Republicans are stuck without a real replacement plan after seven years of finger pointing
Seven years, no replacement plan – a situation that is utterly humiliating for House Republicans. Speaker Ryan – who describes himself as a “policy wonk” and walks around the Capitol with a pamphlet in his pocket – has been unable to bring his far-right caucus together on an ACA replacement. Understandably, vulnerable Republicans have been panicking, which has led them to make big and bold promises that they cannot keep. Republicans’ promises have set the stage for a massive political backlash when they inevitably fail to meet their own standards.
Here’s a sampling of some of the bold promises on ACA that House Republican Leadership and vulnerable Members will be held accountable to keep:
- House Republican Leadership: “no one who has coverage because of Obamacare today will lose that coverage”
- Jeff Denham (CA-10): “Congress is not going to repeal the ACA without a plan” and replacement “is not something that will be done in haste – and you will know what’s in it before we pass it.”
- David Valadao (CA-21): “Congress must provide robust support for our social safety-net programs, like Medicaid” and “I don’t want to pull the rug out from anyone”.
- Brian Mast (FL-18): “…this is something that you’re going to see hashed out, you know, over the coming months on the floors of Congress” and “Now you’re going to get to see this done in the light of day. Everybody’s going to get to have input from both sides.”
- Carlos Curbelo (FL-26): “no one is going to be kicked off of any plan by anything we do”.
- Peter Roskam (IL-06): any replacement must “bring down costs”.
- Kevin Yoder (KS-03): replacement should be down with “bipartisan support”.
- Mike Bishop (MI-08): fixing the ACA required “support from both parties”.
- David Trott (MI-11): “Your health coverage should stick with you, regardless of where you work or who pays for it.”
- Jason Lewis (MN-02): healthcare plans should be “portable when a person moves from one job to another state”.
- Erik Paulsen (MN-03): “no one is going to be cut off from the insurance that they have.”
- Don Bacon (NE-02): “everybody should have access to affordable care”.
- Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02): promised that replacement will not result in “people getting kicked to the curb” aka lose their healthcare.
- Leonard Lance (NJ-07): GOP plan will “undoubtedly” include “prohibiting lifetime limits on insurance coverage”.
- John Faso (NY-19): “We will hold people harmless” and must “protect” Medicaid.
- Chris Collins (NY-27): “no one is going to lose coverage” for two years.
- Ryan Costello (PA-06): any plan must focus on “protecting those who currently have coverage”.
- Pat Meehan (PA-07): “we are not talking about pulling the rug out from anyone” while also assuring that “everyone who has insurance now would have access to some type of insurance”.
- Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-08): any replacement must be “bipartisan” and ensure “continuity of coverage”.
- Will Hurd (TX-23): “There’s no interest in just repealing and having people without insurance. That’s been very clear.”
- Scott Taylor (VA-02): replacement plan should include “maternity coverage”.
In summary, House Republicans have made a variety of promises that their repeal plan will: maintain coverage for everyone who already has it, protect Medicaid, ensure portability of plans, prohibit lifetime limits on coverage, will not be negotiated hastily, and will be passed simultaneously with repeal. Wow, that’s a lot of promises!
“There is no way that House Republicans can come up with an ACA replacement plan that maintains adequate coverage for all who have it, lowers costs, and protects people with preexisting conditions – all things that they have already promised,” said DCCC Spokesman Tyler Law. “Speaker Ryan’s humiliating failure to come up with a viable replacement after seven years of finger-pointing has set the stage for backlash at the ballot box.”