A Nice Place To Visit

Hello Dear Readers!

These are indeed interesting times.

There are elections in France, upcoming elections in the UK, the continuing tensions with Russia, China and the US over Syria and all the while a seemingly unstoppable lurch to the right in countries throughout the world.

And then there’s the seemingly small matter of ‘Trumpcare’.

In At Number Ten

Now, as you may or my not know, I’m not American. My main concern at the moment is the increasingly likely spectre of the Conservative party getting four more years to underfund and undermine The NHS, Social Care, and pretty much any public service you can name, in favour of tax cuts to the most well off. Yeah, you might just pick up that I’m not their greatest fan.

So why, you may ask, have I chosen to focus this week on affairs across the pond?

Well since the rise of President Trump and the Republicans (why does that sound so much like a pop group from the seventies?), I think it’s quite natural to direct one’s attention in that direction. It seems like barely a day goes by without his name cropping up in the news or social media  in connection to some unfortunate remark, some, um, misunderstanding, some epic tweetstorm, or some gap in the knowledge you might expect from one of the most powerful individuals in the world. It’s the kind of thing that makes one sit up and take notice.

The Whole Tooth

So, when, earlier this year, Mr Trump announced he would be repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act put into place by his predecessor Barak Obama it was something I had a close look at. That look made me very glad that, in the face of embarrassing defeat, the president and his team decided to pull it. When it resurfaced this last week and actually managed to get through Congress, well that really got my attention.

The timing of the announcement really couldn’t have come at a more apt time. My wonderful wife, Tina, is having trouble once again with the left hip that has caused her continuous pain and issues with her mobility since suffering a neurological stroke last year. This was alleviated around six months ago with the administration of a steroid injection.

 It really was a miraculous thing (in the strictly secular sense) and meant that a limb that had been dragging and twisting since her hospitalisation was, within 24 hours, capable of a few moments of can-can. Sadly this was without the frilly skirt, stockings or suspenders but then you can’t have everything. On top of this a wisdom tooth has decided that it wants out, and has unhelpfully decided to cause an abscess in doing so. Emergency dentist here we come!

Over The Limit

Now here in the Motherland the good news is that these two treatments are free at the point of delivery, or, in the case of the emergency dentist, available for only a small fee (Tina not being registered with a dentist.) This is due to the NHS, something I’ve blogged about before (see here) and which is one (but only one) of the main reasons I hope that the general election in early June will see the end of May.

In the US it is of course a different story and the treatment would a matter for the  insurance companies making healthcare a luxury that neither of us would be likely to be able to afford. You see both myself and my beloved have what I believe are called pre-existing conditions. I was born with Spina Bifida (see here) whilst Tina suffers from Hypothyroidism. Now, as far as I can glean from the minutiae of the new legislation this would mean that, although insurance companies would not be able to turn us away from their coverage they could (and most probably would) charge us exorbitant fees for being covered.

What this means, in a nutshell, is that there may well be a growing number of American citizens for whom health insurance is an unaffordable luxury, and these are likely to be just the people who are more likely to need it. When it’s a decision between food on the table and having the insurance to take care of your chronic condition then the term ‘life limiting illness’ suddenly takes on a whole new meaning.

One Billion Dollars!

Back when the bill was first presented, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that if the ACA continues to be the law of the land, the number of uninsured Americans – currently 28 million would rise steeply to a whopping 54 million. There has been a little re jigging of the new legislation in order to get it through congress and the addition of $88 billion worth of subsidies to those with pre-existing conditions since then. It is notable though that it is unclear to whom this would be payable. It’s also, when shared out between those affected, not as much as you might think.

To put the cherry on this rather horrific cake the term ‘pre-existing conditions’ has in the past included rape, domestic abuse, post-partum depression, caesarian sections and prior childbirth. Insurance companies have also been known to increase premiums for rape and domestic violence victims. As the protection against this would be removed under the new bill it seems that Trumpcare will be particularly tough on American women.

The American Bad Dream

I know I hail from different shores. I know I lean to the left (politically, not just because my right legs is three inches longer) but I can’t be alone in recognising the horror implicit in this. It seems that, as a consequence of chasing the ideological dream of rugged individuality, of conjuring up images of apple pie and check shirt wearing cowboys, possibly sat in a fifties style diner whilst polishing a .45, America is being duped into putting the interests of big business ahead of the well being; of those tired, poor, and huddled masses it once asked to be given.

The bill is still to pass Senate and be enacted into law, and I hope there is still time for it not to do so. Whilst the spectre remains however, America remains as it always was for me, a nice place to visit... But I wouldn’t want to live there.

Until next time...