New health care bill cuts off veterans

Dear editor,

(Monday was) Memorial Day and I’m thinking about our veterans and this House health care bill. This bill does not improve Obamacare, but guts major portions of it. 

Warren Buffett, who just completed his taxes, reveals his personal tax liability would be 17 percent lower under the new GOP health care legislation. If this health care legislation had been in effect, Buffet would have received $680,000 in tax savings. Basically, most all members of Congress would get a huge tax cut. 

There could be $1.18 trillion saved over the next decade from Medicaid, which now provides health care to 74 million poor, elderly and disabled ($880 billion). In addition, $300 billion provides support for the uninsured. Rep. Matt Gaetz has said this will reduce our "crippling national debt" — or is it just a tax cut for the rich? 

House bills take 60 votes to pass the Senate. There’s a deceptive reason for the design of this House legislation. Under the rules of the “budget reconciliation bill,” it’ll only need 51 votes in the Senate to pass. Because of the deception, our veterans would also be cut off from health care credits. With 22 veteran suicides a day, this bill is heartless. 

Members of Congress exempted themselves from being covered under their own new health care legislation. If this legislation’s good enough for our citizens, shouldn’t it be good enough for them?  

Trump said that the new health care would be better than Obamacare, but for a man who doesn’t smoke, he sure had plenty of it coming out of every pore of his body. Just sayin'. 

BILL CALFEE

Milton

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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: New health care bill cuts off veterans