Our U.S. Congress should start right now on a repeal and replacement of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Call the replacement the Trump Actually Cares Outré Act (TACO Act), designed to actually provide affordable health care to more Americans than our current ACA. Several of the major components of the TACO Act could be: mandatory participation by all 50 states in Medicaid expansion; allow drug price negotiation for all government health programs; and allow for the current ACA health care insurance subsidies to slide up higher into the middle class.

It’s plain to see that the Republican AHCA is experiencing the same fate as the Republican Muslim Ban 1.0; and making minor changes around the edges to make it politically digestible for Republicans is not going to change the fact that it will be a huge step backward in terms of numbers of Americans unable to afford health care insurance. Really, it’s time for partisanship to fall aside so that something better can result. Who knows, maybe we could even end up with the TACO Supreme Act (single payer).

ANTHONY SEMAN

Coeur d’Alene