"Is the GOP warming up to ObamaCare?" The Week

[applegrove]

Is the GOP warming up to ObamaCare?

The Week

http://theweek.com/article/index/228701/is-the-gop-warming-up-to-obamacare


"SNIP.........................................

Prominent Republicans in the Senate and the House, in a surprising development, are touting elements of ObamaCare, the sweeping overhaul of the health-care system that the GOP has promised to overturn in its entirety. Rep. Allen West (Fla.), a Tea Party favorite, says he supports several key provisions of ObamaCare, including one that allows kids to stay on their parents' policies until they're 26, and another that bars insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.) says he also is a fan of the provision for 26-year-olds. Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) is "quietly hatching a plan" to restore parts of ObamaCare if the Supreme Court strikes it down in June, says Politico. Is the GOP changing its mind about ObamaCare?

Yes, but only the popular provisions: The sudden shift is mostly one of face-saving. Republicans would "be caught in an election-year predicament if the Supreme Court grants them their wish and overturns the law," says Sahil Kapur at Talking Points Memo. The GOP would need some kind of health-care plan to present to voters, so it's coalescing around a proposal that is very easy to sell: "You can have all the popular provisions of health-care reform without the unpopular ones," most prominently the individual mandate that requires most Americans to buy insurance.
"Senate Republicans signal big shift on ObamaCare"

They can't support ObamaCare without the mandate: Totally absent from the GOP's political machinations is the "consideration of the law's economic viability without an individual mandate," says Jake Miller at NewsMax. Insurance companies forced to cover those with pre-existing conditions "will break the bank" unless there is "some mechanism forcing healthy individuals to buy insurance as well." In other words, "with the popular must come the unpopular," and the GOP can't separate the two without blowing up the system.

"Blunt: Republicans will retool parts of ObamaCare"

..............................................SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. "The dog catching up to the car" LOL! Actually saw that once. A mercedez

threw my friend's Saint Bernard right back 10 feet. Dog was okay. Don't know about the car.

[Samantha]

2. Probably because the Health Care and Pharmaceutical Industries don't want it repealed

They are contributing to the GOP because they don't want Obama re-elected. They do want the health care plan to remain in effect since everyone is required to either carry insurance or be fined (with some exceptions).

The reason they want the GOP to win is so that it can strip the consumer protection clauses from the health care plan but let the rest of the plan stay, with the increased number of participants creating greatly to the the industries' bottom lines. One of the main protections the industry wants stripped is the ban on turning down applications for insurance from those with pre-existing conditions.

So yes, the GOP is starting to like the health care plan because those that donate to it have relayed their instructions.

Sam

[global1]

3. What Are The Unpopular Provisions Of Health Care Reform?.....nt

[SoutherDem]

4. The Republicans have lied.

The only complaint I hear, sometimes after multiple questions, is "I shouldn't have to pay for someone else's health care."

Seriously, I have had this debate with many people. They will start hating the law. But, as you whittle away item by item, they love it. They don't want the mandate. They want there to be a choice. They don't understand, it is the only way to get the balance pool of contributors. I personally, wish there were a way to opt out, but in doing so you are signing away you rights to health insurance for either a considerable amount of time, or have a long waiting period if you later decide to sign up. I am not saying this would work, but at least it would shut the people up who are so upset about the mandate.

I personally, want a single payer system.

Also, to me there are certain services which should be "for the common good" and have profit limits. I know that is socialism, but to make a profit on others pain is criminal.

[tanyev]

5. And if the S.C. doesn't overturn the law, they'll start screaming for total repeal again.

[JBoy]

6. In other words, keep the parts that cost money

and ditch the parts that save money.

What a brilliant idea!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Warming to it?

No chance in hell of THAT. Resigning themselves to it is more likely IMHO. I'm sure that they are starting to worry about the political backlash they are likely to get if their buddies on SCOTUS overturn PPACA. They must have figured out that people are beginning to notice some of the already-instituted benefits they are getting with PPACA and the hell they are going to pay if people wind up losing them as a result of their 2-year jihad against "Obamacare". Maybe now is a good time for President Obama and the Dems to yank the Republicans back to the table to come up with a contingency plan for ensuring that those benefits are able to continue if SCOTUS strikes down PPACA because of the mandate? Otherwise, I hope that President Obama and the Dems hammer the Republicans for the remainder of the year over it. It's kind of ironic that the possibility of SCOTUS striking down PPACA- which the Republicans have demanded ever since it was enacted- might wind up being their worst political nightmare.