Seema Verma Edges Higher in 2018 Brass Balls Sweepstakes

Bill Clark/Congressional Quarterly/Newscom via ZUMA

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Last December Republicans eliminated Obamacare’s individual mandate, which had required everyone to buy individual insurance. “By repealing the individual mandate at the heart of Obamacare,” Paul Ryan said, “we are giving back the freedom and the flexibility to buy the health care that’s right for you and your family.” However, repeal of the mandate also had a drawback. According to the CBO:

Average premiums in the nongroup market would increase by about 10 percent in most years of the decade…relative to CBO’s baseline projections.

A few weeks ago, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that restored the individual mandate for the state of New Jersey. Today, Donald Trump’s administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Seema Verma, tweeted her approval:

I know this is no longer a politically correct phrase, but can you even fathom the brass balls it takes to say this? Republicans repealed the individual mandate, which increased Obamacare premiums by about 10 percent. The Democratic governor and legislature of New Jersey restored the mandate, which eliminated the premium increase and maybe even reduced it a bit. And then the Republican CMS administrator responded by tweeting her congratulations for “addressing the failures of Obamacare.”

Brass. Fucking. Balls.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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