Samantha Bee explains how Republicans are proposing to cut Medicaid, and why they shouldn't
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Last week, Senate Republicans unveiled their secret health-care plan, and "it turns out, 13 rich white guys alone in a room isn't how good legislation happens," Samantha Bee said on Wednesday's Full Frontal. "It's how Suicide Squad happens. But while Suicide Squad destroys your will to live, this bill destroys your ability to live." Especially if you rely on Medicaid, which will be cut deeply and structurally in the Senate GOP bill.
"That's not ObamaCare repeal, that's JohnsonCare repeal," Bee protested. "Please don't kill Medicaid — it's only 52 years old." Most Americans — including most Republicans — like Medicaid, she noted, adding incongruously that "a lot of Americans don't have a clear idea of what Medicaid covers," and never have. So she ran through which 20 percent of Americans use Medicaid, from children to the elderly in nursing homes. "Allowing states to cap Medicaid benefits also threatens the expensive long-term care that was so very important to Republicans back when it was keeping Terry Schiavo alive," Bee said, and if you don't get the reference, she includes footage and a cameo by Mike Pence.
Since President Trump promised not to cut Medicaid, Republicans are insisting that the $772 billion in cuts aren't actually cuts, and Kellyanne Conway's version of that argument apparently caused Bee to suffer from hallucinations. "Okay, they're not cuts, the plan just won't let Medicaid grow to keep up with medical costs and 70 million aging baby boomers who never lost their taste for pharmaceuticals," she translated. "Basically it's like telling your kid, 'We were planning on buying you new clothes as you got older, but instead we'll just have you wear the same onesie until you're 53.'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The bill is on hold, Bee noted, but it won't stay that way. There is some decidedly NSFW language and some rude jabs at Paul Ryan, but if that doesn't bother you, watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Why is the Trump administration talking about ‘Western civilization’?Talking Points Rubio says Europe, US bonded by religion and ancestry
-
Quentin Deranque: a student’s death energizes the French far rightIN THE SPOTLIGHT Reactions to the violent killing of an ultraconservative activist offer a glimpse at the culture wars roiling France ahead of next year’s elections
-
Secured vs. unsecured loans: how do they differ and which is better?the explainer They are distinguished by the level of risk and the inclusion of collateral
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
A peek inside Europe’s luxury new sleeper busThe Week Recommends Overnight service with stops across Switzerland and the Netherlands promises a comfortable no-fly adventure
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
