From the other side of the world I have to say that health care in the U.S. looks like a cruel farce.

There are some fairly astonishing data points in this report, but exhibit 1 on the second page is a bit of an eye-opener. What went wrong after 1980? Can you guess?

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2015/oct/us-health-care-from-a-global-perspective

It's not like you couldn't all have pretty good healthcare at around half the price you pay now in terms of %GDP.

Fuck me.

What?! It is like you have the un-American opinion that people shouldn't make a honest couple of billion on the aviodable pain and suffering of other people. THIS IS AMERICA GOOD SIR. And you can either choose to be a rich person or die. /s

Yeah. Fucking Barbarians.

Best of luck USAians.

Now... is there a Republican hero?

Could be a moment for Ron Paul to shine. Probably not, tho.

He wanted poor Americans to get sick and die before it was cool.

It does build character.

I was thinking of one of the moderates bringing in Democrats somebody like Heller or Collins.

Insider info, this bill has very little chance of going through because of what they refer to as the "Jimmy Kimmel Effect"

iirc 20 million is the commonly cited estimate for the number of people who gained insurance under the ACA. For all the talk of "improving" the ACA, the numbers don't lie. As far as the GOP is concerned the only way to improve ACA is to kick the poor people who gained coverage under the program right back out of the insurance pool so there is less financial burden for everyone else.

(which is a position I would have some modicum of respect for if the GOP had the honesty to come out and say so, but they don't so I won't.)

"so there is less financial burden for everyone else."

These are people who you would wind up paying for anyway. Only you would be doing it ERs. This way is cheaper in the long run even if you only look at the cost of things and not the human suffering. No mater how you look at it, it is a bad deal.

How the GOP health care plans stack up to Obamacare in 4 charts

ER's are the worst too. I have pretty good insurance through work, and just had to take Wife® to the ER a month ago. No overnight stay, a couple of pills, and waiting all day to see a specialist for a few minutes cost me 3 grand out of my own pocket after the insurance paid their portion.

Now imagine 20 million more people using it as primary care.

Not gonna disagree, though your logic that insured healthcare services would be 100% transferable to ER is a little wobbly maybe.

The trick is while it may be cheaper it's who pays that matters more. If it impacts the insurance pool, it's either the insurance company's profit or your premiums that take the hit. ER is more nebulous since those government-funded costs can be dumped into the deficit hole.

I mean let's get real here - the only reason the GOP are on this at all is they are being hounded by the insurance companies to walk back the ACA. The GOP base do not hate the ACA, heck even Trump doesn't hate the ACA. The whole show is powered by industry lobbying.

I'd have more respect for the honesty of a truthfully stated position, but knowing more than a few surgeons, and how they have to operate when someone doesn't have insurance, and then before the bill comes the person flees the country... and we're stuck paying for it. And you can call that guy a free loader, but that guy got sick because he was working 10 hours a day for less than minimum wage, trying to support a family so they eat cheap garbage and avoid going to the doctor until they're in the situation they are in. These people aren't being offered insurance because the democrats are communists. They're being offered insurance because it actually saves money vs skipping out on a bill (only to return to the US later with different documentation).