The news is full of all kinds of reports on what’s in and not in the proposed GOP healthcare plan which Republicans hope will replace Obamacare. Realize that most of the reports the public are hearing or reading are coming from ultra-liberal mainstream media outlets who are bent on destroying everything done by conservatives, Republicans and the Trump administration.
The relationship between liberals (mainstream media and Democrats) and conservatives (Republicans and Christians) has been described in terms generally used in divorce cases – IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES.
The American Culture & Faith Institute conducted a survey which clearly displays the deep divide between the two warring political factions in our nation. One interesting facet of the survey is that the single most important issue causing the irreconcilable differences between the two political worldviews has to do with one’s worldview of God.
In the survey, WORLDVIEW SURVEY REVEALS “IRRECONCILABLE” DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS, they asked 20 key questions. Their report states:
Drawing from a nationwide survey of adults that measured how many people have a biblical worldview, the research discovered that people who are politically conservative are more than twice as likely as those who are politically liberal to have biblical positions on the twenty belief indicators tested by ACFI. In addition, the survey found that political conservatives are about 60% more likely to hold biblical positions on those indicators than are those who qualify as politically moderate.
There were 15 belief statements among the 20 included in the survey for which conservatives were substantially more likely than liberals to hold a biblical point of view – that is, a difference between the two groups of at least 25 percentage points. Those included the following differences:
- Saying that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who still rules it today (a 43 percentage point difference between the two segments)
- Strongly agreeing that the main purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God (40-point gap)
- Asserting that everyone is a sinner in need of a savior, repentance and forgiveness (39-point difference)
- Believing that the Bible is the word of God, with no errors (38-point gap)
- Strongly disagreeing that Satan does not exist but is just a symbol of evil (36-point gap)
- Saying that God created human beings in what is pretty much their present form, just as the Bible says (34-point difference)
- Strongly agreeing that the Bible is totally accurate in the life principles it conveys (33-point gap)
- Believing that God is aware of everything happening and remains actively involved in peoples’ lives (33-point difference)
- Believing that the Bible is the most reliable source of absolute moral truth (32-point gap)
- Believing that the most important indicator of personal success in life is one’s commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
- Believing that success is best indicated by commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
- Firmly asserting that their religious faith is very important to them (31-point gap)
- Contending that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging (30-point difference)
- Saying it is very important to be engaged in developing a deeper relationship with God (27-point difference)
- Saying it is very important to increase their personal understanding of God’s ways, as described in the Bible (27-point gap)
As the report stated:
“The ACFI survey revealed that the link between ideology and beliefs helps explain the recent election results. ‘Election surveys have pointed out how significant people’s candidate preference in the presidential race was to their hopes for the future,’ said Barna. ‘In that light, the Worldview Measurement Project surveys demonstrate the power of worldview, even in elections. Among all adults, those with a biblical worldview were more likely to vote than were those who did not. That is because a biblical worldview informs people that participating in the direction and leadership of society is a personal duty. Further, among voters who have a biblical worldview, 68% voted for Donald Trump and 27% voted for Hillary Clinton. Their primary motivation had to do with restoring traditional moral values. Among voters who do not have a biblical worldview, Mrs. Clinton held a 47% to 44% edge. She was the preference of those without a biblical worldview primarily in the hope of adopting more postmodern values’.”
It also explains why so many liberals are up in arms over everything President Donald Trump says and does. It often has nothing to do with what he actually does or says, but has everything to do with the irreconcilable differences between the two political factions, and until something breaks this deeply divided feud, nothing will ever be accomplished without major turmoil, bickering and lawsuits.
Knowing this, then realize that at this point, many of the details of the GOP healthcare plan are known, many are not and most could be in a state of flux and subject to change. However, here are several key points to report at this early stage:
1) The insurance mandate that penalized taxpayers from not having healthcare insurance goes away.
2) Instead of federal subsidies, individuals may qualify for ‘advanceable’ tax credits to help in the purchase of healthcare insurance. The tax credit amounts will generally range from $2,000 to $4,000 a year for lower and middle income families, depending on income, family size and age. Many critics say that the replacement of subsidies with the tax credits will leave millions of lower class and elderly people without healthcare due to the costs.
3) Pre-existing medical conditions will still coverable, but like Obamacare, nothing in the new plan says the coverage for pre-existing conditions will be affordable.
4) A broader selection of different types of policies will be available, including catastrophic policies.
5) Children up to the age of 26 will be allowed to remain under their parent’s healthcare policy.
6) Although Medicaid may first expand, it will eventually be reduced.
7) Most of the hidden and not-hidden taxes invoked by the Affordable Healthcare Act will be repealed. Some of those taxes involved prescriptions, over the counter medications, medical devices, etc.
8) The coverage for the ten essential healthcare benefits outlined in Obamacare will still be required. However, after December 31, 2019, those essential benefits will no longer be required in all policies, but will still be available depending on the needs of the policy holder. How this may help is an older couple will no longer have to pay for maternity or contraceptive coverages they no longer need, now will individuals be forced to pay for state Medicaid coverage they don’t need.
9) Under Obamacare, tax-exempt health savings accounts were capped at a maximum of $3,400 for individuals and $6,750 for families. The new limits would be raised to $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families.
One thing to consider with all the hype thrown at Obamacare and the GOP replacement healthcare is that it really only effects less than 10% of the entire US population. One report says that only 7% of the American population purchases their own healthcare insurance. Based on the population clock kept by the US Census, the current population is approximately 324.67 million meaning that only around 22.7 million are actually affected by the biggest story in the media. If you’re one of those, then it is a big deal and you’ll want to follow along and learn as much as possible of what kind of coverage you’ll get and how much it will cost you.
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