A Koch addiction is a pre-existing condition

From Esquire:

‘Repeal and Go Fuck Yourself’ Is in Full Effect

The Graham-Cassidy bill is earning the nickname.

Lindsey Graham has really good healthcare that he definitely won’t lose, even if the moral catastrophe he’s calling a “reform” bill passes the Senate. Graham has cosponsored an Obamacare Repeal and Replace Plan with the impressively mendacious Bill Cassidy and two other Republican heartthrobs. It is somehow worse than the previous plans.

The bill would usher a number of shocking cruelties into law, not least the possibility that as many as 32 million Americans could lose health coverage. That’s 10 percent of the population.

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Lindseypoo: Elusive Care Eunuch

From Michael Hiltzik at The Los Angeles Times:

The Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act is back, a zombie again on the march weeks after it was declared dead. The newest incarnation is Cassidy-Graham, named after chief sponsors Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Compared with its predecessors, the bill would increase the ranks of America’s medically uninsured more — by millions of people — cost state governments billions more and pave the way for the elimination of all protection for those with preexisting medical conditions.

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The Name of the Game is Blame

Who is to blame for the health care bill fiasco, and whose job might be in jeopardy? Not Eddie Munster’s  Paul Ryan’s, according to Chris Krueger, strategist at Cowen and Company (WSJ):

Ryan is probably safe as speaker because nobody particularly wants to be Henry VIII’s next wife.

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(The Family of Henry VIII, c. 1543-1547. Unknown artist, after Holbein.
Hampton Court Palace. © The Royal Collection.)

Cert-ifiably dead!

From BUSINESS INSIDER:

GOP leadership pulled its bill to overhaul the US healthcare system from what looked almost certain to be a failed floor vote in the House on Friday, in a blow to President Donald Trump’s agenda and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s leadership of his caucus.

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Bad Medicine

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Bush administration announced its “conscience protection” rule for the healthcare industry Thursday, giving doctors, hospitals, and even receptionists and volunteers in medical experiments the right to refuse to participate in medical care they find morally objectionable.

“This rule protects the right of medical providers to care for their patients in accord with their conscience,” said outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt.

The right-to-refuse rule includes abortion and other aspects of healthcare where moral concerns could arise, Leavitt’s office said, such as birth control, emergency contraception, in vitro fertilization, stem cell research and assisted suicide.

The rule, to be published today in the Federal Register, takes effect the day before President Bush leaves office.

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Lipstick Smears

From CBS News:

The McCain campaign jumped hard on Obama’s use of the phrase “lipstick on a pig.”

In addition to an Internet-only video, their “truth squad” quickly set up a conference call. The claim: “Obama was talking about Sarah Palin.”

Former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift, a member of the Palin Truth Squad, said: “Sen. Obama in Lebanon, Va., this evening said [what] I can only deem to be disgraceful comments, comparing Governor Palin to a pig.”

What connected Palin to the comment? They say it’s a line from her convention speech: “What’s the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick.”

The Facts: Obama had not mentioned Palin. He was focused on the central argument of his campaign: that McCain’s promise of change is hollow because his policies would be no different than President Bush’s.

I don’t know about you, kids, but I am sick of all this talk about lipstick on a pig! How about this instead…

A PIG ON LIPSTICK!

Uncle Tom’s Blabbin’

From Think Progress:

Speaking in the UK yesterday, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) [….] claimed that, under the U.S. system, “no American is denied health care”:

By the way, there’s no one denied health care in America. There are 47 million people who don’t have health insurance, but no American is denied health care in America.

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The audience, understandably, greeted DeLay’s preposterous claims with “derisive laughter,” according to the AP. A recent report showed that for the sixth straight year, jobholders continued to see a decline in employer-provided health insurance, with 38 states seeing “significant” drops in benefits offered by employers.

Observers estimate that anywhere from one to 18 percent of Americans are denied health insurance because of pre-existing health conditions. These conditions can range from heart disease to high cholesterol to yeast infections to being too skinny.

…snip…

As Michael Moore’s film “Sicko” showed so clearly, millions more Americans who have health insurance are denied the care they need due to insurers’ “cost-cutting strategies.”