Dear Editor,

So now we know that the Republican “repeal and replacement” bill is being designed in secret by 13 old rich white men in a secret room. The bill will be shown to Republican senators on Thursday, June 22, but Democratic senators will have a hard time seeing it.

What is in the bill? We obviously don’t know yet, but we can be sure that the ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions will be watered down or eliminated entirely and that the Medicaid expansion will be rolled back. The requirement that insurance companies spend at least 80 percent of premium income on patient claims will be reduced or eliminated (the insurance companies would prefer to spend as little as possible on patient care, leaving them the highest possible profits).

The insurance companies will be allowed to charge older people five times the amount of premiums that they charge younger people. Some 23 million people who currently have healthcare will lose it and all premium subsidies will be eliminated.

In short, this plan is a complete and utter disaster for average Americans. No wonder Mitch McConnell and his band of thugs don’t want anyone to know what is in this bill.

Why are they doing this you ask? Part of it is the elimination of everything Obama from the face of the earth. But the big element is the $1 trillion in savings that they will get from reducing services to the American people.

So will that $1 trillion be used to reduce or pay down the national debt you ask? No it will not! It will be used to give HUGE tax cuts to the top 1 percent of the population. This is the Republican plan and if you object you had better let your senators and representatives know, because McConnell plans to hold a vote by July 4. I have seen some dastardly acts in my life but this one is one of the worst!

Jim Porter

Danville