What’s next on healthcare?/Negro League history

What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, July 19, 2017:

Many, and maybe even most Republican candidates for national office have campaigned in the last seven years by promising to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.  They did so by criticizing the mandate that all Americans were required to have health insurance, that premiums were too high, the number of insurance plans were limited and that Medicaid expansion was not sustainable financially.

Since President Trump took office with Republican majorities in the U.S. House and Senate, Republicans have worked on a few plans to repeal and replace Obamacare.  The latest, orchestrated in the Senate, was pulled earlier this week when it became evident that there weren’t enough votes to pass.

Now, Obamacare may be repealed but not replaced with another plan or allowed to continue as is.  Trump said it will collapse.

So, what happens next and what does it mean to you?  WITF’s Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen breaks it down for us on Wednesday’s Smart Talk.

Next week, the 20^thannual SABR Negro League Research Conference will be held in Harrisburg.  It will bring researchers, historians and authors from across the country and Canada to focus on baseball played by African-Americans before blacks were allowed to play Major League baseball.  Some of baseball’s best players like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell played in the Negro Leagues.  After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, only a handful got to play in the major leagues.

Ted Knorr is a local baseball historian with extensive knowledge of the Negro Leagues and one of the organizers of the conference.  He appears on Wednesday’s Smart Talk.

emails

– Republicans seem to be just discovering that it’s a whole lot harder to actually govern, instead of just saying “NO!” The repeal vote during the Obama administration was a free vote. easy. Now they must govern.   President Trump says he and republicans won’t own the collapse of Obamacare. He forgets that he and they have all the power. Yes, he will own the collapse if it happens, especially if he withholds the payments to insurance companies.    – Steve

– I do wish “someone” would remind healthy, young people that they may not need insurance immediately but I’ll bet their parents do. And if their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents can’t afford insurance and end up with high medical bills many of their children (the young people who chose not to participate in the insurance marketplace) would be need to help out financially. We’re all in this together whether it’s paying for our own medical care or caring for other family members.                                                          – Megan

– Wouldn’t withdrawal of CSRs constitute illegal action on the government’s part?    – Alison