For years, Kristi Noem has been campaigning against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); primarily due to the ever increasing cost of insurance.  And now that Republicans finally have the majority to get things done, they’re squandering that opportunity by attempting to replace it with more of the same.

Health care costs were rapidly increasing even before Obamacare, and it’s the ever increasing cost of health care that is hurting South Dakotans.  Obamacare tried and failed to stem the rising cost of insurance, and I just don’t see how the Republican plan will be any different.

Veronique de Rugy wrote a piece in Reason that I believe narrows in on the real problems with health care in this country.   And if you do a Google search for “health care third party spending“,  you’ll find story after story of how our current system of third party health care spending is driving up the cost of insurance.  Unfortunately, I don’t see the Republican plan doing anything to tackle the sources of rising costs.  In their zest to repeal/replace Obamacare, they’re just replacing one turd with another.

Justin Amash of House Freedom Caucus had this to say about about the current Republican proposal, and I’d have to say that his little band of Republican troublemakers are the only ones in Congress that seem more intent on making substantive changes for the betterment of all than scoring quick political points.

As for our own Kristi Noem, she’s already indicated that she will vote for the bill.