Trumpcare dead!? GOP has lost two more votes! Open Thread

@Gussie

This has rapidly become “a thing” up here

If that “up here” refers to Canada I’d like to mention that I live in Nova Scotia. I also can’t express just how disappointing it is that the Rt (dis)Hon. Peter MacKay is from this (general) area. It’s twice as disappointing to note that his riding kept voting the bloody bastard in even after he sold out his party!

@JS

If that “up here” refers to Canada I’d like to mention that I live in Nova Scotia. I also can’t express just how disappointing it is that the Rt (dis)Hon. Peter MacKay is from this (general) area. It’s twice as disappointing to note that his riding kept voting the bloody bastard in even after he sold out his party!

You have my deepest sympathies. Funnily enough, I’m actually set to do a cross-province road trip through Nova Scotia in August. Look forward to seeing Halifax, Sydney, Louisbourg, Annapolis Royal and all the lovely spots along the way.

I’ve actually been rather fortunate to have MPs with integrity representing me. Toronto has historically been a Liberal stronghold and I’ve lived there most of my life, but there was that year I spent in Lakefield (near Peterborough) where I was represented by convicted felon Dean “Robocalls” Del Mastro. Fun fun.

OK, so maybe I need to put together a gravatar icon, people keep mistaking me for other people.

@Jesalin
OMG that kitty is so squee!

@Diego

If memory serves me right, wasn’t she the one who was extremely hesitant over admitting whether or not she voted for the Affordable Care Act and acted as if Obama had some sort of hyper-lethal infectious disease?

I can confidently say your memory is not serving you, as Alison Lundergan Grimes has never been in a position to vote for or against the ACA. Her only public office has been Kentucky Secretary of State.

@Hambeast

I had no idea that saddle/bridle-less competition was a thing.

It’s really not. It’s just that one lady who routinely trains her reining horses to respond without a bridle. Her name is Stacy Westfall if you want to look up more videos of her doing her thing. The other competitors were doing it the usual way.

@EJ

Dressage looks pretty. How ethical is it, in animal-cruelty terms? If it’s ethical I might start watching it.

Okay, so this is a complicated subject, because dressage is not intrinsically cruel, but some people do use cruel training methods. Rollkur is frequently used by unethical dressage trainers to achieve a “look” that can otherwise only be obtained by actually putting time and effort into the horse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollkur

The technique is banned but enforcement is nigh-impossible, because it doesn’t leave marks.

Rollkur

Grrr, I hate stuff like that. There are many reasons to dislike Trump; but one of his first acts was to veto a regulation that would have banned ‘soring’. That’s where you use chemicals or devices that hurt a horse when it puts weight on its feet, so it always looks like it’s trotting in an ‘attractive’ fashion.

You may know Black Beauty was written to highlight the various abuses horses suffered; including the use of ‘bearing reins’ that force a horse to keep its head up at all times. The book actually lead to them being banned in Britain (except for legitimate medical reasons). Maybe it’s time for a spiritual sequel?

McCain has brain cancer:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/19/john-mccain-brain-cancer

Wikipedia says of glioblastoma: “The most common length of survival following diagnosis is 12 to 15 months with less than 3% to 5% of people surviving longer than five years”

Latest thing that has Hannity in a tizzy:

http://www.pushtrumpoffacliffagain.com/

That is absolutely wonderful
OMG you can make him fall into lava. Or down a manhole. Or have him get eaten by a dino.

@Jesalin & JS
Your kitties are both so cute

Took a look at this HR 2796 thing and there’s another lurking time-bomb problem with it: it looks like it would classify people (mostly female-identifying, and anatomically female) with the combination of total androgen insensitivity and a Y chromosome as “men”.

So, it could force a small fraction of women to be some sort of “transmen-by-legal-fiat” … probably the opposite of the intent of the GOP. If there’s a single thing they probably wouldn’t want to force women to do against their will, it’s “assume a male role in society”.

Pagan, the dinosaur one made me laugh so hard, I woke my dog up, who gave me a very stern look. She’s old and mostly deaf, so I must have been cackling very loudly.

Angry Since 11/09/2017

Perhaps when the GOP repeals and enough voters go without healthcare, maybe then the USA will finally see the need to join the rest of the first world countries in single payer. It seems many must die and suffer in the US for compassion to make a comeback here. It is shocking to watch the US become so cruel to the disabled, poor and needy.

I’m sorry to say that the US has always been cruel to the disabled, poor, and needy. I mean, we also do a lot too, usually as individuals and small groups. Habitat for Humanity and that sort of thing.

But the moment it touches government, “**** no! That’s commie talk! Why are we sending aid to other countries, anyway? We should be helping our own people. But don’t actually do that! They don’t deserve it. They should contact a church if they *actually* need help, or do what every worthy, smart, and hard-working American does and do whatever it takes to be wealthy. After all, this is America! Land of Opportunity! Where anyone can become fabulously middle-class.”

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@Gussie Jives
Thanks for the summary.

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The budget proposal for 2018 – holy cow, it’s bad.

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kupo

Holy crap. I thought loss of coverage was a valid reason to get an exception and be able to sign up for new insurance outside the yearly window (which, wtf even is the purpose of locking you in for a year? I thought we loved capitalism and celebrated competition or whatever?). Maybe that’s only if you lose coverage for certain approved reasons? I know when I was in college I opted to use their plan but they dropped it mid-year and I had to fill out some paperwork to get coverage through the market.

My coverage was already through the marketplace, and lost due to nonpayment, so it doesn’t count.

My mom had major surgery and I was her coach, advocate, and primary caregiver in the hospital and at home during recovery; I forgot I hadn’t paid (funnily enough, I made sure all of her bills were paid). I missed a second payment (because life, work upheaval, and bills) and had previously been told that as long as I paid sometime during the month, it was fine – this flexibility is great since one of my paychecks each month ends up essentially gone to other, non-flexible bills. So July rolls around and I get a letter (sent to my old address) that my insurance was cancelled. I realized what I thought was a one month miss was a mistake, but thought I could rectify it. “Just call and ask to get it restored,” I was told. “Happens all the time,” I was told. Yes, with other, normal insurance things. Not so with the political football of Obamacare.

JS

If it’s been more than 60 days since last coverage, and no “qualifying exceptions”, you’ll have to contact the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596. There are exceptions for complicated issues that might include what happened to you.

I apologize if this is something you’ve tried already. The online system for working out “when you can get a special enrollment period” can be wrong.

I hate the “you couldn’t afford the insurance, so we take it away until next year” issue. These things are mostly going to be for low-income people, who may not have enough money to easily be “good at finances”, and punishing them with having to deal with insurable illness at the full price is just adding insult to injury.

Thanks. Lurkers might find that info helpful too so it’s worth posting.

I called them as soon as I got off the phone with my now-ex-insurance company. The ACA guy was nice to me and wished me good luck, and encouraged me to ask for a supervisor with the insurance company to see if I work something out (they hadn’t even offered to sell me insurance outside the market; I guess they knew I wouldn’t be able to afford it). But none of the exceptions apply to me as far as we could tell (no baby, moving, etc).

Interestingly, if I could afford to move, that would qualify me again. At least I won’t have to pay the $695(!!!) penalty; my state didn’t expand Medicaid and I’m under 138% of the poverty level. I just have to fill out an extra form for the IRS. I think I’m supposed to be officially denied Medicaid though. It’s not like they don’t have my pay info and knowledge of my state’s anti-healthcare stance.
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This reminds me how my governor tried to make sure the health department was mum on Obamacare when it first rolled out. I work in public service – specifically in facilitating access to information – and it absolutely had a chilling effect, even though we have nothing to do per se with the health department or politics.

Since I was getting Obamacare too, I went out of my way to make sure there was at least some information readily available to people. I mean, you’re dealing with a required law! With penalties! And normally we’re pretty decent and sympathetic about community resources and helping the poor – but even I felt a weird uneasiness due to the official and widespread anti-ACA stance. I did personally help a lady with understanding the whole bronze/silver/etc. stuff and the trade-offs of deductible/premium/etc differences. I also directed people to actual local and over-the-phone ACA staffers.

The second year there was barely anything put out – like it didn’t exist – unlike tax season when we offer all kinds of general tax resources. They really do want to kill it, so bad. >_>

@Alan
They explained up front that they like the process to go as quickly as possible, and they’ve gotten back to me within 1-2 days on everything, so I’m planning on doing the same. I really just need to give it over night so I can make sure I’m settled.

The commute is about 1 hour total longer, but most of it on public transportation now instead of all of it driving like before, which means I can spend that time reading or listening to podcasts. Initially I thought I might be able to use my laptop but the bus to/from the interview was too crowded for that to be comfortable.