Barr backs the wealthy

U.S. Rep. Andy Barr proudly voted for the new GOP health care bill. He says it is a return to patient-centered care. The GOP claims it will lower premiums and widen access, but they don’t know because they didn’t wait for their changes to be analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office.

The actual purpose of the new bill is to restrict coverage to only worthy individuals, those who don’t get sick or who can afford the premiums. The Republicans are defining pregnancy and birth defects as pre-existing, while at the same time defunding Planned Parenthood and access to birth control. They are lowering dramatically the lifetime cap for coverage.

There is no longer a mandate to carry insurance, but we sure will be penalized if we do not maintain continuous coverage. And those penalties will make the mandate look like pocket change.

This bill has penalties that will force us to choose an inferior product to benefit the insurance companies and the wealthy, who will be the only ones who can afford it.

Barr says he is doing this to represent those who elected him. He never says residents of the Sixth District. He means Wall Street bankers and the Koch brothers’ PACs.

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Barr backs the wealthy."