Wednesday, May 03, 2017

Rodney Davis is trying to kill us all

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote Rep. Rodney Davis with the question I didn't get to ask at his latest tele-town hall. (I guess the question about phys ed in the state public school system, from a questioner in his home town, was too important.) My question was why not create Medicare For All and cover everyone in the country?

I got a response last week. He didn't actually answer the question about why a lower-cost system that covers more people isn't on his radar. Here is the relevant portion of the letter:

I believe we must pass healthcare reform that lowers and contains health care costs. Washington needs to compromise and come together to fix the disaster that is Obamacare and our flawed health care system. I support solutions that would implement meaningful medical malpractice reform and increase competition by allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines. I also support expanding access to Health Savings Accounts that individuals can use on their health expenses. Furthermore, we can protect those with pre-existing conditions by strengthening state-based risk pools

It's that last bolded section I wanted to point out. Davis has previously suggested he's in favor of keeping the ban on preexisting conditions, even introducing a pointless bill to ban them that died in committee. He never talks about health care for long without pointing out that his wife is a cancer survivor.

This passage says to me that Davis is abandoning all that in favor of the GOP "Better Way" plan to allow insurers to kick people with preexisting conditions off their insurance and onto state-run, high-risk pools.

High-risk pools are a great idea for insurance company profits but a terrible idea for health care. They're expensive, costing up to 150% of average premiums and had high deductibles and co-pays.

But it gets even worse, consider that combined with the ability to "purchase insurance across state lines." What that really means is that an insurance company can sell you a plan that doesn't meet your state's minimum coverage, but of the state they're headquartered in. That's going to create a race to the bottom where insurance companies flee to the states with the least amount of required care and the most protections for their bottom line.

So Rodney Davis trying to give us not only insurance that can force us off it if we get sick, but it will be the worst of any state in the country.

Oh, and he and his wife will be exempt.