Tweet This
Conservatives who were optimistic less than a month ago that the Affordable Care Act would be fully repealed now see missed deadlines and delays from the Republican-led Congress and Donald Trump’s White House.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s repeal-and-replace mantra of less than two months ago has turned into more of a Congressional repair job for the 20 million Americans who have gained coverage under the ACA. And Trump has said people will maintain coverage after the law is repealed and replaced “simultaneously” but has yet to offer a plan to achieve that. Meanwhile, bills in the Senate and House aren’t gaining a consensus among the Republican majorities in either chamber of Congress.
The inaction is frustrating to groups like the Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, which last week said members of Congress “must not waffle on their promises,” accusing the GOP of softening its language by saying Obamacare will be “repaired rather than repealed.”
“Where is the bill that was supposed to be on the President’s desk by Feb. 20?” Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom president Twila Brase asked last week. “Americans were told well before Inauguration Day that a repeal bill would be presented to President Trump by [this] week, yet we have not heard details of the bill, nor does it seem as though the bill is progressing as it should. The American people deserve to have this law taken off the books for good, as the president promised on the campaign trail and in his first few days in office.”
The U.S. House, which during the presidency of Barack Obama voted to replace the ACA dozens of times, is now moving away from a full repeal of the law, particularly when it comes to the expansion of Medicaid coverage that was adopted by 31 states and the District of Columbia. Republican leaders last week released an outline of a plan while Trump said during his epic 77-minute press conference an Obamacare replacement would be offered in early March. “We should be submitting the initial plan in March, early March, I would say," Trump said of the Obamacare replacement .
But there are no details from the White House on Obamacare repeal or replace. And that frustrates conservatives who see the new House proposal that includes tax credits as a different kind of subsidy.
In a conference call with reporters last week to discuss “concerns on the Obamacare repeal timeline slipping,” the conservative group Heritage Action for America lamented repeated deadlines and frustration that Republicans aren’t on the same page regarding the future of the Affordable Care Act.
“There’s a lot of anxiety on the Hill,” Dan Holler, Heritage Action for America ’s vice president of communications and government relations told reporters on the call.
In addition to Monday’s deadline to get ACA repeal-and-replace legislation to Trump’s desk, the Republican-led Congress also missed a self-imposed Jan. 27 deadline for committees to have legislation completed to end the law.
Inside Obamacare: The Fix For America’s Ailing Health Care System explores the ways the Affordable Care Act will impact your health care.
The legislative dysfunction comes with health insurance companies looking for a long-term solution to shore up risk pools in the individual market where 12 million Americans have purchased Obamacare policies.
Last week,
But GOP legislative proposals aren’t on the same page. As one example, a Senate proposal by Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana allows states that choose to do so to keep the Affordable Care Act intact, and all three options of their legislation maintain several aspects of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, such as Medicare reforms. And like some other conservatives, Brase said she supports Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee’s “call for a full repeal without waiting for a replacement.”
Meanwhile, conservatives are digging in, saying they won’t support measures like Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander’s Obamacare “repair” legislation. “His plan is a nonstarter in the House,” Heritage Action for America’s Holler said.
“The American people deserve a full repeal of Obamacare and lawmakers need to do everything in their power to ensure they can keep their campaign promise and repeal the failed healthcare law,” Heritage Action said in a statement. “We need to keep the best interest of Americans at the center of this discussion.”
