Less than two weeks after we published a story suggesting President Trump could threaten to withhold billions in (probably) illegal dividend sweeps from Fannie / Freddie, set up in 2012 to prop up Obamacare by paying insurers to remain in the program – lo and behold, Trump is doing just that!
Now that the President has gotten those pesky bipartisan neocons off his back by launching a few dozen Tomahawks into Syria on behalf of the deep state, he can get back to business as usual – namely, dismantling Obamacare (pending approval of course).
Recall Trump’s previous tweets on the matter:
ObamaCare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for THE PEOPLE. Do not worry!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2017
The Democrats will make a deal with me on healthcare as soon as ObamaCare folds – not long. Do not worry, we are in very good shape!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2017
And as former Blackrock portfolio manager Ed Dowd suggested – Trump could accomplish this by simply stopping the GSE dividend sweep Obama set up to siphon funds into an Obamacare triage mechanism to pay off insurers which would otherwise leave the program:
By not long…do you literally mean weeks as you order the stop of the illegal Fannie/Freddy dividend sweep into Treasury thus ensuring ?? https://t.co/VEQ4bkgduG
— Ed (@DowdEdward) March 28, 2017
Since MSM won't report #Fanniegate all #Trump has to do is stop the steal and Obamacare literally implodes ? Within weeks. Watch Dems run!? https://t.co/vLzeJQbEhR
— Ed (@DowdEdward) March 26, 2017
Well – looks like that’s exactly what Trump is planning to do…
WASHINGTON—Almost three weeks after canceling a vote on his health-care package over infighting among his fellow Republicans and opposition from Democrats, President Donald Trump dug back into the fight on Wednesday, threatening to withhold payments to insurers to force Democrats to the negotiating table. –WSJ
Touching on the legal aspect – WSJ reports the following:
In an interview in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said the executive branch may lack legal authority to make the payments established under his predecessor
“I don’t want people to get hurt,” Mr. Trump said. “What I think should happen—and will happen—is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating.”
So there you have it – President Trump is willing to play nice over #Fanniegate, while telegraphing the “legal authority” angle he’ll use to cut off payments if Democrats don’t come to the table right now.
Let’s see if he goes with Rand’s plan…
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So what’s your point? Dude obama care sucks but it’s a necissary evil.
Heckler Obamacare is a legitimate disaster. The only thing that’s kept insurance co’s participating is ripping off Fannie / Freddy – illegally, for over $200 Billion, in order to pay them off. Despite that, they are still peeling out left and right… Aetna and Humana are out, and Anthem is about to walk. And that’s with the GSE sweeps. What does that leave people with? Not fucking much.
https://heatst.com/politics/major-health-insurance-company-says-it-may-pull-out-of-obamacare-for-2018/
Meanwhile the ACA has devastated the lower-middle class; those whose premiums have doubled or tripled, or who can’t afford insurance at all who have to pay the penalty & aren’t poor enough for a waiver or free care.
Maybe if heart transplants weren’t $200K and getting a preemie out of the NICU wasn’t $500K for a 10 week stay (results may vary), insurance costs could be way more reasonable – but nobody seems to want to attack that side of it. Muh profits. The counter argument seems to be that it’s somehow justified because America’s got the best healthcare & part of those premiums go towards cutting edge research in the name of progress.
Healthcare is a lie. Making the young pay for meaningless horseshit tests and pills for unemployed obese pigs is serfdom. Want to see a doctor for fun? Fucking pay for it.
Define “Lower middle class” in terms of income please.
I agree when I was self employeed it was fucking bullshit premiums. Fucking crazy for a 35 year old who doesn’t make shit tons to pay $350 / month for nada. NADA.
But what are you gonna do? Tell you right now the answer is not to give it back to the rich.
I don’t understand the fanny / Freddy thing? Its wealth distribution plain and simple. Not the end of the USA
Lower middle class = $35K – $75K
For a family of 3 up to $50K they get subsidized insurance and tax credits. $50 – $80K it’s just tax credits, but when you consider the cost of living around the country and the 200 – 300% premium increases people have been experiencing as a % of disposible income, it puts exactly those people in the $35k – $75k range under the most financial stress – even with credits and discounts.
heckler,
The fannie/freddie thing doesn’t even matter if all the insurance companies are walking anyway because the program is unprofitable. Yeah, if there’s one area I’m OK with wealth redistribution it would be providing healthcare (or at least prescription coverage) to the poor – but the ACA is a fucked up system that’s going to collapse either way. In fact fuck it, take all that GSE money and supplement the free medicaid that was available before Obamacare so that poverty stricken ppl can get cancer drugs and whatnot. That was the biggest gripe anyway right? You could always walk into an ER and get treated, it was the meds that people couldn’t afford. Throw in extra for some checkups. Either way, ACA is fucked and that all goes away at some point (soon) anyway. Then it’s back to nothing.
ObamaCare wouldn’t be going away, and would be a benefit, not a disaster, for most people, if Trump weren’t trying to push it over a cliff.
That’s why Congress couldn’t pass a better health care bill. Because ObamaCare is okay for most, although single payer health care would be lots better. But the GOP wants to make things worse, not better, for sick people.
The CBO’s other bombshell: the Affordable Care Act isn’t imploding
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/14/14921594/obamacare-implosion-ahca
Frog, why were major insurance co’s pulling out (pre-Trump) if it’s a successful program? And what does that leave Americans with? Explain why it isn’t imploding to this guy:
http://ibankcoin.com/zeropointnow/files/2016/11/obmacare-letter-georgia.jpg
Frog, you need to go back to basic economics. People will use more of stuff that’s free. I had a long conversation with a friend of mine who’s a doctor (he’s quitting his hospital practice and will just be doing concierge care as soon as his contract is up). The rules it has are just plain stupid. For example, it requires females to have the availability of prostate exams. Seriously! Last time I checked, females don’t have prostates. And it requires obstetrical care for menopausal females. Really? And it requires prenatal care for males. Seriously! How many men do you know who have become pregnant?
Beyond that, it encourages hospitals and other care providers to do unneeded tests and procedures to jack up their profits. The classic story is the 6 year old child who is sent home from school with a cold. Mom takes kid to the ER where, among other things, he is subjected to an MRI. So – the cost of treatment for the child’s cold ends up being over $5,000 instead of the cost of OTC col meds and send the kid home to go to bed.
I hope that the catastrophe that is the ACA finishes imploding soon so a more reasoned approach (or hopefully more reasoned approach) can be put in place.