You can understand their problem.

the Affordable Care Act is the Republican's damn private-sector health plan.

Their intractable thick-headedness is mindboggling.

How can you repeal a law that was your idea in the first place. And it is not thick headedness. They are literally the dog who chased and caught the bus.

THIS is how fucking stupid this country is - it put a party into power that has run on going ape shit over ITS version of health care reform.

...the black guy. Who had the temerity to enact a modest tax on the wealthy as part of the plan.

The article only alludes this, but what this is referring to is a proposal along the following lines:

1. Every American gets a tax credit to help pay for health insurance.
2. States will develop a health insurance plan (or choose a private one) that costs the same as the value of the credit.
3. States will enroll all uninsured residents in this plan, and the state will take the money from the credit to pay for it.

Yes, the Republican alternative to the ACA includes a state-administered, 100% federally-funded public option. The irony is utterly, completely staggering.

Instead of just doing it PROPERLY like Medicare (old Medicare, before the Private firms were interjected into the process).

Pretty much anyone who does not have health care isn't going to have much in the way of taxes to "credit."

Most tax credits are non-refundable, which is the kind you're thinking of - the credit reduces the amount you owe the IRS, but not below $0.

But there are also refundable tax credits, where if the value of the credit is more than what you owe in taxes, they'll pay out the rest of the credit to you in your refund check. The EIC is probably the best-known example, aimed at helping low-income families.

The ACA subsidy is also, technically, a tax credit (they just send the check to the insurance company instead of to you). While I haven't looked into it, it has to be a refundable one, since if you have a fairly low income, the value of the subsidy will be more than the amount of tax you'd owe.

I don't know if the Collins-Cassidy plan's tax credit works the same way as the ACA, but I'd bet it does.

It says a BASIC insurance plan supplemented by HSA accounts. Here the word that matters is basic. If it means catastophic, you have an insurance plan that kicks in only after a lot of money ( from HSA or your pocket ). This is in line with Republicans thinking HSA is the way to go.

I totally agree. It is mind boggling, but these jack wagons are so petty. The only reason they would float a plan out there like this is because they can remove all association with Obama from it. That's the only reason they hate the ACA. The black man in the Whitehouse received the credit for it.

But, they beat the shit out Clinton for proposing health care reform - like 2010 his efforts to get it done were the foundation of a "wave" mid term that gave them the house.

He isn't black.

He, however, like BHO, is a democrat ...

From where we are sitting today Armageddon is taking back the governorships and state houses by the year 2020 in order to expose these gerrymandered republicans to their voters. If the onous is given to the state houses and these state legislators dig in their heels we'll have backlash on our side.

Never gonna' happen. Too many links to too many other programs, all needing integration in and with the consent from Congress and remaining states.

“We took the bold and risky step of putting it out there.” - Collins.

Without a lick of thought at all for seven years on how it would work and be implemented; just put it out there. Governing!!!