Fear. Damn, I had forgotten the sound of fear. I had enjoyed the relative calm of the last 3 years. But fear was returning to the insurance business. Worse, that fear wasn’t unwarranted.
The exact wording may vary, but the clients’ questions tend to track in one of these directions:
- “I have Cancer/a Heart Condition/MS/Other pre-existing condition. Am I going to lose my health insurance?
- “Will they let me keep my health insurance, but charge so much that I will have to drop it?”
- “Am I going to lose my Medicare Supplement?”
- “Are they going to move Social Security to 69 or 70?”
You know these questions and a half a dozen more. You may have asked them yourself. The former president/presumptive Republican nominee is still campaigning to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Trump is still complaining, seven years later, about Senator John McCain saving the country. What would happen if Donald Trump was the president and the Republicans regained the majority in both the House and Senate? John McCain is gone. Would you trust your health care to Ted Cruz and J D Vance?
It would be wrong to pooh-pooh the worries of the 50 year old cancer survivor. That person, and the 54 million other non-elderly Americans with pre-existing conditions, have legitimate concerns. Most elected Republicans are happy to complain about the prices and deductibles, but no longer want to engage in discussions about repealing and replacing Obamacare. Without a viable replacement, they having decided to substitute whining for action. But there is a vocal minority within the current House majority, the ones who disposed of one Speaker of the House and are constantly threatening the current placeholder, who are still trying to impose their concept of “political purity” on their caucus and the rest of us. Thankfully they have been too fixated on Hunter Biden to have had the time to dismantle our health care system. Given another term and a different president, who knows?
Some of my clients, and yes, many of my clients are well-read and up on current events, are focused on the Supreme Court. The Roberts Court saved the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act several times. Will Texas strike again? Will this new majority, one no longer concerned with precedent or judicial restraint, protect us again? That hardly seems like a safe bet. There will be more challenges to birth control, Medicaid, Medicare, and other health related issues in the next few years. We can only guess, with Susan Collins like accuracy, how this court will rule.
There is a move to raise the Social Security age to 69. It is reasonable to believe that the same 175 members of the Republican Study Committee would also want to both privatize Medicare and to move the starting point past the current age 65. I don’t know of any of my elderly clients that would want the current Republican members of the US House of Representatives to tinker with their health care or retirement. And if they are paying attention, the 25 year olds are just as concerned. Addressing the funding and structure of our social safety net may make sense, but it is time to ask for all of the details.
It is April 2024. We have seven months until the election. There will be television ads filled with half-truths and complete lies. Our letter carriers will be forced to deliver actual junk mail. And you will receive unsolicited phone calls and texts almost daily. Heck, I get texts from Laura Trump and Don Jr. Don’t let fear get the best of you.
Dave
Picture – A Moment Of Calm – David L Cunix
Well Dave, I don’t believe Republicans are the enemy of all things good and I don’t believe Democrats are destroying our country.. Now that we’ve removed CNN and FOX news from the equation, I respect your expertise and trust you with all things when it comes to health insurance- thank you! But your politics seem to have clouded this article, and using fear to get people to agree with your political views is frankly a little disingenuous. I’m Independent and lean more left than right on most social issues. But I also listen to both sides. I don’t believe the Republicans want to “take away my healthcare and my Social Security”. I also don’t believe the current administration “hates our country and is allowing immigrants to flood our borders” in order to gain future Democrat votes… etc, etc, ad nauseam…
I would truly hate to appear that Black/White on health care or the social safety net, but I probably am, at least to a point. There were over 60 votes to repeal Obamacare without a viable replacement. That was political and irresponsible. The 2017 vote, the famous one that ended with John McCain’s thumbs down, should not have been that close. And the Republican Study Committee really did recently suggest that Social Security be moved to age 69. This blog has discussed the unrealistic rantings of Bernie Sanders and others on the far left. In 2009 through 2013, during the run up to the PPACA, this blog ticked off lots of my more liberal friends as I detailed the dangers of some of the discussed options and over-reaches of the proposed law.
I will try to find the balance between Left and Right / D and R. I certainly would welcome constructive plans, from anyone or any side, that would strengthen our system for Medicare or for those under age 65.