Wittman breaks healthcare, complains that it's broken

And proposes "solutions" that aren't

Rep. Rob Wittman is lying about healthcare - again. This one's a doozy: he's lying about why the problems exist and promoting "solutions" that will make the problems worse. We've seen this level of deceit from Wittman a few times, but even we are astounded by his brazenness here. Let's do a deep dive.

The problems he lists - rising premiums and limited options - directly result from sabotage of the ACA, executed by Wittman, Trump, Republicans broadly, and health insurance lobbyists. The Trump administration cut subsidies, eliminated the individual mandate, and expanded substandard plans.

For example, lobbyists successfully pressured Congress to reduce funding for the ACA's CO-OP program, undermining nonprofit alternatives to commercial insurers. They also fought against risk corridor payments that stabilized markets during the ACA's early years, causing many insurers to exit exchanges and reducing competition. The insurance industry opposed even modest reforms like the public option, which would have provided competition to private plans.

So the actions by Wittman and company created the very instability and rising prices he now criticizes.

Wittman's "solutions" just address symptoms of his party's ACA interference rather than root causes. He suggests short-term plans and association health plans. These circumvent ACA consumer protections, cherry-pick healthy enrollees, and raise premiums for those remaining in comprehensive coverage by 2-3%.

He promotes Direct Primary Care, and this shows cost-saving potential for employers. But the unemployed or those unable to afford membership fees are left out in the cold. The Health Reimbursement Arrangements he suggests primarily benefit higher-income individuals and lack portability. So more benefits for the wealthy while making everyone else's life harder.

What Wittman proposes would fragment risk pools, restrict access for those with pre-existing conditions, and leave millions uninsured. They represent market-based approaches that failed before the ACA's reforms and will not expand coverage or achieve substantive cost containment now.

All of this is a great example of how Republicans create problems and then demand "reform" to fix the problems they created - and the "reforms" often make the problems even worse. Wittman and Trump sabotaged the ACA to create the problems he is now using in order to justify further enriching his friends and expanding health insurance companies' profits, while not actually solving the problems at all. Do NOT be fooled! Wittman is lying to you. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.