McConnell says ACA too costly
By Rich Suwanski, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
McConnell reiterated that he's not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the health insurance package championed by President
"I felt, and members of my party (Republicans), that passing a 2,700-page bill that was funded by
McConnell said it was "entirely predictable" that there would be "significant disruption in the health insurance market since the government would now tell, in effect, insurance companies what they could sell and what they couldn't ..."
"We thought there would be increased premiums and deductibles and job loss, and that has, in fact, occurred," he said. "The
McConnell said when all of the Affordable Care Act kicks in, there will still be 30 million uninsured Americans, or about 10 million fewer than the original 40 million before the act went into effect.
"So I question the cost-ration of doing all this to achieve that," he said.
McConnell said one alternative is the single-payer, or the European, model in which there are no insurance companies and the government is the single payer.
"But not all Europeans can get in (to see a physician)," the senator said. "There are long lines, and if you're too old, or too this or too that, you don't get covered at all, so it's a trade-off."? McConnell said his solution would've been to eliminate the "50 separate silos" in which health insurance is currently sold and create a national health insurance market so that consumers could buy a policy anywhere in the country.
"Make it a totally competitive market," he said. "Think of
McConnell's two other solutions included setting a federal medical malpractice standard "to bring some sanity into the litigation," and to allow smaller businesses to band together into larger groups to "enjoy the purchasing power that comes along with bigness."
"Obamacare is the single-worst piece of legislation that's been passed in modern times," he said. "It looks like a piece of Swiss cheese with the president deciding that this group or that group gets a delay or carve-out. (The law) means what he thinks it means on a given day.
"He wouldn't be granting all these dispensations if he thought this was all working out well. His own actions underscore that it won't work, and things that don't work generally collapse in one way or another."
McConnell said that the Democrat-dominated
"It would be good for him to be challenged, but it never comes to that because the people in his party protect him," McConnell said.
McConnell noted that
"It's clearly transformed your city and I'm glad I had an opportunity to help with that," he said. "
McConnell also received an award from the
"This is our opportunity to thank
McConnell joked that it was "nice to hear somebody say something nice about me."
McConnell will return to the region Wednesday on his coal bus tour. He will be at Steve Geary's Body Shop, 201 Sycamore, in
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