Republicans push through health plan by embracing what they used to criticize: Robyn Urback

Republican hypocrisy took human form Thursday, as Jason Chaffetz, Utah congressman and chair of the House oversight committee, wheeled himself into Congress to vote on the Republican health-care bill.

After having surgery on his foot — a procedure covered by health insurance, naturally — Chaffetz returned to vote for a bill that would, by previous estimations, see 24 million Americans lose their health insurance.

Chaffetz's surgery, by the way, was for a pre-existing condition — a 12-year-old foot injury — while the bill he would be voting for could see Americans with similar pre-existing conditions lose their protections, thanks to an amendment that allows states to decide if they want to opt out of Obamacare provisions on the issue. (At the 11th hour, Republicans tacked on an $8-billion fix to soften the blow for those with pre-existing conditions — a figure that will be pitifully inadequate should a bunch of states exercise the waivers, but one that was enough to win over a few GOP undecideds.)

Chaffetz and his ilk have long derided the process by which the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, accusing the Obama administration of failing to uphold its promise of transparency. Chaffetz, in particular, accused the president of reneging on his campaign promise to broadcast health-care debates on C-Span, a criticism to which Barack Obama, to his credit, conceded.

The Trump administration's American Health Care Act (AHCA), by contrast, was made available to the American public for review less than 24 hours before the House vote, which passed by a razor-thin margin of 217 to 213. The time for transparency in the case of Trumpcare, then, was roughly equivalent to the time between Chaffetz seeing the "Opportunity to Cut Medicare" bat signal (I believe the symbol is a silhouette of a hatchet) and him strapping himself into his scooter and rolling into Congress.

No CBO score

Republicans accused Democrats of rushing through Obamacare, arguing it was signed into law without proper bipartisan consultation. And indeed, that's a fair argument. But it was, at the very least, put to the House after analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a step the Trump administration skipped for this version of its Trumpcare plan because, well, the score wasn't so great last time. Also, Trump's first 100 days came and went without fulfilling many of his major campaign promises, and well, the scores haven't been so great.

• U.S. House approves Republican health-care overhaul
• 24 million would lose coverage under Republican plan

Republicans blamed Obamacare for raising premiums (and indeed, they did increase — by 20 to 30 per cent or more, in some cases), even though some analysis shows premiums will continue to rise under the AHCA — especially if you happen to be one of those humans who gets sick, or pregnant, or old.

And then, of course, there's the granddaddy of hypocrisies: the GOP's promise to govern for the average American. They were going to look out for struggling families and the unemployed Rust Belt new-Republicans.

Under changes proposed in the AHCA, these are precisely the people most likely to suffer from the $880-billion Medicaid rollback, while the wealthiest Americans are set to enjoy a $600-billion tax cut. This is about as close as one gets to stealing from the sick and giving to the rich.

Republicans took to the Rose Garden after the vote to celebrate the passage of a bill that hasn't been properly evaluated, or debated, or costed; one that would hurt the people they swore they would protect. Congrats, fellas. They actually believed you.

The Senate is now left with the task of deciding the fate of the nation's sick. And for those low-income Americans left feeling worried about how they'll afford health care, Rep. Chaffetz — our dear, temporarily incapacitated congressman — offered the obvious answer two months ago: just stop buying iPhones.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.