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House Majority Leader McCarthy: Repeal Obamacare Now, Find Replacement Later
Well, here’s a thought.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has a suggestion for how to handle Obamacare.
While some are screaming, “REPEAL!” and others want to keep it in place until something better is devised, McCarthy is suggesting we cut to the chase.
From the Hill:
“I don’t think you have to wait,” McCarthy told reporters. “My personal belief, and nothing’s been decided yet, but I would move through and repeal and then go to work on replacing.”
That option is the easiest for Republicans in the sense that it allows them to deliver on their promise for swiftly repealing the law, while buying them time to work out a replacement plan, which Republicans have so far not detailed in the form of consensus legislation. They could move forward with repeal, through a special process called reconciliation, as soon as January.
But healthcare experts, including some Republicans, have warned that this approach would cause chaos for ObamaCare enrollees and the insurance market in the uncertain time between when ObamaCare is repealed and when any replacement is enacted.
We’ll overlook the chaos it caused for those who had reliable, affordable insurance before the implementation of Obama’s [un]Affordable Care Act.
These were the families who were left to scramble, tighten the belt, and take on plans that not only failed to meet their needs, but were so expensive and had premiums so high, that they were pretty much useless.
Others are suggesting that to do an immediate repeal would cause too much uncertainty, and that having something ready to phase in, as the ACA is phased out is the only real solution.
The task of doing both at the same time is complicated for Republicans, though, because the rules allow the core of the health law to be repealed under special rules in the Senate requiring just 50 votes. A replacement, though, would require the usual 60, requiring Democratic buy-in.
The Republican base will be agitating for repeal and does not want to wait to get 60 votes in the Senate to allow for a replacement.
McCarthy said that he thinks doing repeal first would increase pressure on Democrats to come to the table and get to 60 votes for a replacement.
“You know this is going away five months from now, and you’re going to avoid it?” McCarthy said, speaking of Democrats.
And yes, just as Democrats own the failure that Obamacare turned out to be, they will also own any decision to hesitate or delay in crafting and implementing a new system, once Obamacare is repealed.
McCarthy agrees with me.
“When that day came and you did nothing, if you want to play politics, I think the blame would go to people who didn’t want to do anything,” McCarthy said.
Hopefully, they’re working on an answer now, and not waiting until the new administration is installed.
The post House Majority Leader McCarthy: Repeal Obamacare Now, Find Replacement Later appeared first on RedState.
Source: http://www.redstate.com/sweetie15/2016/11/29/house-majority-leader-mccarthy-repeal-obamacare-now-find-replacement-later/
