Wake Up and Smell the Freedom Not to Have Health Coverage

The U.S. House Republicans' super-secret Obamacare replacement is out and it's all about freedom.

Yes, if you're one of the 20 million Americans who gained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, you may soon enjoy the freedom of no longer being covered. We don't know how many people will be covered, but even Republicans acknowledge that it will be a lower number than the ACA.

As President Donald Trump finally noticed last month, health policy is kinda complicated. So it will be awhile before we know all the details of the GOP plan. But one key element to reducing coverage is that they'd end the federal funding in 2020 for states who expand Medicaid. Currently, 31 states, including Michigan, have expanded Medicaid to cover 10 million people.

That could definitely put Michigan's program in jeopardy. Gov. Rick Snyder had to fight tooth and nail with his fellow Republicans in the Legislature just to get the expansion in the first place. The Legislature has only gotten more conservative since then and Snyder is term-limited next year. It's easy to imagine a Gov. Bill Schuette, who fought Obamacare all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, joining together with GOP lawmakers to scrap Michigan's Medicaid expansion.

There are 640,000 Michiganders who now have health coverage due to the expansion — more than 6 percent of the state's population. Yanking away health insurance from them would be unnecessarily cruel. And it's not even smart economic policy. The expansion will have a $432 million impact this year, according to a University of Michigan study commissioned by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund. And that's created 30,000 jobs. Given the fact that Trump goes around irresponsibly taking credit for companies keeping a couple hundred jobs in the United States, you'd think that losing 30,000 jobs in just Michigan alone might give him pause.

There are many other ways that people could lose their health insurance under the GOP plan. Insurance subsidies for low-income people would be replaced with age-based subsidies, which would likely reduce benefits and the number of people who are insured. The New York Times reports that people with preexisting conditions "would face new uncertainties in a more deregulated insurance market." And the plan cuts off funding to Planned Parenthood.

But at least people who didn't want to buy health insurance will escape paying that freedom-sucking penalty, right? Well, yes ... but if you let your insurance coverage lap because you've changed jobs, didn't want to pay for it, etc., the GOP plan allows insurance companies to sock you with a 30 percent premium increase. That's probably going to be a much bigger hit to your wallet.

The Republican concept of freedom always seems to come with a lot of not-so fine print.

If there's one thing Americans love, it's when politicians meddle and make things worse. And they really love having things taken away from them. So this new GOP plan should really go over well.

The First Amendment is under attack in Michigan

Susan J. Demas

We all know President-Elect Donald Trump is not a big fan of the First Amendment. During the campaign, the Republican complained it has "too much protection" for free speech. He's routinely targeted journalists at rallies and on Twitter as an intimidation tactic.

After winning the election, Trump's first tweet took aim at people protesting against him, which he whined was "unfair." A few weeks later, he went even further, tweeting the threat that those who exercise their 1A right to burn the American flag could be jailed or stripped of their citizenship.

But while Trump dominates news coverage by unloading outrageous tweets and unveiling cabinet picks with reality show-style flair, the Michigan Legislature has fired a shot against the First Amendment.

Those of us in the Mitten State are used to Republicans who control state government ramming through unpopular right-wing legislation during the lame duck session. Unions are a frequent scapegoat, as we saw with the 2012 Right to Work law. 

This time around, the House has narrowly passed bills that would jack up fines on unions for "illegal" picketers (from $1,000 to $10,000 a day) and make it easier to hire replacement workers (i.e. scabs).

Using labor for political target practice is bad enough. At a time when Michigan's median income still clocks in $5,000 below what it was in 2007, it's amazing that lawmakers keep going after unions trying to win and protect fair wages. But the bills will also likely silence peaceful protests. My read of the legislation (as well as that of several lawyers) is that it's written so broadly that it could run afoul of the First Amendment.

Now that may not deter the Republican-controlled Legislature from sending this package to Gov. Rick Snyder's desk. And the governor, who's a lawyer, has a history of signing bills that experts warned were unconstitutional.

But it would really be something for a significant First Amendment challenge to originate in Michigan. And it's likely a sign of things to come in the Trump era.

Surprise! Rick Snyder makes nice with Donald Trump

A few weeks ago, I wrote a column entreating Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to stand up to Donald Trump, given his status as a businessman-turned-Rust Belt governor who preaches the virtues of civility.

While Democrats and liberal activists can be expected to do the heavy lifting when it comes to opposing the authoritarian elements of Trump's presidency, it's vital to have as many conservative and Republican voices as possible join in. For starters, this supersedes ideology. And historically, bipartisan movements are taken more seriously by the public and the media.

Here's part of my argument:

You may not have liked what President Hillary Clinton may have wrought in terms of taxes and regulation, but I believe you stay up at night wondering what President Trump will do with the nuclear codes.

Warning signs abound. The president-elect’s chief White House adviser is Steve Bannon, who runs the white nationalist website, Breitbart.com (which is primed to become some sort of state-run media a la Pravda). Trump refuses to set up a blind trust for his far-reaching business interests, instead saying he’ll turn them over to his children (who may have access to state secrets). And he’s playing footsie with Vladimir Putin on the national stage already.

None of these are partisan issues. These are all red flags about how our republic will function.

I got some pushback from readers for my alleged naiveté, mostly coming from those unfamiliar with my frequent criticism of Snyder over the Flint water crisis, Right to Work, child poverty, LGBT rights and much more. And no, I didn't believe my column would have any impact, as I indicated in the column itself:

Of course, I’m not the right person to ask this of you. It should be the Detroit News’ Nolan Finley or better yet, a Republican colleague. I’ve been one of your fiercest critics over Right to Work and the Flint Water crisis. I’m probably about as popular in your inner circle as I was with that of your predecessor, Jennifer Granholm.

And even if you were to vocally oppose Trump, I wouldn’t stop holding your feet to the fire over your policies in Michigan. Neither will my colleagues. It doesn’t work that way. So this is all probably sounding like a terrific proposition for you.

I doubt the governor reads me or cares what I think. But it was worth a shot. And sometimes it's important to put things on the record.

So last week, Snyder did exactly what you'd expect, declaring that he looks "forward to building a relationship" with Trump. That's quite the change from his October take, when he called Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" remarks "revolting and disgusting." Time heals all wounds, I guess. 

The governor even went so far as to defend Trump in a tweet Monday against the Green Party's attempt to get a recount in Michigan. 

So Rick Snyder is who he's always been: A Republican who feigns moderation, but has repeatedly proven to be unwilling or unable to stand up to the extremist elements of his party.

I'm not surprised. I just remain very, very disappointed. 

Susan J. Demas is Publisher and Editor of Inside Michigan Politics, a nationally acclaimed, biweekly political newsletter. Her political columns can be found at SusanJDemas.com. Follow her on Twitter here.