Gratuitously Cruel and Unusual

As the Speaker of the House tries to push the trainwreck also known as the ACHA across the finish line so he can dump the whole mess in the Senate's lap, the sweeteners he is using to entice reluctant members of his caucus to vote for it make it even crueler than the original.  As Kevin Drum points out, there are certain minimum benefits virtually every insurance policy must cover, such as hospital visits, routine doctor visits, mental health care, etc.  What the republicans are doing is knocking many of these benefits off the requirements.  What they will eventually reach is a mandate for a policy which covers nothing.  Insurance companies will then charge consumers whatever tax credits the republicans leave in the legislation for a policy that covers nothing.  Drum estimates up to 30 million Americans could wind up with policies paid for by the government by which cover nothing.  Great job.  States like New York, which stands to lose up to 7 billion under the new Medicaid rules would have to raise taxes up to 10% across the board to make up for the shortfall.  The legislation is not only cruel, but stupid as well.  If this is the best the GOP can do after 8 years of fulminating about the evils of Obamacare I fear for the future of the two party system.