If AHCA passes and millions of Americans end up losing coverage, the effects would eventually spread, leading to hospital closures and erosion of care, Molina explained. (Photo: wp paarz/flickr/cc)
Mar 22, 2017
Yet another unexpected voice emerged this week to oppose the American Healthcare Act (AHCA), the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, as insurance executive Mario Molina told the Huffington Post in an interview that the bill was "terrible" and would expose millions of people to stifling medical bills.
If AHCA passes and millions of Americans end up losing coverage--as projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this month--the effects would eventually spread, Molina explained, leading to hospital closures in rural areas and the erosion of care quality for everyone.
"You can't say this is not my problem--I have insurance, this is not my problem," Molina said. "This is your problem. You just don't know it yet."
The updated plan, which Republicans released this week, was described by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman as being "even crueler to the poor and working class" than its original version.
As the Center for Budget and Priorities summed up on Tuesday, it "takes an already damaging plan--the previous version of this House GOP legislation--and makes it even more harmful for the tens of millions of children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other adults who rely on Medicaid" by axing expansion of the safety net program and giving states the option to impose onerous limits on coverage.
Molina's warning came as public opinion of the plan continued to plummet. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday found that approval dropped from 46 percent to 41 percent in just a week, while disapproval grew from 35 to 38 percent in that same time. And 22 percent of voters said they "strongly" disapprove of the bill, more than the amount who said they "strongly" approve of it, which hovered at 17 percent.
Respondents said they thought Congress was moving too fast on the bill, with a 43 percent plurality saying they wanted Republicans to slow down and "examine other proposals."
"Not only has approval [of] the [AHCA] decreased since the CBO score came out, Americans think Congress is moving too quickly on healthcare reform," said Morning Consult co-founder and chief research officer Kyle Dropp. "Republicans in Congress are in a tough position right now, but our polling indicates that voters are willing to give them more time to get it right."
The House is scheduled to vote on the new version on Thursday.
The poll surveyed 1,927 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Yet another unexpected voice emerged this week to oppose the American Healthcare Act (AHCA), the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, as insurance executive Mario Molina told the Huffington Post in an interview that the bill was "terrible" and would expose millions of people to stifling medical bills.
If AHCA passes and millions of Americans end up losing coverage--as projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this month--the effects would eventually spread, Molina explained, leading to hospital closures in rural areas and the erosion of care quality for everyone.
"You can't say this is not my problem--I have insurance, this is not my problem," Molina said. "This is your problem. You just don't know it yet."
The updated plan, which Republicans released this week, was described by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman as being "even crueler to the poor and working class" than its original version.
As the Center for Budget and Priorities summed up on Tuesday, it "takes an already damaging plan--the previous version of this House GOP legislation--and makes it even more harmful for the tens of millions of children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other adults who rely on Medicaid" by axing expansion of the safety net program and giving states the option to impose onerous limits on coverage.
Molina's warning came as public opinion of the plan continued to plummet. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday found that approval dropped from 46 percent to 41 percent in just a week, while disapproval grew from 35 to 38 percent in that same time. And 22 percent of voters said they "strongly" disapprove of the bill, more than the amount who said they "strongly" approve of it, which hovered at 17 percent.
Respondents said they thought Congress was moving too fast on the bill, with a 43 percent plurality saying they wanted Republicans to slow down and "examine other proposals."
"Not only has approval [of] the [AHCA] decreased since the CBO score came out, Americans think Congress is moving too quickly on healthcare reform," said Morning Consult co-founder and chief research officer Kyle Dropp. "Republicans in Congress are in a tough position right now, but our polling indicates that voters are willing to give them more time to get it right."
The House is scheduled to vote on the new version on Thursday.
The poll surveyed 1,927 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Yet another unexpected voice emerged this week to oppose the American Healthcare Act (AHCA), the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, as insurance executive Mario Molina told the Huffington Post in an interview that the bill was "terrible" and would expose millions of people to stifling medical bills.
If AHCA passes and millions of Americans end up losing coverage--as projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this month--the effects would eventually spread, Molina explained, leading to hospital closures in rural areas and the erosion of care quality for everyone.
"You can't say this is not my problem--I have insurance, this is not my problem," Molina said. "This is your problem. You just don't know it yet."
The updated plan, which Republicans released this week, was described by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman as being "even crueler to the poor and working class" than its original version.
As the Center for Budget and Priorities summed up on Tuesday, it "takes an already damaging plan--the previous version of this House GOP legislation--and makes it even more harmful for the tens of millions of children, seniors, people with disabilities, and other adults who rely on Medicaid" by axing expansion of the safety net program and giving states the option to impose onerous limits on coverage.
Molina's warning came as public opinion of the plan continued to plummet. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday found that approval dropped from 46 percent to 41 percent in just a week, while disapproval grew from 35 to 38 percent in that same time. And 22 percent of voters said they "strongly" disapprove of the bill, more than the amount who said they "strongly" approve of it, which hovered at 17 percent.
Respondents said they thought Congress was moving too fast on the bill, with a 43 percent plurality saying they wanted Republicans to slow down and "examine other proposals."
"Not only has approval [of] the [AHCA] decreased since the CBO score came out, Americans think Congress is moving too quickly on healthcare reform," said Morning Consult co-founder and chief research officer Kyle Dropp. "Republicans in Congress are in a tough position right now, but our polling indicates that voters are willing to give them more time to get it right."
The House is scheduled to vote on the new version on Thursday.
The poll surveyed 1,927 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.