Yesterday, Florida’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, a Donald Trump supporter, visited Fox News to cheerlead the destruction of ObamaCare. But when repeatedly asked by host Neil Cavuto how to “protect” the 20 million Americans who have gotten health insurance under ObamaCare, Scott could not answer the question.
Scott looked absolutely delighted as he argued that taking away health insurance for 20 million people is imperative.
SCOTT: We have to do it. President Obama said you wouldn’t lose your doctor, people did. He said your health care costs would go down, they spiraled up. We have to do better for the American public. First, we got to get jobs going, then we’ve got to have a health care system that people can afford. What Obamacare did was raise all the costs of health care which means fewer people can pay for health care.
CAVUTO: So you want to repeal and start from scratch?
SCOTT: Absolutely.
CAVUTO: So how would you or would you protect or recommend President-elect Trump to protect the 20 million people who’ve gotten health insurance through this plan?
Clearly, Scott had thought out the first part of his argument. But not much for the people whose health insurance he salivated for removing. So he dodged the question.
SCOTT: First off, The political elite in Washington, they think there’s no way. They think there’s no way you can do this, but here’s what you do. It’s like fixing a company. You focus on what you need to do. “You’ve got to drive health care costs down, how do you do that? Competition, you’ve got to create more competition in health care. You’ve got to let people buy the insurance they want to buy, let people buy across state lines, and then create safety nets state by state that work for those states.
But he had thought out what he could do for himself. “I know what works in Florida. Let me create the safety net with the support of the federal dollars … that works for my state," he said.
Scott hasn’t done a very good job so far. According to the industry’s Modern Healthcare, nearly half the counties in Florida have high numbers of uninsured adults.
Not surprisingly, Cavuto didn’t mention that. However, he did press Scott for an answer about the people whose health insurance he wants to yank.
CAVUTO: Those are a lot of good ideas and market-based ideas, but you would have this gap, this period where these people who have coverage wouldn’t have coverage. What should be done or anything for them?
Scott’s “solution” was to pretend it wouldn’t be a problem. And to attack President Obama.
SCOTT: I don’t believe that. I believe you can create safety nets. The way Obama did it, there was no way to drive health care costs down. You’re gonna get more people health care if you can drive health care costs down. Competition does it, let the people buy the insurance they want to buy does it. And then create the safety net for the group of people that you care about.
That’s an odd turn of phrase for a governor. Wouldn’t you think he’d be interested in a safety net for everyone who needs one, not just those he cares about?
Interestingly, the Fox News clip (the first one embedded below) stops there. But Cavuto kept at challenging Scott. In the second clip below, Cavuto continued.
CAVUTO: I understand that and I’m not meaning to be a stickler about this but if I have a health care policy – and it might be I’m paying through the nose for it, but that’s what I’ve got. It’s not a safety net, it’s a policy. How do you assure those people that while this is being reworked, they’d still have coverage?
In short, Scott can’t. In fact, he suggested he would never bother his mind about it.
SCOTT: When I’m saying a safety net, it would be a policy that they would know they’d be covered. … Look, I want everyone to be able to get health care. I worked in the health care industry. I want people to get health care. But if people can’t afford it, eventually, there’s a day of reckoning. Whether it’s government doesn’t pay for it or you don’t pay for it, there’s a day of reckoning.
It’s nice that Scott should be talking about fiscal accountability and “a day of reckoning.” Because when he talked about his career in the health care industry, Scott forgot to mention that his company was fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud. Funny how that never seems to get mentioned on Fox.
Meanwhile, it’s obvious Scott is more interested in scoring political points than in the welfare of the people he represents. Or those of anyone else it would seem.
Watch the kind of selfishness that goes along with supporting Donald Trump below, from the November 9, 2016 Your World.
“Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one.”-LBJ
On the other matter, I agree with Ellen that it could turn into a PR nightmare to mount a criminal case against the Clintons. And such a case would have no real traction in court. But I’m seeing real anger in these guys now. They wouldn’t be making noises about how foolish it would be for Obama to pardon her (as though she even needed a pardon in the first place) if they didn’t have a reason. I hope I’m wrong about it.
And I hope I’m wrong about what will happen with
the ACA. I just think these people are going to press the advantage they got from gaming the system and do as many of these things as they can while they have the momentum. It is always much easier to tear down than to build up and I can’t imagine them waiting the years they will need to generate their own plan before they tear down Obama’s. That would require compromise and these people are not known for that.
But if this troubles you and you live in a red state or district, I encourage you to raise hell with your federal representative. The fight should start now, folks.
If Trump pulled that move, you would see O’Reilly, Limbaugh and Hannity compete to see who had the biggest explosion over it. And Giuliani has no reason not to try to make a big case out of this. Once he starts the wheels turning, I’m not sure what he can do to stop them, but they could always try the pardon idea after the perp walk. That would be just as dramatic and would still give Hannity the bit of tape he’s longed for since Fox News was started.
Total bullshit and theatrics. But that is what Trump is. What I just described would be a win win for the Orange drama queen.
Animal Farm may have been a critique of the Russian Revolution, but it’s more relevant now than ever.
Thanks for the update. I just read an article on the topic but Ryan is talking is code speak and providing zero details. Ryan is also lying that Obamcare is making Medicare broke when in fact it has cost containment provisions in place to extend Medicare 11 years.
Folks, this is a real shocker! I’m not lost on the fact that Ryan is a huge disciple of Ayn Rand’s Social Darwinism. But never in my life did I think he’d be ruthless enough to dump seniors into a sink or swim, everyone for themselves, private health insurance scam. Republicans are forgetting the core principle of any insurance is risk pools. Private insurers price based upon risk. Seniors by definition are not only at the height of the risk pool most are on a limited fixed income so they’re the most price sensitive to premium costs.
People at work think I’m crazy. But for the last 6+ years I’ve pumped money into a stock dividend stream to try to replace my Social Security income out of fear of this day. I realize most people can’t financially pull this off. I’ve been blessed in life. But even with me save a huge percentage of my income over the years. Even if I pull of my plan to cover Social Security should it fall prey to Republican Social Darwinism, I’m not financially prepared for Medicare getting gutted. My employer will let me carry their health insurance at full cost less a modest discount based upon my years of service. That ends at 65 when I’m Medicare eligible. Do not pass the graveyard.
If anyone hears of any protests in the Richmond, Virginia area please let me know. We’ve had a couple already but I didn’t get wind of them until after the fact when they were on the news. If there are any in DC I’ll probably hop Amtrak (until it gets terminated by the GOP) and join in.
I can’t tell you how frightened I am right now!
Very early in Orange 🍊 Hitler’s candidacy he met with Randian Objectivist (think Social Darwinism) Paul Ryan on Social Security.
A refresher. Ryan earned his GOP chops as an alleged budget whizkid and fathered a Social Security privatization scheme. Versions of this idea have become a regular GOP plank and we’re a core policy in his run with Mitt Romney.
So no surprise out of that meeting came out the leak Hair Hitler agreed with Ryan Social Security should be privatized but he couldn’t say so publicly or the Democrats would crucify him.
As you say, our so-called ‘liberal media’ ignored the fact it is obviously a huge Congressional priority Trump is on board with. Notice Trump didn’t touch it except when asked during a debate when he said he wasn’t going to touch it, if I recall. His official policy (I looked it up) is a Trump economy is going to be so robust in growth Social Security will take care of itself. 🤔
Day 3 of Idiocracy.
The reality is that the right wing flat out does not care if 20 or 30 million people lose coverage from the ACA. They see it as parasitical to 100 million more Americans and they see it as the last vestige of Obama’s legacy. It has to go, in their mind. Replacing is something they can do later, or leave to another president many years down the road.
The brief update she gave to me is that the call – which included lobbyists, advocates, activists, and even Republican Congressmen – confirmed Obamacare is a dead man walking but the Republican Congressmen are already trying to downplay the impact of Obamacare repeal on the millions ACA serves. In a nutshell, the Republican Congressmen are promising an extended transition period where people will keep their insurance until a replacement is found.
She didn’t name the Republican Congressmen but I do find it interesting now that the gang of idiots lining up on Fox News to spew talking points smearing Obamacare suddenly realize they’re stuck with the reality there are millions of Americans they serve who will want real answers. They have none and are caught with their pants down. Seriously, the conference call was nothing but vague assurances of some replacement. Even the Republicans on the call were saying it will be years before a viable Obamacare alternative is made into law and passed.
It should be obvious to folks based upon my screeds here that a viable Republican alternative is like the ‘vaporware’ I as an IT professional see all the time in my industry.
I won’t repeat my long screed below but what the GOP has is a grab-bag of demonstrable bad ideas which have floated around for a long time. The bottom line is to give people quality affordable health insurance they need to be in a diverse risk pool. Obamacare came short with mandates but I still think with sincere Republican cooperation they could have worked most of it out. Heck, their health saving account idea might help the few without subsidies. I can dream…
Anyway, the only other option is socialized medicine. Before my liberal buddies here get a huge thrill up their legs, it solves problems for the minority of Americans without health insurance but creates many problems as well for all. For people like myself who have a very good employer plan, the quality of my care would fall quite a bit.
That was the beauty of Obamacare. It was a valiant effort to give people without health insurance quality insurance like I have without hurting the rest of us.
Oh well… Let me go. No kidding. I’m a bit depressed and definitely stressed since the election and probably should have told my doctor Wednesday when I visited him for my routine 6 month visit but it seemed a bit premature. I may need drugs – again, I’m not being funny – to get through the Trump years.
I grieve for this nation. I just wish I had a way out. Not being a drama queen but I so much wish I could move to eastern Italy to enjoy life with my girlfriend and wait the mother——— out for 4 to [vomit] 8 years.
I never thought my American dream would be to leave it for an extended period of time.
Giuliani made clear that one of the top priorities of Trump is to repeal the ACA. No wriggle room. It’s gone. Keep in mind that the “replace” idea is based on the idea of the GOP actually having a replacement plan and they don’t have one that anyone agrees on. It will take years to work that out. But they will definitely throw out whatever is there within the first weeks of the Trump White House, and the House will defund whatever is left. I don’t expect anything to remain in the exchanges by the middle of next year, but I could be wrong on the timetable. It just seems to me that if the package has been repealed and there’s no money funding the exchanges, it would be foolish to expect any provider to stay.
One other thing: Giuliani made clear that there will be an aggressive criminal pursuit and indictment of the Clintons and their aides and associates. Giuliani has already stated the laws he thinks he can charge them with (regardless of whether they’d ever hold up in court) and unlike his waffling interview with CNN, he was very clear with Hannity: He intends to charge them and see them arrested and put on trial. The tape of Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton being frog marched will be an interesting one, to say the least. I expect that Sean Hannity will run it on his show until the end of his career.
Is it possible that the tiger may be a pussycat? Remember, Trump has a long list of people he’s left behind that he has crossed. I don’t see him being tightly beholden to the rubes that voted for him.
Repeal and replace. With what?
First, we went down this road with Clintoncare where Republicans promised to come up with a great plan if Clintoncare didn’t pass. It didn’t pass and so many years later here we sit. They’re hot to give us a replacement for Obamacare now like they’ve never had the opportunity since the Clinton administration.
Second, what ideas have they developed over the many years since? So many yuge ideas they tell us they can’t make up their mind. But what are they? Really? Well, it’s sell insurance across state lines. Health savings accounts. Oh, and probably something they haven’t mentioned in a while: strict limits on medical liabilities.
This stack of baloney was scored by Obama during the ACA debate. If I recall, it covered 3 million people.
It can’t be too hard for even the rural know-nothings who put Trump over the top Tuesday to figure out it takes money to buy health insurance without guv’mint support. Nor can it take a genius to figure out to get a silver plan in the ballpark of $500 (in my area) into the subsidized Obamacare range of roughly $75 you’ve got to assume medical malpractice, a lack of competition, and some marginal HSA tax breaks will cut your costs $425. Sure it will.
Insurance experts I’ve heard – not partisan hacks either – tell me the insurance across state lines is baloney. Check out the profit margins. It just isn’t there.
So what we get to is the old model forgetting the core to insurance pricing is spreading risk because companies price based upon risk. Young people pay little. People who need it can’t afford it. But the Republicans have fix.
They toss in health savings accounts theorizing you don’t buy a comprehensive policy like Obamacare. No, you pay out of your own pocket for routine stuff and buy a low-cost catastrophic policy for the big stuff.
This theory assumes you have money to keep your HSA full enough to cover any contingencies. Jobless? Pay check to pay check? Oh well. I’m a Republican and I’m here to offer you some advice: Just don’t get sick you Trump-loving hicks!
Experts say HSAs also discourage preventive care. It also assumes this deregulated marketplace with increased competition won’t return private markets to the infamous crap insurance that preyed upon and ripped off millions of Americans prior to ACA.
I’ve got my insurance. Too bad about that other guy. That’s Rick Scott’s real message. That’s Neil Cavuto’s. That’s Donald Trump’s.
Now that Trump’s in the house I’ll wear out my keyboard typing “Social Darwinism”. Puke!
Of course, he fails to point out that it was his fellow GOPers, at the behest of the very health care and insurance companies that Scott is here blaming, for failing to ensure the very things he’s promoting here. The SIMPLEST plan would’ve been a Medicare-style program but the GOPers screamed “government interference” and “government overreach” and railed against “government death panels” (this was pure fabrication on the part of the GOP who didn’t exactly seem too concerned about how health insurance companies had been doing their own “death panels” for decades before the ACA ever came along) so any and all talk of such was shot down. The GOPers weren’t in a majority at the time, but they—and their media enablers (like FoxNoise)—made sure that the “mainstream” media never bothered to cover everything and managed to convince some wavering Democrats (mostly in red states) of how (politically) costly support could be and so, to get the proposals to any sort of modest hearings and eventual passage, the “Medicare for All” option was pulled.
The reality is that they will quickly do the repeal of whatever they can of the ACA, which is most of it. Once the various insurance companies and participators realize the bottom has fallen out, they will all quickly back out of the exchanges and everything else they can. They’d be foolish not to. So what is left of the ACA will nominally exist for the next couple of years, but in reality there will be very little left. When Trump gets criticism for this, he’ll blame the Dems in Congress for dragging their feet on his reforms.