UPDATE:
Tonight, Senator John McCain is a hero. He was the third vote, with Senators Collins and Murkowski to kill the skinny bill.
I don't know what happens next.
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All eight pages of the Trojan Horse "Health Care Freedom Act" have been published.
I could tell you what's in them, but the thing is, Senators don't want this to become law. They don't want the House to rubber-stamp this. This is just a placeholder to send over to the House so they can convene a conference committee, which will surely fail.
And when it fails, this will pass. So I guess that means you should know what's in it.
- Repeals individual mandate, effective January 1, 2016.
- Allows some tinkering by states to Essential Health Benefits
- Repeals device tax
- Defunds Planned Parenthood
- Raises limits to Health Savings Accounts
This bill will immediately increase premiums by 20 percent across the whole marketplace -- not just individual but also employer markets. It will also take away access for 16-17 million people.
I'm afraid (as are many of the health care experts I follow) that this will pass. I will update this post with more as it's available.
