was unable to find a dr to take my ACA insurance last year. I didn't even try this year. I haven't been to the dr. since the ACA final provisions went into effect in 2014. The deductibles were too high. It was more like catastrophic insurance, although it wasn't called that, and it sure didn't cost like catastrophic ins. (which used to be cheap).

My premium is now about $950/month, but the subsidy pays a lot. I don't use it. I can't get around to calling drs to try to find someone who will take it. I reached a psychological wall on that. I've heard "We don't take THAT" so many times, that I just don't want to hear it again.

a serious accident, with unusual neurological injuries, so I had to go to the best, most up to date, in Minnesota. It was a few years ago, but you might try that.

Its always better to stay healthy and avoid doctors and procedures (fixing one thing can lead to breaking another, just like the side effects from meds can be worse than the meds), but sometimes you have to do it.

No Mayo Clinic in my area now or before, anyway. (I moved.)

I went to an urgent care last year for a dog bite. That's the only time I used the ACA since 2014. I almost didn't sign up this year, and pay the penalty instead, but I signed up. Maybe I'll try to get a physical exam in before it lapses end of year, if I can find a dr to take it.

HMO when I chose my Obamacare plan
Anyway, I don't doubt what you are saying.

They don't cover outside the geographical area, unless there's an emergency.

There may be exceptions, but I've had policies thru Blue Cross & United Health care, different ones every year, since 2014. They were all that way. Which makes sense, when you think about the pricing and the networks.

A policy in my state, for instance, is different from a policy in another. It has a different name, a different price, a different network of providers. My policy does not exist anywhere else. So I can't call a provider in a neighboring state & ask if they take my policy. I know they don't. They don't have such a policy in their state, and they are not in my network.

It's possible that some national urgent care places are in my network, so that I should use those when out of state in an emergency. But I did read that it will pay for any emergency treatment at any hospital or urgent care place, when I'm out of state.

Maybe there's something that makes it different in your state that makes the insurers provide national coverage, or it's a group policy or something.

Maybe there's a loophole that if there isn't a provider locally for the illness, you can go outside your area to the nearest provider for treatment? I didn't see that in my policy, but maybe they allow that. I couldn't do that...I live alone. If I'm sick, I can't travel out of town alone, and couldn't afford the trip and hotel and such.

WAS covered for me w my BCBS.I talked to BCBS to make sure as I was out of state a lot. I Know several other people who did the same, one an RVer who travels all of the time, and he is rarely in state.
It even covered some out of country...people told me they used it without problem in Latin America. Again, it depends on the plan, just like in the private sector. There were hundreds of plans to chose from. You pick what you want or can pay for, based on the type of projected usage.

My plan only covered 1 out of the country ER visit per year, but I could go 'anywhere' inside the US as long as the provider was on the BC provider list, and major providers are. I had a 500$ deductible for medical and 500 for drugs. 500 for hospital. I think 250 for ER. Plus, I had copays. The big thing was I had to pay the 20pc. for all medical. I used it out of state in AZ, Alaska, Mayo in Rochester, Minn., Nebraska, & Kansas w no questions asked. It worked just like home.
I signed up on day 1, and my premiums dropped 75pc.

You could get policies that covered 90pc or 100pc, Cadillac policies, but I couldn't afford those. You could also get the catastrophic policies that were cheap, but there were large deductables (the ones the Repubs keep pretending WAS Obamacare) but you have always been able to do that in the private sector & they always had huge Deductibles. Obama didn't create that-he just allowed people to continue to choose it if they wanted...those are for young, healthy people, who are only insuring against a catastrphe. No one over 40 should ever chose those. Those would not work for me because I usually have high bills. So, I sat down w Blue Cross, they offered exactly the same plans to Obamacare as were offered through the private sectors, though slightly better, free preventative care...Silver, Bronze, Platium and Gold.

It was the best insurance I have ever had.

It was very restrictive, small drug list. $6k deductible. What USED to be called a catastrophic policy, but it's not called that, any more.

I couldn't afford more than that.

I did buy up for the first time for this year because the subsidy went up, buying a silver PPO for $950/mo. I wouldn't do that again, since I don't use it. But I can't change it or cancel it...even if I move and buy another plan in another state. The insured has no authority to deal w/the ins. co. Their contract is with the govt.

But none of the policies available to me allow for national health care. It's local only. But maybe if there's not a provider of the type I need locally, maybe it would allow me to go to the nearest one...don't know.

This is the worst insurance I've ever had, at twice the price. I can't afford it without a subsidy. I can afford maybe $500/mo. Even the worst bronze level is a lot more than that...they charge me triple premiums because of my age, even though I'm super healthy and turn in almost no claims. In essence, hundreds of dollars per month are paid for my insurance, to offset the high claims of other people. I get no cut for having very few claims. I've turned in one claim during the last 4 years: for a dog bite.

I may try to find a dr to give me a preventive and a mammogram this year, since I'll be losing insurance, if the GOP bill passes.

So it looks like your situation is what Obamacare is for: People with a lot of claims, who are younger so the premiums are affordable. And I am an example of who Obamacare hurts: Healthy people who pay triple premiums to offset the cost of others' claims, and older although healthy. The plans are unaffordable, and we're not allowed to tailor them to our needs, to get the cost down (we have to pay for maternity coverage, inpatient drug rehab, free birth control pills, etc., while NOT getting a generous network or broad drug list or low deductible or coverage for hormones which are an older woman's version of birth control pills).

If the Dem Party had acknowledged the problems and worked to tweak them, I think a lot of people wouldn't have voted for Trump. But the party didn't even acknowledge the problems; they were okay to sacrifice one segment of society for the benefit of another. I didn't vote for Trump, of course, but I thought I could hold out until I could get Medicare, and I could use the subsidy to avoid having to pay a penalty.

I certainly wasn't criticizing you...just comparing. My premium was going to 1600 the month after I got on Obamacare. I had no income, but was paying out huge amounts. Not sure why our experiences are so different. Probably about the same age. I got on it as soon as it was available, because I was injured (I guess I was 60) and couldn't work. My old insurace required FT employment, but I was switching anyway if I could. As said, I got the same plan. My premium was 700, but I only had to pay 350 mo.
My income was in such transition, so that my CPA helped certify what it was. As you probably know, at least for me, there was a lot of harassment from both state (at least in mine) and feds (who didn't want Obama care) to constantly reverify income or explain this or that. I very carefully did. I think Medicade recipients still get that. Eventually, my doctors & SS put me on disability, because I couldn't even write to do it, but I had already been on Obamacare a long time. After 2 years, they automatically switch you to Medicare, regardless of age. I actually did not want to switch. They make it sound optional, but if you decline, they do it anyway. Then, I had to get a supplement, which they charged more for because of the disability. There was only 1 in my area, not even AARP(I think it's Humana ) would provide supps for disability in my state. It all works out to about the same costs, except I don't have to pay the 20 pc (which I had to pay b4 and after Obamacare), which was over $100k, when I was injured, and my Rx costs a lot more, varies ,but $300 to 400.

Your plan should have a paper or online directory of providers so you don't have to spend time calling around.

I think it's a general network for some Blue Cross plans, but not necessarily MY plan. One of the drs wasn't even a primary care provider...she was a knee specialist. A couple of the drs didn't even exist in my city, though they may have at one time (they had been staff drs at a Medicaid clinic).

So I just started searching around on yelp and calling around locally. I found a nurse (not a dr) who would take it last year. The catch was...although a preventive is free of charge, she required a meet and greet visit at a cost of $100 or more, before she'd do that. If you have copay, that might be fine. But my deductible was $6k, so that would have been out of pocket. And she's not a dr.

I DID call a staff nurse once on Blue Cross payroll, to ask about my symptoms (I was sick). That was really helpful, so I got that benefit and didn't go to a dr. I went to a CVS medical clinic at that time, too, to be checked out, but they required a full exam at a cost of over $150 (again, my deductible was $6k).

So I found it it unusable. It would be easier just to pay out of pocket and go to a dr. near me. (I had to give up my hormones; they were not on the drug list, and the cost was too high. I HAD gotten them once using an online coupon, but they wouldn't take a coupon if you had insurance, ironically. So I had to give them up. Ironically, hormones are like birth control pills, which are free under Obamacare. But hormones, which are the same thing, are not. My hormones were pricey, but were generic brand.)

No matter. I won't be able to afford to buy ins. next year, anyway. I'm lucky. I am healthy and over 60, so I can get Medicare soon, if I hang in there.

Me providers. Some didnt exist. None would insure me because of the disability and i was too young for Medicare. The one I finally got wasn't even on the list for the state. It charged 2x as much because of the disability, but I had no other options.

I called the state several times so they could update their records, so others in my position could find the one provider who wasn't listed. They didnt care. They would try to give me the same list and say it couldn't be wrong. Some acknowledged, well it might be because they hadn't verified it in years. One said, why don't you move out of state and get a nephew or someone to take care of you. I said I only have a niece and she is 7 years old.
No one could grasp that they should give people correct info or they could be uninsured. Someone said, most people aren't disabled b4 they get Medicare, so it doesn't matter that much. They are wrong though

Anyway, I have heard similar stories and I could tell many more, as I am sure you could. Point being, it is a mess out there, w insurance. It will be a bigger mess w Trumpcare. Any system will have to be tweeked majorly for years. Had the Repubs not been so obstructionist, Obamacare would have been much better and tweeked. The Repubs made it fail.

they have a list for maybe a category of their plans or something. So the insured has to call around to find out, which takes hours. It was very difficult, psychologically. I felt like a lowlife, that no decent dr. would take the insurance.

I get a subsidy, which was part of the problem. They can tell from your ins. ID that you get a subsidy (at least in TX...there's a code on your ins. card to tell providers you get a subsidy, too).

But I'm lucky. I'm very healthy. And I've moved, so maybe it's better here. I haven't tried to find a dr., though. I couldn't handle the rejection, psychologically, along with the trauma of the move. But I'll try and see if I can find a dr. here so I can get an exam this year, since if the GOP bill passes, I won't have insurance next year.

No one seemed to care though. We are a Medicaid expansion state, so I think healthcare is more flexible here. Then again, that's if there is an insurance company to insure you.

I used to live in Texas too, a long time ago. I have some good Dem friends there and some Dem and Repub family.
I worked in the state Legislature and with the insurance commitee, later as a lobbiest for liberal causes. I remember the sexual harassment from those insurance fat cats. They pawned off managed care like it was the best thing ever, and it was, for the insurance industry! It brought in HMOs and death panels (working for the insurance companies, who got bonuses) for everyone else.

It is a good state to move FROM. Even some of my Dem friends from there, see things w a more conservative perspective . The Repubs, no empathy, and they are angry you exist sometimes. Horror stories, but long ago.

So they could tell who the ones with subsidies were.

I think it's because of the payment process. It seems that insureds can stop paying their part of the premium, but the ins. co. can't cancel it for three months, leaving doctors stuck with unpaid bills. Someone told me that had been corrected. I don't know. Even if technically corrected, it's not really corrected in actual practice.

Me from Obamacare BC to Medicare for disabled, BC. I had already paid for Obamacare. Plus, it got the government subsidy, even though I was not covered. I tried for hours, months, to fix it.
I gave up, but the insurance companies always win & the Repubs love them.

Let's call it exactly what it is.

fluctuations of the stock market. These people wouldn't even know they got a tax cut if their financial adviser didn't tell them.

Per person. Watch his speech, under Al Frankin Senate Speech on the home page. I agree w you, most of the people in that bracket see that in ordinary fluctuations. They don't need it, but they WANT it, and shouldn't they be entitled to everything they WANT...pure greed...at the expense of people who desperately need it.

The Repub brain sees it as, we shouldn't have to support the low life at the bottom.

The day they try to get Medicaid to pay for poverty stricken Grandma's nursing home bills is the day it will hit home. Grandma and her bed pan will be getting in a car for a ride to a residence in Trumpville where Trump supporters will never get a good night's sleep again until she dies.

gets hit w something. Unfortunately, they still don't see the big picture, only that one light.

suffered from crippling polio as a child. "As a youth, he overcame polio. He received treatment at the Warm Springs Institute that potentially saved him from being disabled for the rest of his life." (Wikipedia)

Had he never received that treatment, he would have been disabled for life and would likely have never have had a chance to make anything of himself. Yet he wants to deny life-enhancing and life-saving treatment to others. Like Paul Ryan, he is a disgusting, raging hypocrite.

He also received an "Honorable" discharge from the Army due to "optic neuritis" after five weeks at Fort Knox.

According to Daily Kos "The official story for McConnell's discharge--in spite of "apparently" not having an actual physical exam--is a diagnosis of optic neuritis, a condition easily cured by steroids in 1967.
According to Allen, optic neuritis by itself is not a reason for an individual to be discharged from the military. McConnell, who also held a position in the UK College of Law in 1994, would not be interviewed and would not comment on Cooper’s letter or his discharge. “Senator McConnell will not be available to discuss this,” Simmons said. “We have not and will not release Senator McConnell’s medical records.”

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/2/24/1189537/-The-Strange-and-Possibly-Sordid-Story-of-Mitch-McConnell-s-Military-Service

Not only does he not want anyone who can't afford it to receive decent health care, he has faked a medical condition and most likely bribed a doctor so that he could get out of the Army because he's a little candy ass. He's nothing but a lying, cheating, hypocritical, hateful coward. If anyone deserved to go down, it's him.

From this, he is even worse than I thought!

How can he and Ryan, who both got special services, be so non empathetic to others? I don't know. Mind boggling.

They both had HELP! And yet they want to deny it to others. The hypocrisy and cruelty of this just blows my mind. I cannot understand how these people can live with themselves.

of anyone. I think about what Warren Buffett said, something like, there's an easy way to fix this problem, members of Congress get exactly the same insurance they offer to others. It should be the law
Even their kids get their student loans forgiven.

This is only the stuff we know, imagine what those closed mouths have done that we don't know.

I think they will eventually be exposed, but just not now, when we need it.

TG for Wash Post! and those who report it, RMaddow, CNN.