Elections
Dems waste time with symbolic abortion protection bills that stand no chance
The “vote was largely symbolic as two bills stand all but no chance of overcoming Republican opposition in the evenly-divided Senate” reports The Guardian following Democrats approving legislation to protect abortion access nationwide.
On Friday, the House of Representatives approved the two pieces of legislation as a first step in an attempt to respond to the supreme court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Guardian reports of the two bills:
One would protect the right to travel across state lines for abortion services, a new flashpoint in the debate as anti-abortion groups push legislation that would block women from traveling out-of-state. That passed the House by 223 votes to 205 no votes.
The measure would also shield healthcare providers who perform abortions on out-of-state patients from legal repercussions.
The other bill, a version of which already passed the House last year, would establish abortion rights in federal law, effectively overturning a flurry of state restrictions and bans and giving a national legislative underpinning to a federal right that had been dictated by the court.
The measure would guarantee abortion access until fetal viability, the point at which a human fetus is widely deemed able to survive outsidethe uterus, roughly considered to be around 24 weeks, or after that point if the mother’s health or life are at risk. It passed by 219 yes votes to 210 no votes.
It would also prohibit what its authors say are medically unnecessary restrictions designed to restrict abortion access under the guise of protecting women’s health.
Because Democrats have virtually no chance of receiving the 60 votes needed to move legislation forward in the Senate, the move is a play to hope pro-choice Americans vote for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters, “We must ensure that the American people remember in November,” Pelosi said, “because with two more Democratic senators we will be able to eliminate the filibuster when it comes to a woman’s right to choose and to make reproductive freedom the law of the land.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a longtime supporter of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is now acknowledging the unintended consequences of the healthcare legislation, particularly its impact on industry consolidation and rising healthcare prices.
Warren, who has been a vocal proponent of Obamacare, has recently had what the Wall Street Journal reported as an “epiphany” regarding the consequences of the healthcare law. In a letter addressed to the Health and Human Services Department inspector general, Warren, along with Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, expressed concerns about vertically-integrated healthcare companies potentially increasing prescription drug costs and evading federal regulations.
According to reports from Fox News, the bipartisan letter highlighted issues with the nation’s largest health insurers allegedly bypassing Obamacare’s medical loss ratio (MLR). According to Warren, these insurers, through vertical integration, have manipulated the system, leading to “sky-high prescription drug costs and excessive corporate profits.”
The senators detailed how conglomerates, like UnitedHealth Group, with ownership across various healthcare sectors, could inflate medical payments to pharmacies and, by realizing those payments on the pharmacy side, appear to comply with MLR requirements while retaining more profits.
Moreover, despite the Democrats’ argument that the MLR would benefit patients, it has incentivized insurers to merge with or acquire pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), retail and specialty pharmacies, and healthcare providers. This, in turn, has made healthcare spending less transparent, as insurers can allegedly shift profits to their affiliates by increasing reimbursements.
Warren, who has consistently voted against Obamacare repeal efforts, notably advocated for a “Medicare for All” proposal during her 2020 presidential campaign. Despite her prior support for the healthcare law, Warren’s recent concerns about its unintended consequences have raised questions about the long-term effects of Obamacare and its impact on the healthcare industry.
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