Republicans say they’ll protect you if you have a pre-existing condition. Don’t believe it.; Washington Post, 1/13/17

Paul Waldman, Washington Post; Republicans say they’ll protect you if you have a pre-existing condition. Don’t believe it.

"Here’s a list of some things that will return once they repeal the ACA:

• The application process for insurance will become much more cumbersome and onerous.
• Insurers will be able to charge people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums.
• Insurers will be able to impose yearly and lifetime limits on benefits, which affects people who have serious illnesses or accidents. This could apply to those with good employer-provided coverage as well as those who buy on the individual market.
• “Job lock,” in which people are afraid to leave their job and do something like start a new business for fear of losing the insurance they have, will return.
• Insurers will be able to charge women higher premiums than men, because they consider being a woman to be a pre-existing condition.
• Insurers will be able to rescind coverage when you get sick.

All of that was eliminated by the ACA. It’s possible that in their replacement plan Republicans might take steps to retain some of what the ACA did in these areas, but right now we just don’t know.

So let’s look at what we do know."

Cancer survivor who once opposed federal health law challenges Ryan on its repeal; Washington Post, 1/14/17

Amy Goldstein, Washington Post; Cancer survivor who once opposed federal health law challenges Ryan on its repeal

"“Just like you, I was a Republican,” Jeff Jeans began. Standing on the stage, the Wisconsin congressman broke into a grin as Jeans said he had volunteered in two GOP presidential campaigns and opposed the Affordable Care Act so much that he'd told his wife he would close their business before complying with the health-care law.

But that, he said, was before he was diagnosed with a “very curable cancer” and told that, if left untreated, he had perhaps six weeks to live. Only because of an early Affordable Care Act program that offered coverage to people with preexisting medical problems, Jeans said, “I am standing here today alive.”

The speaker's smile vanished. His brow furrowed.

“Being both a small-business person and someone with preexisting conditions, I rely on the Affordable Care Act to be able to purchase my own insurance,” Jeans said. “Why would you repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement?”

Ryan went for the human touch. “First, I am glad you are standing here,” he replied. “I mean really. Seriously. Hey. No really.”

But Jeans interrupted him: “I want to thank President Obama from the bottom of my heart, because I would be dead if it weren't for him.”"