Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Friday, June 16, 2017

Fast-Tracking ACA Reform

I'm not sure what the most effective response to the dearth of civil, respectful political debate in our country is, but I certainly don't think the answer is to quelch all dialogue.  But that seems to be exactly what the Republican leadership in the Senate is doing with its response to the House's American Health Care Act.  As this Washington Post article reports, Senator McConnell has invoked the fast-track procedure that will bring the bill right to the floor for a vote, without any committee hearings.  The bill itself is being negotiated in private, with the expectation that it would be released within 24 hours of a vote, leaving nobody who might want to undertake a thoughtful examination of these important issues with any time to do so.  I don't pretend to understand all the details of the complexities of the ACA or its reform, but I am seeing desperate appeals from disability advocacy groups (like this from the National Down Syndrome Congress, and this from The Arc), describing the devastating effect the changes to Medicaid currently in the House bill, and likely to be in the Senate bill, will have on services to people with disabilities.  If you don't have a family member with a disability, have you heard anything at all about this aspect of ACA reform?

This really isn't any way to run a country, is it?

https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2017/06/fast-tracking-aca-reform-.html

Schiltz, Elizabeth | Permalink