# Is Trump essentially calling the Republican bluff (ACA repeal) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 13, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060 "2017-01-13T18:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/41 "2017-01-14T20:56:02Z")
House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/42 "2017-01-14T21:25:13Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > We do. The two big things they cover that are not universally covered by the gov’t are: > > - Dental services > - Drugs plans > > There’s been talk up here on and off of switching to universal drug coverage. There are other things such as home health care (i.e. nursing), glasses, etc. that are also not covered by the gov’t. One significant correction: home health care will generally be covered, although it will depend on the province and the circumstances. In Ontario, home health care is provided by [Community Care Access Centres](http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/contact/ccac/) which operate under the Ministry of Health and provide services like nursing, personal care services, home medical equipment, and visits by dieticians and palliative care physicians. No doubt, however, private means or private insurance might provide higher levels of service. Drug coverage for most people is, as you say, provided by employer-sponsored supplementary insurance, although after one retires, provincial plans kick in. In Ontario, this covers everything in the formulary after a $100 annual deductible – one of the very few cases where a deductible applies to anything medical, although that is waived for those of low income. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/43 "2017-01-14T21:30:36Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. Well, I was fooled by the complete lack of content. I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/44 "2017-01-14T21:52:49Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Sure, but they’re puny little critters, nibbling on nuts and berrys. Not big healthy carnivores like we got. **Luci,** you are a continual delight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/45 "2017-01-14T22:08:53Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. > [@](#): > > …paves the way for eliminating\* senseless regulations. awww that’s nice. I found the words in large white letters reassuring. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/46 "2017-01-14T22:11:49Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. Punchline to old joke: “The Microsoft guy just sits on the bed and tells you how great it will be when it gets here.” Fud-a-bump, _ting!_. (aside to **NP** : I am blushing modestly. I know you can’t see me, just take my word for it.) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/47 "2017-01-14T23:12:46Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. After watching that, I wonder how many of those scenes were stock footage? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/48 "2017-01-14T23:46:50Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > After watching that, I wonder how many of those scenes were stock footage? No doubt all of them. Too bad they didn’t include any [Vancouver skyline.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/marco-rubio-campaign-ad-vancouver-1.3449589) ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/49 "2017-01-14T23:53:50Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. After watching the video, I will take the bold stance … of favoring all those things. It sounds better in every way. I’m for that. Although, I was a bit hoping for betterer. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/50 "2017-01-15T00:02:36Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. Ah, yes, the old canard about “more choices”. And lower costs, too – imagine that! Which means you get the “choice” of a crappy health care plan that will be cheap and will weasel out of coverage just when it you need it most, because the “choice” you made is right there in black and white on the contract you signed that has just become either a route to bankruptcy or a death warrant, or maybe both. Hey, Republican assholes, here’s the “choice” that the people in every civilized country in the world have made: they’ve chosen a health care system that will take care of them when they get sick, unconditionally. There’s really not a lot more “choice” to talk about when it comes to essential health care. And it costs on average less than half as much per person as the broken fucked-up system that you’ve been promoting for the more than half-century during which every other civilized country has moved on, just like when you opposed Medicare, because you claimed it was a communist plot that will “destroy freedom as we know it”. And for half the cost, the systems in every civilized country in the world cover everybody. But in return, Republicans, you get to have a vast network of profiteering insurance companies who regularly and routinely deny essential medical care to your fellow Americans, managing in the process to contravene Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And it only costs you twice as much to be the unique unempathetic assholes in the civilized world. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/51 "2017-01-15T00:48:40Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Trump may go down in history as the only president to be irrelevant…He’s just a sideshow: a carnival barker, and a bad joke. > [@Yllaria](#): > > Zaphod? If Trump grew a second head, maybe we’d be lucky and this one would have a brain in it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/52 "2017-01-15T00:53:10Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If Trump grew a second head, maybe we’d be lucky and this one would have a brain in it. Rosey Grier is still alive. Maybe he could loan his. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/53 "2017-01-15T01:37:54Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > House Republicans don’t want to bore you with details of [a better health care plan](https://abetterhealthcareplan.com/), so all you need to do is “Imagine…” how great it’s going to be. I think you linked to the parody version…Or can I just not tell parody from the real thing? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/54 "2017-01-15T02:03:15Z")
> [@jshore](#): > > I think you linked to the parody version…Or can I just not tell parody from the real thing? It claims to be from The American Action Network, so I would guess legit. Wiki article [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Action_Network). ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/55 "2017-01-15T02:13:45Z")
Hmm. Found this PDF on that site - which is also known as [Trade Shows, Expositions, and fairs](http://www.freemarkethealthcare.net/default.aspx) [http://abetterhealthcareplan.net/freemarkethealthcare.pdf](http://abetterhealthcareplan.net/freemarkethealthcare.pdf) Key points are [ul] [li]Everyone is able to acquire health insurance at a low market-driven rate.[/li][li]Everyone is able to manage and make their own healthcare decisions within the healthcare services marketplace.[/li][li]Pre-existing conditions are nolonger a problematic consideration.[/li][li]Healthcare providers are accountable only to their patient and not to the government or insurance companies.[/li][li]Everyone chooses their own doctors, and pays the best available price.[/li][li]Insurance plans are clear and straight-forward and cost-effective.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/56 "2017-01-15T02:20:03Z")
The fourth point sounds like news-speak for “You are on your own, chump” The last 2 points are in the “and I want a pony too” territory. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/57 "2017-01-15T02:36:34Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > . . . Everyone is able to acquire health insurance at a low market-driven rate. . . . The plan is self-contradictory in the first sentence. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/58 "2017-01-15T02:38:20Z")
Yeah, the evolving document appears to have been under copyright since 1993 and it is anonymous - just a ‘contact the author’ link. Persistent though - 24 years trying to create something that has never existed - a successful free market healthcare system… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/59 "2017-01-15T04:54:47Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If Trump grew a second head, maybe we’d be lucky and this one would have a brain in it. If you had two dicks, would you be any smarter? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060/60 "2017-01-15T05:17:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Rosey Grier is still alive. Maybe he could loan his. > > 😃 Ray Milland sees what you did there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-essentially-calling-the-republican-bluff-aca-repeal/777060.md?page=4)