PHASE 1 FLOPPED, BUT IT IS STILL ON TO PHASE 2

What is the next thing to watch for in the battle for the future of the American heath care system? Back in March I wrote STUPID! JUST PLAIN STUBBORNLY STUPID! This is when the House of Representatives was having problems passing a bill to get rid of Obamacare. The House finally got something done. The Senate did not come through. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution was really a stupid mistake (see Huckabee calls for repeal of 17th Amendment after healthcare failure and Levin & Huckabee say repeal the 17th Amendment. But what is it?).

Still, Obamacare does not have to implode, at least not dramatically. Why? STUPID! JUST PLAIN STUBBORNLY STUPID! spoke of a three-phased approach. Supposedly, in the first phase, Congress would use the budget reconciliation process to pull the teeth of Obamacare legislatively. Then, in phase 2, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price would use the authority Obamacare gives him to dismantle still more of Obamacare. Finally, Congress was supposed to work long-term to finish the process replacing Obamacare with something more palatable and permanent.

Phase 1died an ugly death, but Price is moving on to phase 2. Here is what he said last Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week” with Martha Raddatz.

“The responsibility of the department is to improve the health and the safety and the well-being of the American people, and we take that mission extremely seriously,” Price said. “Which is why we are so passionate about making certain that we’ve got a health care system, again, that works for patients.”

“So the ACA, Obamacare, had it stated 1,442 times — 1,442 times — ‘the [HHS] secretary shall,’ or ‘the secretary may.’ And what the previous administration did was made it so it was harder to care for patients and drove up the costs of coverage and drove up the costs of care,” Price added.

“We’re going to look at every single one of those rules and regulations, all 1,442 of them, and determine: Does it drive up costs? Does it drive down costs? Does it help patients? Does it hurt patients? And when it drives up costs and hurts patients, we’re going to move in the other direction,” Price said, indicating HHS could play a key role in reversing many Obamacare provisions in the future. (from here)

Of course, Raddatz obsessed on Trump’s statement about letting Obamacare implode. If not repealed, it eventually will implode. That is what Obamacare was designed to do. Put the wrong people in charge, like when the Obama administration was in charge, and those people will have the power to wreak havoc and use that havoc to demand a single payer system.

Price is apparently going to try to use his authority to change and thereby ameliorate some of the most abhorrent regulations. How successful will he be? It is apparent the law is so complicated he is uncertain, but odds are he can implement a temporary fix, but it may not be enough for the insurance companies. Betting on a favorable outcome in a game of Russian roulette is not an especially good investment. Even if Price can make changes that correct the immediate problems, the biased news media will be trying to spin it so that Price doesn’t get credit. The news media will probably even try to blame him for the mess that Obamacare has made.

Yet even if Price is successful and gets proper credit, if the law is not changed another U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary could start wrecking the system again. Some people are more willing to abuse power than others. Therefore, while phase 1 is dead, we don’t want to give up on phase 3.

Is your congressman serious about getting rid of Obamacare? Do you have a senator up for reelection who needs to be replaced? If you want affordable healthcare, then please check the people who represent you. If they need to be replaced, now is the time to get to work.

Other Views

• President Trump won’t let Obamacare ‘implode,’ Health Secretary Tom Price says (abcnews.go.com)
• Obamacare Can Be Dismantled Today—If The ‘Price’ Is Right (dailycaller.com)
• Health Secretary Tom Price says waiving Obamacare’s individual mandate is on the table (washingtontimes.com)
• Tom Price: Trump threatens to let Obamacare implode to get healthcare bill ‘moved in the right direction’ (washingtonexaminer.com)
• Health Secy. Price Maintains HHS Will Continue to ‘Follow the Law’ (nbcnews.com)
• HHS secretary pledges to implement ‘law-of-the-land’ Obamacare (www.politico.com)