EDITORIAL: Senate’s version of health care plan is awful

June 23--The 142-page Senate health care bill revealed Thursday was written in secret by 13 white men with little or no expertise on health care issues and no advice from doctors, hospitals or health economists, let alone from the public.

It takes hundreds of billions of dollars now allocated to care for the working poor, women, children and elderly, and gives it to rich Americans in the form of a huge tax break. It is, to borrow President Trump's behind the scenes assessment of the House's bill, mean. We'll add, unconscionable.

Immediately after its release four Republican senators said they couldn't support it. Let's hope there are more who care enough about the health of women, children and the elderly to stop this travesty.

About 20 percent of all Americans and 40 percent of America's kids get their health care through the federal government's Medicaid program. Nearly 70 percent of America's elderly -- most of whom worked hard to support families and pay taxes all their lives -- can afford to live in nursing homes because of Medicaid. Under the Senate GOP plan, all this coverage is at risk.

The only "improvement" the Senate version offers over the House plan is that it would wait longer to destroy Medicare recipients' coverage. In other words, death by billions of cuts.

The Senate plan repeals the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, slashes federal support of Medicaid and eliminates taxes on the wealthy and insurers that now help pay for care for the poor.

This is the bill with "heart" President Trump told senators he wanted?

Remember what Trump promised the American people. He said any repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act would have "insurance for everybody," telling the Washington Post, "there was a philosophy in some circles that if you can't pay for it, you don't get it. That's not going to happen with us."

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects to release its analysis of the Senate plan early next week. The deep cuts to Medicaid likely mean about 20 million Americans will lose their health insurance, including 4.5 million Californians.

Yet Trump praised the Senate health care bill Thursday, saying "it's going to be very good. A little negotiation, but it's going to be very good."

Negotiation?

McConnell wants the bill passed next week, still with no public hearings or opportunities for health care experts or advocates to have a say. The Affordable Care Act took a year and a half to craft, with much debate adn amendments at the request of Republicans. In the end it passed on a party line vote, but that wasn't for lack of trying or compromise by the Obama administration.

Those Republican senators are right, this plan should be dead on arrival.

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