Running on a promise to repeal and replace the ACA (also know as Obamacare) in 2010, Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives. They said they had a plan to “repeal and replace” the ACA. They were lying!

In 2014, Republicans gained control of the Senate and maintained control of the House. They said they had a plan to “repeal and replace the ACA.” Again they lied!

The Republicans have now voted more than 50 times to eliminate the ACA at a cost of (according to CBS) $1.5 million per vote. What could Congress have done for our country with that totally squandered money?

In seven years the Republicans have not come up with a plan! Now it is rumored that they want to keep two parts of the ACA plan (1) Freedom from pre-existing conditions (2) Your son or daughter may stay on your insurance until age 25. Republicans cannot keep that promise unless the insurance companies agree with them. Insurance companies are just one of the entities that line congressional pockets with money. Who do you think they will heed, us or the insurance CEOs?

Here in 2017, the same Republicans (who now have total control of Congress) are afraid to follow through because they still have no replacement plan and they may face a backlash in 2018. Good luck with that!

I hear many Republicans say, “I just do not want to pay for someone else’s health care.” You WILL PAY!

My husband and I have had the same health insurance for 54 years and the premiums and deductibles increase yearly. The past two years have been the smallest increases ever and we attribute that to the ACA because more are insured which reduces our cost.

This is a subject I do know something about. As a registered nurse (retired), I have seen what happens to patients who cannot afford to see a doctor when they have a minor health problem which becomes a major problem. It sends them to the ER in distress. Here are some stats from one hospital chosen at random:

At Grand Lake Health System in Ohio, an emergency room doctor charges about $100 for basic care, such as a wound recheck or simple laceration repair; about $300 for mid-level care, such as treatment for a simple fracture; about $870 for advanced level care such as frequent monitoring of vital signs and ordering multiple diagnostic tests, administering sedation or a blood transfusion for a seriously injured or ill patient; and about $1,450 for critical care, such as major trauma care or major burn care that would include chest tube insertion and management of IV medications and ventilator for a patient with a complex, life-threatening condition. At the Kettering Health Network in Ohio, a low-level visit costs about $350, a high-level visit costs about $2,000 and critical care costs almost $1,700 for the first hour and $460 for each additional half hour; ER procedures or surgeries cost $460-$2,300.

Who do you think is going to pay for this for the uninsured? Not Congress (whose health care we taxpayers support). No, YOU the taxpayer will pay! Just as we did before the ACA went into effect.

We, the insured, pay for the poor and the wealthy. I do have one example. This actually happened. When I worked at a hospital in Washington state, a well-known businessman was admitted to my unit with an MI (myocardial infarction.) The social service employee gave this man the info he needed to dissolve his partnership with his brother (do not know if they had insurance for the business) but then, as an unemployed person, he was eligible for welfare to pay his bills. The rules are made for the wealthy, by the wealthy. There is always a way for those with means to work the system they created.

Just the other day, I read tweets online from some of Trump’s voters, begging him not to drop them from their health insurance with the ACA. This just reinforced for me how dumb some of his supporters actually are. Were they living under a rock? Did they not listen to any news for the last seven years? When someone tells you who they are, then believe it! And be careful what you wish for because you just may get it. Then what will you do?

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Sandra Boynton is a Rathdrum resident.