February 19, 2017
WASHINGTON — For seven years, few issues have animated conservative voters as much as the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But with President Barack Obama out of office, the debate over “Obamacare” is becoming less about “Obama” and more about “care” — greatly complicating the issue for Republican lawmakers.
February 19, 2017
WASHINGTON — For seven years, few issues have animated conservative voters as much as the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But with President Barack Obama out of office, the debate over “Obamacare” is becoming less about “Obama” and more about “care” — greatly complicating the issue for Republican lawmakers.
President Barack Obama at the White House after signing the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010.
Polling indicates that more Republicans want to make fixes to the law rather than do away with it. President Trump, who remains popular on the right, has mused about a replacement plan that is even more expansive than the original. The conservative news media are focused more on Mr. Trump’s near-daily skirmishes with Democrats and reporters, among others, than on policy issues like health care. And the congressional debate, as well as the paid advertisements on both sides, is centered on the substance of the law rather than its namesake, draining some of its toxicity on the right.
As liberals overwhelm congressional town hall-style meetings and deluge the Capitol phone system with pleas to protect the health law, there is no similar clamor for dismantling it, Mr. Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment. From deeply conservative districts in the South and the West to the more moderate parts of the Northeast, Republicans in Congress say there is significantly less intensity among opponents of the law than when Mr. Obama was in office.
“I hear more concerns than before about ‘You’re going to repeal it, and we’re all going to lose insurance’ because they don’t think we’re going to replace it,” said Representative Mike Simpson, a Republican who represents a conservative district in Idaho.
Since Mr. Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, about 20 million Americans have gained insurance because of it. And millions more who had pre-existing health conditions have been able to obtain coverage under the law. At the same time, many Americans have seen their premiums rise or their choices of insurance carriers dwindle.
But it was not until now, with the Republicans taking control of the federal government, that the debate fully shifted from the theoretical to the tangible. It was easy for conservatives to rally against a law identified with a president they despised when he was capable of vetoing any repeal. Now that he is gone and the law’s benefits appear to be on the chopping block, the people who stand to lose the most are the most vocal.
“I’ve heard from constituents who have been harmed by the Affordable Care Act over the course of its being in existence,” said Representative Leonard Lance, Republican of New Jersey, whose affluent district Mr. Trump narrowly lost last year. “More recently, because of our discussions on repairing it, I’ve heard from those who do not wish to have the act amended. More recently, that is the preponderance of those who have contacted me.”
It is a longstanding rule of politics that rallying opposition to a proposal is usually easier than galvanizing support. And never is this more the case than when a widely distributed benefit is at risk of being taken away.
“I was here in 2009 and 2010, and we’re not getting the anti-Obamacare calls like that,” said Representative Brett Guthrie, a Kentucky Republican who is on one of the committees tasked with rewriting the law. “I think people are going to hold us accountable for making sure we not only repeal, but we have a law in place that creates a better opportunity for people.”
The demands from conservative-leaning constituents in districts like Mr. Guthrie’s are plainly shifting. In a nationwide CBS News poll last month, 53 percent of Republicans said they wanted to change the law to make it work better while 41 percent said they wanted to abolish it.
Overhauling the law, however, is far more politically complicated than simply scrapping it. Congressional Republican leaders were met with a backlash from their own ranks after it emerged that they were considering financing a new law by ending the longstanding practice of letting employers exclude from taxation the health benefits they offer.
“Our voters do expect action, but as you make changes you become vulnerable to attack,” Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said. “This is fraught with difficulties, no doubt about it.”
Adding to the anxiety is Mr. Trump, who is a wild card on the health law. His health secretary, Tom Price, signaled to House Republicans at a private meeting on Thursday that the administration would let Congress draft a replacement bill, Mr. Cole said.
But the president has said multiple times that he is uneasy about depriving anybody of health insurance, and he may bridle if Democrats attack any Republican plan that may lead to that.
As Democrats note, Mr. Trump owes his victory in part to voters who have benefited from the law.
“A lot of economically vulnerable Republican voters have come to rely on government’s involvement in making sure they have affordable health care,”said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster.
And with Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers facing less pressure from the right than the left, conservative groups worry that the party will not ultimately have the stomach to repeal the law, which Republicans have been running against since 2010.
“Voters gave Republicans the charge to repeal and replace Obamacare, and the continued delays and discussions about repairing Obamacare need to stop,” David McIntosh, the head of the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group, said last week.
Courtesy: NY Times
