Obama to Ryan + McConnell: Why do you feel obliged to repeal ACA before showing the replacement?
Obama Presses GOP On Missing ACA Replacement Plan
January 06, 2017
President Barack Obama pointedly pressed GOP leaders on why they refuse to put forth an ACA replacement plan and instead continue to rush toward repealing the law, during a Friday an interview with Vox, and made similar arguments in a New England Journal of Medicine article. Also Friday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) reportedly expressed reservations about repealing the law without a simultaneous replacement and Senate health committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) likewise said the next steps should be figured out before moving to repeal.
Obama in the interview reiterated that while he is proud of the ACA's achievements, he does not have “pride of authorship,” and said he'd be all for it should the GOP come up with a better plan. “But you have to show -- and I would advise every Democrat to be for it -- but you have to show that it's better. And that's not too much to ask. And that's the challenge. And the question right now for Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell is, 'Why is it that you feel obliged to repeal it before you show what it is that is going to replace?'”
He also pointed out a majority of Americans believe a repeal without a replacement is a bad idea. A Kaiser Foundation poll out Friday found that only 20 percent of Americans think Congress should kill the law before a replacement bill is ready. Americans still remain split on the question of repeal, with 48 percent supporting and 47 percent against it.
“You now have Republican governors, some Republican senators, who have said, 'We don’t think that's a good idea,'” Obama added. “And there's been no real explanation to why you would actually try to do this before the new president is even inaugurated. What exactly is this rush? Particularly if you're going to delay the actual repeal,” he said, referring to the expectation that there will be a transition period between the repeal and replacement that will hold consumers harmless.
The president also noted most Americans are upset with the law over premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and he has suggested increasing subsidies. Some, mainly rural, areas have also struggled with competition, a problem Obama said could be solved by creating a public option to ensure choice.
Obama acknowledged the GOP would not agree to those policies, but did stress it is important to tackle the most problematic aspects. “And my advice to the president-elect -- in fact, we talked about this when I met with him for an hour and a half right after he got elected -- I said make your team and make the Republican members of Congress come up with things that they can show will actually make this work better for people. And if they’re convincing, I think you would find that there are a lot of Democrats out there -- including me -- that would be prepared to support it. But so far, at least, that's not what’s happened."
https://insidehealthpolicy.com/daily-news/obama-presses-gop-missing-aca-replacement-plan-pens-nejm-article
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