John Oliver compared the GOPs recently unveiled Obamacare replacement plan to an unwanted Pirates of the Caribbean sequel on Sundays Last Week Tonight. The American Health Care Act: You may not have wanted it. It looks awful. But its here anyway. Try to think of it as the legislative equivalent of Pirates of the Caribbean 5: The Curse of Johnny Depp Getting Divorced and Needing the Money.
The bill faced immediate criticism from across the political spectrum, and Oliver echoed those complaints during the episodes main segment. First, he highlighted the AHCAs age-based tax credit, which would replace Obamacares income-based credit. The older you get, the more money you get, the comedian said. [But] do the size of those credits sufficiently cover the actual cost of health insurance?
In many cases, probably not, Oliver said. He displayed the Kaiser Family Foundations interactive health care map, which allows users to input sample age, income and location to determine tax credits. For example, a 60-year-old living in Woodward County, Oklahoma who would receive $13,350 under Obamacare would only earn $4,000 under the AHCA.
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That is over two-thirds less, Oliver said. And its not one of those two-thirds decreases that you barely notice, like when Robin and Barry of the Bee Gees died. Im kidding Barry is fine. Robin and Maurice are dead. Or are they? The point is, they are. Although, to be fair, I have no idea. You dont either, and I dont see either of us Googling it anytime soon.
Oliver also observed the bills really vicious changes to Medicaid. One estimate, by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, found that the plan would cut at least $370 billion in funding over the next 10 years. What that means is that states would have to make up that gap to maintain current levels of coverage, which for many of them will be next to impossible, he said. So when they dont, millions of the poorest Americans will lose coverage. And I literally just heard [Paul] Ryan getting another erection as I said those words.
An estimated 15 million Americanscould lose coverage under the bill, while the top one percent of wealthiest Americans would receive massive tax credits. This plan is literally taking money from the poor and giving it to the very rich, Oliver cracked. Its essentially a reverse Bernie Sanders, which is actually also the name of a sex act consisting of very aggressive fingering.
Despite the widespread debate, President Trump has remained largely quiet about AHCA. Trump is not clamoring to put his name on this bill, Oliver said, and he has put his name on some of the shittiest products in human history.
In an effort to educate the president,Last Week Tonight recruited their old friend Catheter Cowboy for another television ad, set to air during Trumps beloved Fox & Friends Wednesday morning in the Washington D.C area. If my premiums go up and subsidies go down, Im gonna wind up paying more If that happens, millions of folks like me might get real angry, which is worth thinking about if youre the sort of person who really likes being popular.