Obstructionist Republican lawmakers would rather see the people suffer or die unnecessarily rather than implement the Affordable Care Act in their state.

Courtesy of Alternet:  

The latest sign of the Republican Party’s increasingly secessionist tendencies comes as Obamacare passed a major milestone in California, which late last week announced lower-than-expected healthcare premiums for its 5.3 million uninsured, less than many small businesses now pay in group plans. 

“Covered California’s Silver Plan… offers premiums that can be 29 percent lower than comparable plans provided on today’s small group market,” the state’s new insurance exchange announced Thursday, referring to the least-expensive option of four state-administered plans and posting this price comparison chart. 

In contrast, the refusal by red-state America to create these health exchanges, which would be more local control—a supposed Republican value—and to accept federal funds to expand state-run Medicaid programs for the poor, means that about half the states are turning their backs on their residents, especially millions of the poorest people. 

The federal government plans to step in later this summer and offer uninsured people in recalcitrant red states the option of buying plans via federally run heath care exchanges. But the poorest people can’t afford that, meaning the refusal to expand Medicaid programs will leave them in the cold. They will see ads selling new federal healthcare options that will be unaffordable for them. 

The New York Times reports that local healthcare advocates in red states are predicting a backlash once Obamacare is rolled out and the poor realize that they cannot take advantage of it because Republicans are blocking it. However, that does not change the bottom line in state-run Medicaid programs: the GOP is again penalizing the poor.

To me this smacks of desperation on the part of the Republicans.

They are desperately trying to keep the benefits of Obamacare from reaching their constituents because they well know that once the people of their state start to understand how the program will dramatically affect their access to healthcare, that ANY Democrat challenger would only have to point that out in a campaign, and that the Republican tried to deny that access. in order to defeat them in an election.

Ultimately to me it seems that they are playing a game that they cannot help but lose ultimately, which perhaps helps to explain why the Republicans hate President Obama so very, very much.