The GOP Plans To Replace Obamacare With…Tort Reform?! (VIDEO)

Ever since the passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act (ACA), which is more popularly known as Obamacare, Republicans have been eager to eradicate the law which allows tens of millions of Americans to afford health insurance for themselves and their families. And now, with the House, Senate, and White House under GOP control, they are closer than ever to realizing their dream of repealing the ACA.

But what exactly will replace Obamacare? Based on what California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa said today on CNN’s State of the Union, it would appear the GOP will attempt the old bait and switch, using tort reform as a substitute for affordable health care.

The debate began with Delaware Democratic Representative-elect Lisa Blunt Rochester noting that a large number of her constituents rely on insurance through the health care exchange:

“I talked to a lot of people in my state. And everybody agreed that no law is perfect. But to the extent that we’ve touched every single American, everything from dealing with pre-existing conditions to discriminating against women for your coverage to your children who are 26 years or under being able to covered, there are so many good things. And what I would hope is that we would come together and say, ‘Okay, what are things that we can agree on?’”

Issa then asserted that federal subsidies for health care are the first thing he wants to see eliminated, even though they allow millions to afford insurance:

“Look at the cost drivers. Senator Feinstein, the senior senator from my state, has for a long time championed various forms of tort reform — this is a Democrat. Tort reform that will help stop the kind of excess medicine that drives up the cost of health care.”

Great, so you lose your insurance, but the GOP gives you tort reform like that’s going to help pay for you to go to the doctor or afford your medication.

Blunt Rochester was not the least bit convinced by Issa, telling him:

“I hope that we will come up with the solutions before we try to get rid of something that will impact all Americans. I think it would be malpractice, pun intended.”

Oh, and there’s this bit of factual material for Congressman Issa: A 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that “excess medicine” accounts for no more than 2% to 3% of health care costs in the U.S. So perhaps the Congressman should pull his head out of his ass and try a better lie before he goes off the deep end and rips away life-saving care from millions of Americans.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

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