Speaker of the House Paul Ryan called killing Obamacare and throwing millions of children, people with disabilities, seniors, and low-income families off of Medicaid an act of mercy.
Video of Speaker Ryan:
"Obamacare is collapsing," Speaker Ryan says. "We are doing an act of mercy" by replacing it https://t.co/XU3Gj7NSg7 pic.twitter.com/1XLP3CHp3l
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 7, 2017
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During a press conference that appeared designed to save his sinking bill, Speaker Ryan said, “Obamacare is collapsing. Obamacare isn’t staying. If we did nothing, the law would collapse and leave everybody without affordable health care. We are doing an act of mercy by repealing this law and replacing it with a patient-centered reforms that we as conservatives have been arguing for and fighting for for years.”
Speaker Ryan is doing the poor, seniors, and disabled people a favor by taking away their health care. You’ll thank him later when you or your children are sick and can’t afford to see a doctor.
None of what Speaker Ryan said was true.
Obamacare is not collapsing. This is the rationale that Republicans have created to justify taking away health care from millions of people.
Speaker Ryan’s act of mercy involves taking away health care from millions of children and disabled Americans by ending the Medicaid expansion and capping federal Medicaid payments to the states.
Medicaid currently provides health care for, “33 million children, 27 million adults (mostly in low-income working families), 6 million seniors, and 10 million persons with disabilities.”
Children, seniors, and people with disabilities make up 3/5ths of those on Medicaid.
A 2012 Urban Institute Study found that Ryan’s plan for Medicaid would cut enrollment by 25%-36%. In human terms, 14.3-20.5 million people would lose their health care on top the 11 million on Medicaid who will lose their health care after the Medicaid expansion is killed.
The “mercy killing” that Speaker Ryan is performing involves throwing millions of children and disabled people off of health care. Many of these people won’t be able to get insurance, so they will join TrumpCare’s growing masses of uninsured in America.
Paul Ryan isn’t performing a mercy killing. He is attacking some of the most vulnerable people in America society, and if he is successful, his effort could prove fatal for millions of Americans.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
