The plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare that was shot down on Friday was complicated politically. Nearly all Republicans wanted the “repeal” part, just as nearly all Democrats opposed it. The hangup was on the “replace” part. Conservative Republicans, by and large, opposed the proposed replacement as little more than “Obamacare lite,” retaining the huge government role in healthcare that they oppose in the current law. So it isn’t completely fair to say that Republicans who wouldn’t vote for the replacement were refusing to repeal Obamacare.
The American Health Care Act was a creation of Speaker Paul Ryan and other “establishment” Republicans who accept a somewhat more activist role for government.
Here is the irony: Virtually all of the “Freedom Caucus” Republican congressmen who were responsible for defeating the bill were Trump supporters during the presidential campaign! Ryan and the other authors of the proposed health care plan not so much!
Yet President Trump allied himself with his former opponents, throwing the full force of his office behind their bill, and now vilifies the lawmakers who otherwise are on his side!
From GOP health-care bill: House Republican leaders abruptly pull their rewrite of the nation’s health-care law – The Washington Post:
Republican leaders abruptly pulled their overhaul of the nation’s health-care system from the House floor on Friday, a dramatic defeat for President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan that leaves a major campaign promise unfulfilled and casts doubt on the Republican Party’s ability to govern.
The decision leaves President Barack Obama’s chief domestic achievement in place and raises questions about the GOP’s ability to advance other high-stakes priorities, including tax reform and infrastructure spending. Ryan (R-Wis.) remains without a signature accomplishment as speaker, and the defeat undermines Trump’s image as a skilled dealmaker willing to strike compromises to push his agenda forward. . . .
Republicans were loath to repeal popular ACA provisions such as a requirement that insurers cover those with preexisting conditions and dependents up to age 26 but wanted to repeal the taxes and the individual mandate to have insurance that helped make those provisions possible.
The policy difficulties were amplified by an ideological cleavage within the House GOP. Conservative hard-liners chafed that the Ryan-drafted bill left too much of the ACA in place and enshrined a federal role in health insurance markets, while moderates feared that cuts to tax subsidies and Medicaid would leave their constituents uncovered and their states with gaping budget gaps.
The drama on Capitol Hill unfolded amid new evidence that public opinion was running against the bill: A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found that U.S. voters disapproved of the legislation 56 percent to 17 percent, with 26 percent undecided.
[Keep reading. . .]
Illustration: Logo of the Freedom Caucus by Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48412772
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