Senate "Healthy Tax Cut Care!"

It’s a sign of the uncertainty in health insurance right now in the United States, with insurers like Anthem unsure what the market will look like going forward. “Until there’s some certainty about what the market is going to look like, it won’t be surprising to see insurance carriers more and more saying, we don’t think we can go forward in this kind of business environment that’s very uncertain. We need some kind of certainty.’”

While around 50,000 people might not have a choice of insurers around the country, that pales in comparison to the 23 million people losing insurance if the Senate bill is passed.

And rural areas will be most negatively impacted due to the Senates changes to Medicaid:The GOP’s American Health Care Act would cut Medicaid — the public insurance program for many low-income families, children and elderly Americans, as well as people with disabilities — by as much as $834 billion.

Since 2010, at least 79 rural hospitals have closed across the country, and nearly 700 more are at risk of closing. These hospitals serve a largely older, poorer and sicker population than most hospitals, making them particularly vulnerable to changes made to Medicaid funding. And a rural hospital closure goes beyond people losing health care. Jobs, property values and even schools can suffer.

More later….

A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com