I’ll bet you gentlemen never thought that anyone would grab you by the genitals, but here it comes! No, I don’t mean you’re going to lose your Viagra; but your girlfriend, wife, daughter, the stranger on the street will lose her birth control pills in the new “health care” bill. Doesn’t affect you, so you don’t care? Well, unwanted pregnancies have fallen to the lowest point since Roe v. Wade was enacted because insurance companies were forced to provide for women’s reproductive care. Expect back alley and coat hanger abortions to rise because birth control pills are very expensive and the coming Supreme Court will repeal Roe v. Wade. Trump promised.
If you’re happy that “Kenyan Muslim, Not a Citizen, Barack Obama” is getting his come-uppence, you just exposed your genitals for easy grabbing. With the replacement of ObamaCare (here in Arkansas, it’s called Arkansas Works and is also known as The Affordable Care Act), you will lose. There will be no more exemptions for pre-existing conditions, no more kids staying on your policy until they are 27 and ACA insurance policy subsidies will be cut. No more low income children’s health insurance (Schip as it’s known)… Ha! Take that Hillary Clinton!
Trump has just signed an order to relieve the “burdens” of the ACA, i.e., insurance companies will be able to jack up insurance premiums because spending money on claims is a burden. Income tax credits will be issued to help pay for your medical care and Health Savings Accounts are going to be a standard. Of course, low income families don’t pay much in taxes and have no ability to save for healthcare, so these things will only help the top echelon of our society (who will receive at least $25,000 in tax breaks per year), and the rest of us better not get sick, and if we do, we need to die quickly.
Medicaid is on the chopping block. Arkansas Republicon governor Hutchison wants a Block Grant to cover this program. The beauty of a Block Grant is that it is not mandated to cover the program stated, but can be used in other areas of government, such as raising salaries for the state legislature if they so choose.
I hope you aren’t tired from many long years of hard work. Social Security eligibility will be delayed and Medicare will see significant cuts and increases in payments of Part A, B and D. Social Security Disability Insurance will be greatly reduced and Medicaid will see a cap. But hey, Trump still plans to build that wall, so you’ll have plenty of choices for low wage jobs just for the taking.
Our state will be drug testing SNAP beneficiaries, so don’t be expecting help with food, even if you are a legal medical marijuana patient; this will also apply to housing and heating help.
Privatization of the VA will offer you veterans coupons to “help” defray the costs of the healthcare you were promised for serving our country. But Trump has declared he will have military parades, just like in North Korea and Russia, so you vets should be proud of that! Because Trump’s White House website states that he is going to make our Military Great Again, you may get some new wars to fight; just don’t expect to be cared for when you get back. You won’t be thanked for your service, but you will get a coupon to help put your arms and legs back. If you come home with PTSD, don’t expect mental help or sympathy.
Trump plans to cut $1 trillion from the budget each year for the next 10 years and it won’t be in military spending, it will be in social programs. No more Big Bird, NOVA or Nature on Public Television (that is to be privatized). No more Endowments for the Arts. Our lives are expected to be ugly, brutish and short, according to the Repulicons.
The Paris Accord on stopping Climate Change will be scrapped along with programs to stop Violence Against Women, Legal Services and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (no more solar subsidies). Don’t look for any of this on the White House website; all information about climate change has been deleted. But, you can now buy Melania’s jewelry on the White House website.
He has ordered there will be no reduction in insurance premiums on FHA loans. That’s right, low income homeowners won’t be able to save that $900 a year that Obama tried to offer.
Good luck to us all.
Sheri Hanson