Frank Alegria, Patriot Academy Alumni
The senator walked through the crowded hallways, a train of staff and media following him. Hours leading up to this walk, he had heard rumors of a secret bill, namely the ObamaCare repeal/replacement bill – and they weren’t good. Instead of repealing and replacing that wretched piece of legislation with something better as many had presumed, House GOP leadership was renaming and keeping parts of ObamaCare, making it a sort of “Lite” Republican version. How dare they do that! he thought to himself. For his constituency, his country, his people, he would get to the bottom of this.
Stopping before a doorway whose frame was marked “H157,” Senator Paul asked as politely as he could for access to view the ObamaCare repeal/replacement bill. After a little back and forth between him and the staffer who’d greeted him, she denied him access, explaining that a meeting was taking place. “So what you’re telling me is you won’t give me a copy of the bill?” he asked in a no-nonsense tone. The staffer sidestepped the question, stating she had no authority to grant him access. “Then go find someone for us,” he ordered, crossing his hands in a gesture of impatience. He was never granted access. Hours later, other lawmakers, aroused by the hubbub went looking for the bill as well. Allowed to enter the room it was contained in, they entered eagerly, searching for the bill text. But by then, the meeting was over, and the bill was long gone.
Four days later, House Republicans officially released the text of the bill. And most unfortunately, the rumors were true. Instead of repealing certain parts of ObamaCare to “get the train moving,” it merely tweaked major components of the healthcare law. Under the amendments pushed by Republicans, a form of the individual mandate would still exist, and fines would be paid to providers instead of the government. Age-based subsidies would be renamed as “tax credits,” and a three-year “bounty” program would be implemented for subsidizing Medicaid. But worse of all, no regulations on healthcare providers would be repealed. Does this in any way run in concordance with the promise that Republicans would repeal ObamaCare?
The GOP has a unique opportunity to take a financial burden off of the already-breaking backs of the American people. And by following the blueprint in their promise to repeal and then replace as propagated last election year, we can see it done. But by leaving it unaddressed for too long, the problem will only gradually get worse. If Republicans really do care about the everyday American, then the time for the fulfillment of their promise of full repeal is now.
