Oh, and to hell with pre-existing conditions ban too
by digby
I’ve been hearing a lot of people suggesting that Mitch McConnell has seen the writing on the wall and will not fight the ACA in the Senate. Maybe so. But he sure has a funny way of putting it:
The senior senator from Kentucky, who himself enjoyes government-subsidized insurance as a federal employee, toldthe National Review on Tuesday that the party would do little to help the 129 million people who could be denied insurance because they suffer from a pre-existing condition should the law be repealed. “I’m not convinced that issue needs to be addressed at the federal level,” he said, before praising Republican governors for refusing to implement a provision of the law that expands health coverage to lower-income residents through the Medicaid program.
During the interview, McConnell also confirmed that he planned to repeal Obamacare’s main provisions — like the individual mandate — through reconciliation, a process that allows the Senate can pass budget-related bills with a majority vote
He also said this:
Is there anything more specific on Medicare and Medicaid?
I’m hoping that the states will advantage of the option not to add massive numbers of new people to the Medicaid rolls. I’ve had a couple of town-hall meetings in hospitals this week and I’ve had a number of them over the past year. In Kentucky, we can’t handle the Medicaid patients we already have. Our health-care providers are completely distraught at the notion that, in my state for example, 400,000 people would be added to the Medicaid rolls, with 30 percent of Kentuckians receiving free health care. They can’t handle it. They can’t handle the Medicaid they have now and they certainly can’t handle this. I don’t know what our state government will decide to do, but some governors are saying “thanks, but no thanks,” now that they have the option.
On a final note, what’s your message to conservatives and tea-party activists who are suspicious of Republican leaders and their commitment to repeal?
Boy, I don’t know how they could be suspicious on this issue. Every single Republican in the House and Senate voted against Obamacare. I must have made 125 speeches about it on the floor. If there is any area where I don’t think conservatives of any stripe should be concerned, it would be this one. We’ve been clear and unambiguous about Obamacare from the beginning to the end — all of it. And I led the fight in the Senate, so I know what I’m talking about.
Again, that’s a funny way of saying that they aren’t going to repeal it if they can.
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