The GOP's answer to providing an alternative to "Obamacare" as they so gleefully call it, is to "Fire Pelosi". When you say it out loud it sort of just hangs there. OK, fire Pelosi. I don't care for her either. She's spent more time getting Botox and appearing at press conferences than working to make things better. Then what? What on earth will the GOP do next? The GOP claims they have alternative legislation which is "common sense". I read through this "common sense" summary. The only thing certain about this summary is that it's VERY common. It's more common talking points from a party with few real alternatives. A party whose entire offering is based upon pointing out deficiencies in the Democratic health care plan. Let's look at just a few of the statements taken directly from the GOP website. See the GOP Summary here.
• Lowering health care premiums. The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing Americans’ number-one priority for health care reform.
This is a great campaign point, but how exactly is this going to be carried out? I wouldn't know. There is no information to support this bullet point.
• Ending junk lawsuits. The GOP plan would help end costly junk lawsuits and curb defensive medicine by enacting medical liability reforms modeled after the successful state laws of California and Texas.
Sounds great...except California and Texas are number 5 and 9 respectively on the list of states which have the highest payments for medical malpractice claims. See the list here. This means... "successful" is NOT a word any reasonable person would use to describe their reforms. Then there is that whole California is bankrupt...thing. Why on earth would their legislation be considered a good example of ways to cut costs?
• Prevents insurers from unjustly cancelling a policy. The GOP plan prohibits an insurer from cancelling a policy unless a person commits fraud or conceals material facts about a health condition.
Hmmm... and who will decide what "material facts" will be defined as? I am guessing the federal government. Last time I checked that's still part of the makeup of social medicine.
• Encouraging Small Business Health Plans. The GOP plan gives small businesses the power to pool together and offer health care at lower prices, just as corporations and labor unions do.
• Encouraging innovative state programs. The GOP plan rewards innovation by providing incentive payments to states that reduce premiums and the number of uninsured.
These two statements use the word "encouraging". This isn't an after-school special people. The word "encouraging" is just a marketing word that really means government regulation and legislation...still social medicine. It's STILL the same thing the GOP says we should all be fighting against. Additionally, just HOW is the GOP planning to fund these "incentive payments"? Monopoly money? Reducing lawmaker salaries? I think not. Try higher taxes...which the GOP historically places on the middle class. The GOP wants us to apply labor union methods to healthcare. Look how well labor unions worked for the auto industry. Oh wait...they didn't!
My personal favorite...
• Allowing dependents to remain on their parents’ policies. The GOP plan encourages coverage of young adults on their parents’ insurance through age 25.
There's that word "encourage" again. Do you think for a minute that insurance companies won't slap us with more fees and higher premiums if the GOVERNMENT tells dependents they are now allowed, by law, to remain on their parents insurance until 25??
Finally... The GOP "Scorecard"
Scorecard: Speaker Pelosi’s Government Takeover vs. GOP Common-Sense Solutions
Speaker Pelosi’s Bill GOP Alternative
Job Losses Up to 5.5 million 0 (Prove It)
Medicare Cuts $500 billion 0 (Prove It)
Tax Increases $729.5 billion 0 (Prove It)
The Bottom Line:
Just because something is stated over and over again doesn't magically make it true. The GOP gets an F for effort and an A+ for marketing. Too bad marketing isn't accepted as a valid form of payment at the doctor's office.
