By DONALD THOMPSON
NASHVILLE –
Senate Democrats were outraged tonight by the newest proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, by Sen Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.
“Well, we have extraordinary amounts of waste and emergency care abuse in the current medical system, and we also have a surplus of poorly used state-owned school buildings, which are perfectly suited to be transformed into ERs. Common-sense reforms that utilize such public assets efficiently as emergency rooms for the uninsured would simply save taxpayer dollars, while also helping Tennessee’s most vulnerable health care consumers,” the senator was quoted as saying at a press conference outside of the state capitol Saturday night.
The bill, derided by critics as “The Doggy Daycare for the Dying Bill”, includes an increase in immigrant work visas for veterinary technicians to staff the new ERs for the uninsured. Defending the proposal, Alexander asked, “Do we believe in free markets, or do we support protectionism? I, for one, prefer freedom.”
Channel 22 News will update this story as it unfolds.