Senate should reject the House’s callous health care bill

Hold the confetti and the party horns. While President Trump and House Republicans were holding their love fest in the Rose Garden Thursday, political prognosticators were cautioning that the health care reform bill passed by the House would look considerably different once it clears the Senate – if it does.

Perhaps most amazing in the celebration was the president’s ability, again, to simply ignore past promises and change realities. He vowed those with pre-existing conditions, for example, would be protected under health care changes — absolutely, positively. But that’s not what happened: Republicans included $8 billion to help those with such conditions pay their health premiums, but that money would be gone quickly. No guarantees, in other words. Another promise broken.

And Trump talked about costs being less and premiums being lower, but he has utterly no proof of that.

To boot, the measure was passed without a detailed analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Preliminary estimates have said perhaps 24 million people could lose coverage with the GOP’s repeal and replace action.

Predictions are that the Senate, also run by Republicans, will certainly change and may stall entirely this repeal and replace maneuver, which has been motivated from the start by a revenge motive against President Obama.

GOP leaders in the Senate have no love for Obama, but they are in tune, at least a little, with public sentiment that has shifted in favor of “Obamacare,” which has made coverage possible for 22 million people. And, that program did not explode the deficit or have other dire consequences for the economy or for health care. And it did guarantee protection for pre-existing conditions. Let’s hope North Carolina’s GOP Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis will be among those moderating the House action (or voting to nix the entire process).

It is, therefore, good that the measure passed in haste by House Republicans and cheered by Trump – who likely hasn’t read the legislation and won’t, but just wanted a win – isn’t going to look the same should it emerge from the Senate. But it would be better if it doesn’t emerge at all.

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Senate should reject the House’s callous health care bill."