White House has no answer for 7 million veterans who stand to lose health care ("get over it"??)

[Bill USA]

http://shareblue.com/white-house-has-no-answer-for-7-million-veterans-who-stand-to-lose-health-care/

Among the many other problems facing the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare, it turns out that one of their hastily-added "improvements" to the bill could leave 7 million military veterans ineligible for health care tax credits. When asked about the snafu, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had no idea what reporters were talking about.

In their desperation to gain votes for their unpopular plan to repeal Obamacare, House Republicans inserted a raft of “improvements” to the bill, including one that could harm up to 7 million veterans by making them ineligible for the bill’s tax credits.

Former Policy Advisor for the House Republican Conference under Chairman Mike Pence Chris Jacobs discovered the disastrous tweak, and described its impact:

The most recent estimates suggest about 9.1 million individuals are enrolled in VA health programs. However, a 2014 Congressional Budget Office score of veterans’ choice legislation concluded that “about 8 million [veterans] qualify to enroll in VA’s health system but have not enrolled.” Subtracting for VA enrollment gains since that CBO score leaves approximately seven million veterans eligible for, but not enrolled in, VA health programs, and thus potentially affected by the House’s “technical” change.

Will Fischer, Iraq War Veteran and Director of Government Outreach for VoteVets, slammed the plan in an email statement:

“What started as a bad bill has now turned into a grotesque Frankenstein monster, a crude and rushed patchwork of mini-bills that hurt people who can least afford it.

Now, we find out that Trumpcare will strip tax credits from potentially millions of veterans, and flood the VA with new patients at a time the VA is understaffed to handle a rush, thanks to the Donald Trump’s hiring freeze.

Since the freeze went into effect, we’ve already seen wait times lengthen; the claims backlog that President Obama had virtually eliminated, starting to grow again. This will only cause things to get worse.

We cannot put it more simply than this: Trumpcare will punish veterans. You cannot be pro-veteran and vote for Trumpcare.”

(MORE)

[Permanut]

1. As a veteran

it's mind-boggling that any military active or veteran would ever support the obergropenfuhrer, but then, I thought the same about W, who by all accounts went AWOL.

What a strange world.