I did a MASSIVE amount of research today and I think I finally understand the whole picture of what’s going on.
To repeal ACA entirely without delays caused by filibusters, the Repubs would need 60 Senate seats. They have 52.
They are instead using a backdoor called budget reconciliation in which they only need 51 votes to pass new legislation, but that legislation is only allowed to touch parts of the ACA directly related to federal spending.
This will allow them to gut healthcare funding, gut subsidies that help make premiums affordable for poorer folks, gut Medicaid, and get rid of the mandate portion of the ACA. They are poised to do this right away, within days. They cannot, via this method, touch things like the preexisting conditions clause.
However, the preexisting conditions clause is entirely unsustainable without a mandate. That’s like letting you buy car insurance as soon as you get in an accident. Nobody who’s healthy will buy in, and we need their premiums to fund the system for the sick folks.
What will happen when the Repubs pass this is that healthcare will go into a flaming tailspin. They will then point and say, look at what a disaster Obamacare is. Then they hope this causes you to vote more of them in in 2018 so they can have their 60 seats to repeal the rest.
You think they give a shit about you? They’re breaking our healthcare just to prove a point.
Don’t let them get away with it.