Lotta ins, lotta outs

The ongoing health care controversy reminds me of a line from The Big Lebowski. But then, almost everything reminds me of a line from that move. The line is question is "This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-you's." Some of those are laid out in this story from WV Public Broadcasting.

In the latest Front Porch podcast, I gave some props to WV Senator Shelley Moore Capito for her statement on preserving coverage for her constituents in the state. I'm hoping that wasn't a case of speaking too soon. It's a bit hard to interpret her latest statement on the subject.

Worst case interpretation: she votes for a bad bill after some cosmetic changes are made to the old ones. Better case is that she really does hold out until there are guaranteed protection for things like traditional Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, CHIP and opioid treatment.

In a rational world, not that one exists anywhere near this one, there would be some bipartisan problem solving to fix the parts of the Affordable Care Act that need fixing, such as the individual market, while keeping what is working.

Recently, we interviewed several people affected by the ACA in Kanawha County WV. Some loved the coverage they had. Some hated it. All seemed to agree on this core message: "Make it better but don't take anything away."