Health care bill not written for public good

Democracy dies in the dark. When political agenda and the pursuit of power is the prime motive, the public good is abandoned. Ergo, rule by the few becomes an aristocracy, kleptocracy or some other form of authoritarianism. What is transpiring in the U.S. Senate by Republican leaders concerning the new Trumpcare bill is nothing short of a major step toward the death of our democracy.

Without any public input, committee hearings and testimonies, this bill was written in secret and then once it was made public, again without hearings, is to be voted on in the next few days a bill that would affect one-sixth of the U.S. economy. It would eliminate over 20 million Americans from health care and impact nearly every American, from our parents, grandparents in need of caregiving, to our children struggling with asthma or opioid addiction, to our loved ones battling cancer. Medicaid will essentially cease to exist after 2025.

Some 20 percent of Americans are enrolled in Medicaid; 39 percent of children are enrolled in Medicaid; 49 percent of births are covered by Medicaid, and nearly two-thirds of nursing home patients are covered by Medicaid. The bill would eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood that performs reproductive health care, cancer screening and a wide assortment of other health care services. It would also eliminate the employer mandate to provide insurance and adversely affect working class families that depend on employer-provided insurance.

And of course, there is the money factor. Because this bill takes health care away from mainly the poor and working class and in return gives huge tax incentives to the wealthy, it is essentially what the Republicans would define as a "tax reform" bill NOT a health care bill.

In short, this bill crafted in secret, without public input, that guts health care to millions of Americans and shifts billions of tax dollars to the wealthy, was written for reasons other than the public good and it is not democratic. It is contemptible, immoral and cruel. Further, to support such an attack on the poor and middle class is unjustifiable to anyone who can honestly say they are Christian.

David R. James,

Eureka