Obamacare Repeal

I am certain that other things are going on and I even hear whispers about them, but really it is all Obamacare Repeal all day, every day right now. The U.S. House of Representatives apparently voted for repeal in the wee hours last night, without a replacement plan. A recent poll showed only 18% favor repeal without replace. My grandma-in-law is among them but almost no one else is, according a Facebook post she re-shared without adding her own commentary.

Personal testimonials to Obamacare's usefulness are popping up on my Facebook feed. Owen Barney Good III, a friend of friends, writes:

If the ACA (Obamacare) is quashed I will have to keep my job for as long as I'm alive. I'm insured here, but will not be able to get insurance once I decide I want to retire. I have a pre-existing condition. I will have to work 40-hours a week while on dialysis until I die. #saveobamacare".  

People are commenting with their own testimonies about expensive prescriptions they require due to epilepsy, osteoporosis. People are really worried.

I think there may be denial among people like me who are less directly impacted by Obamacare/ACA about how helpful it has been for people and how bad repeal might be. I see posts like Owen's and even a part of me seems to believe, "there can't really be NO other option for them, right? There has to be SOME solution." I should know better.

Al Franken is going to vote against Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.

Cory Booker posted on Facebook in defense of his vote against the Sanders/Klobuchar amendment to import drugs from Canada. He states:

Any plan to allow the importation of prescription medications should also include consumer protections that ensure that the drugs coming into this country are safe. The amendment I voted against last week didn't meet this test. 

Public health leaders have long-stressed the need for strong safety standards coupled with any drug importation plan – everyone from commissioners, top officials, and researchers at the FDA to HHS secretaries under Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton.
Please know how committed I am to finding solutions ‎to the problem of skyrocketing drug prices – it’s a problem I’ve been working to alleviate for years. This is a life-or-death issue for millions of families, particularly seniors and those struggling with chronic health conditions like diabetes or asthma. This is a crisis for countless American families, and it is stretching them to the breaking point.  

That’s why as mayor of Newark, I brought clinics, nonprofits, and drug companies to the table and developed a free drug discount card program that aimed to cut drug costs for under- and un-insured residents of our city. 

It’s why I voted this week for measures that bring drug prices down and protect Medicare's prescription drug benefit.

The most-liked comment in reply, currently with over 2800 "likes," reads:

*checks to see if people are dying at alarming rates in Canada because of unsafe prescription drugs*
Gonna call bullshit on this one Corey.