September 18, 2013

GOP Unveils Yet Another Health Care Non-Plan


Ed Kilgore previews today’s release of a shiny new Republican healthcare plan to replace Obamacare:

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

WORLD EXCLUSIVE MUST CREDIT POLITICAL ANIMAL

Through carefully cultivated sources in my own cerebellum, I’m able to reveal the mysterious House conservative health care plan:

High-risk pools, HSAs, tax credits, interstate insurance sales, “tort reform,” “entitlement reform.”

OK, smartypants, let’s just compare that to reality. Here’s the actual plan:

  • Spurs competition to lower health care costs by allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines….
  • Reforms medical malpractice laws….
  • Provides tax reform that allows families and individuals to deduct health care costs….
  • Expands access to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)….
  • Safeguards individuals with pre-existing conditions … by bolstering state-based high risk pools….
  • Protects the unborn by ensuring no federal funding of abortions.

Hah! You didn’t mention that last one, Ed. What makes this plan unique and exciting is its ban on federal funding for abortion. Boo-yah!

Anyway, that’s it. Same old, same old. You may now go about your business and ignore the latest healthcare non-plan from conservatives, just as you can ignore the latest tax reform non-plan from conservatives. In fact, why don’t you just take the whole day off?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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