Appreciating the broad sweep of the trump attack on Obamacare requires serious reporting on the potential harm of particular GOP actions. That reporting is just starting to filter out. Trumpcare would deny mental health and Substance Abuse assistance to 1.3 million Americans.
Only just begun
Obamacare, according to a March 9 Raw Story account, had just begun dealing with opiate addiction, perhaps the most virulent and widespread example of the ravages of drugs save for alcohol. When passed it was widely acknowledged it would take years to work out any problems within Obamacare.
Now the GOP, a party that is bemoaning the growing pains of having to govern, is tearing apart a creation still in the process of formation. If governing involves listening to health and business leaders, the consensus from that quarter is that the Trump substitute is not worth considering.
Breakneck law destruction
The GOP in its hurry to repeal and replace Obamacare faces a much longer haul than at first seemed likely. Yesterday's breakneck effort by the House to railroad the measure through two committees and then through the House of Representatives belied the slowness of things on the hill.
As Thursday ended, members of Congress were openly admitting they had not read the Ryan-Trump measure.
And it appeared that the entire effort to get something passed would take at least two weeks. That provides breathing space for an opposition to form. When more and more legislators realize what the Trump measure does to persons racked by drugs and Mental illness, they may think twice. The 1.3 million are already benefitting under Obamacare.
'You don't know what you got till it's gone'
As the Republicans pushed their measure through important House Committees, they turned down all Democratic efforts to address the matter. The irony is that many states rely on Obamacare to deal with drugs and mental illness. Even President Trump has been known to bemoan what he calls "the drugs."
If there is any principle of good policy it is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Education and other forms of help like counseling and early treatment make a world of difference. Trump promises 1.3 million a world of pain.
Trumpcare yanks mental health care and substance addiction treatment from 1.3 million people https://t.co/0MQrIuVPPe pic.twitter.com/hDkMfcaghs
— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 10, 2017