June 27, 2017

My NINETEENTH Open Letter To Senator Pat Toomey (Updated)

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I'll be dropping this letter to Senator Pat Toomey in the mail today:
Dear Senator Toomey:

It's me, again. Your constituent who also writes for the local Pittsburgh-based political blog, "2 Political Junkies."

My apologies, Senator. But we're still going to have to talk about the bill you drafted, the "Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017" and its projected effect on the American people.

The progressive think-tank the Center for American Progress estimated that your draft bill, if enacted into law, could result in the deaths of as many as 27,000 Americans in 2026, due to their lost of the insurance coverage. I realize you might not have gotten around to reading the report (or indeed any) report from a progressive think-tank, but there is significant evidence that points to significant health benefits stemming from increased access to health insurance.

They based those numbers from the recently released CBO report. The second paragraph of the report states:
The Senate bill would increase the number of people who are uninsured by 22 million in 2026 relative to the number under current law, slightly fewer than the increase in the number of uninsured estimated for the House-passed legislation.
Even if the Center for American Progress is wrong, the CBO is still estimating that 22 million fewer Americans will be insured, thanks to your draft bill.

Are you OK with that?

Are you OK with the possibility of thousands of Americans dying so that you can make sure those who are already wealthy can get just a little wealthier?

I await your response.
And I will be posting whatever response I get from him or his office.

Follow-up: 
UPDATE: Senator Toomey responded (I'm pretty sure) to this letter. 
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1 comment:

Chic Bowdrie said...

Your first substantive paragraph goes from the unsupportable claim of 27,00 deaths to infering that health benefits stem from access to health insurance. But "access to health insurance" is not access to healthcare, if you can't afford the deductible. That is the problem with the Affordable Care Act that Senator Toomey and fellow Republicans are trying to fix with no help from Democrats.

The CBO has no idea how many people will be uninsured in 2026. Just because you are no longer forced to buy insurance doesn't mean you aren't going to buy it anyway. Insurance companies will offer attractive (i.e. affordable) plans to attract individuals unable to take advantage of the ACA because they "can't afford to pay the deductible." Google it.

Also, we need more rich people and we need the rich to get richer, because they pay most of the taxes.

June 27, 2017 at 10:04 PM

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