Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

By Britt Nelson

So far the explainers have yet to explain much about President Donald Trump’s new American Health Care Act to replace President Obama’s Affordable Care Act AKA ObamaCare. The explanations from Republicans are vague and difficult to understand and of course the Democrats are pushing back at every turn. Pro and con seem to be divided along party lines. The easiest of questions are not being answered, not yet.

As the healthcare issue is debated in the U.S. Congress, the present AHCA bill before the U.S. House more than likely will not be the same bill that finally passes both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Trump. This AHCA is evolving with each passing day as this issue comes to the forefront. The U.S. Congress is holding marathon sessions drafting the new healthcare care bill. But lawmakers are not explaining President Trump’s promised replacement the way Americans need to hear it. They seem to be buried in their own red tape.

Under the new AHCA, what will it cost for health insurance for a family of four – one man, one woman and two children for full coverage with no deductible or a $500 deductible or $1000 including all pre-existing conditions? How much per month? This is what they are not saying in plain English. Nothing is being explained in terms the laymen, or plain old American working family, can understand. How much for a single woman 30 years old? How much for an inner-city black family of four? How much per month? Who is covered by the new bill and who is not? Who was covered under ObamaCare and now will not have insurance?

On Monday, facts and figures are due to be released by the Congressional Budget Office, according to news reports. Next week President Trump is expected to hit the road across America selling his new healthcare plan.

For most working families with a mortgage and mandated homeowners’ insurance to pay, a car payment or two, plus day-care expenses their monthly health insurance payment should not exceed more than $200 per month for the whole family. Same goes for the inner-city black family. The single woman should not be paying more than $50 a month for full coverage nor should any single man. The U.S. is a holdout with providing universal health care for all its citizens like many nations do using a single-payer system offering cradle to the grave coverage.

If reasonable monthly payments are part of President Trump’s new plan, the explainers are hiding the truth. Lawmakers should be saying something like: Whereas under ObamaCare your family bill was $800 a month, under the new plan it’s down to $200 per month, but it’s not being explained like this.

If the price of healthcare in America cannot be lowered than it’s time for the U.S. Congress to look the American Medical Association straight in the eye and force doctors, nurses and staff to make less money across the spectrum of healthcare in America. It all costs too much. Medical equipment costs too much. Hospital stays cost too much. The doctor costs too much. Emergency room visits cost too much. The cost of many lifesaving prescription medicines is too high. Malpractice insurance for doctors costs too much. Medical research leading to new cures costs too much. There are too many lawyers involved in healthcare. Everything associated with health care in America costs too much money.

Feeding the ever-growing medical-industrial complex in America with vast amounts of cash is the problem facing everyday Americans who can only pay so much for health insurance leaving the government — as in taxpayers — to pick up the remainder of the tab.

Selling President Trump’s replacement health care to the U.S. Congress and the American people is all in how the new numbers are explained so people can understand healthcare’s new math and that won’t be easy because insurance rates vary from state-to-state and provider-to-provider. The beauty is in the numbers if they can be explained. If not, it’s a no sale. So far it’s too murky to understand on any common sense level.

How much will it cost families and singles to have reliable, quality health insurance? How much will people have to pay, how much will the government pay in subsidies?

Remember what Sgt. Friday would say on the old TV show Dragnet — “Just the facts ma’am, just the facts.”

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.