Republicans meeting on ACA repeal: “What does that reconciliation market look like?”
Republican members of Congress have plenty of doubts and concerns about what the current process for repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could do to the health insurance market, according to a record of a closed door meeting obtained by the Washington Post.
Among their concerns: how a replacement plan can be ready by the time the ACA is repealed, how to protect the insurance market and how to avoid a sharp increase in premiums.
“We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created” with repeal, said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California. “That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.”
Several lawmakers urged a more cautious approach. While Republicans had previously discussed repealing much of the law through a process called budget reconciliation, that can only apply to parts of the ACA which touch government spending. Replacing it will require Democratic votes to get over the 60-vote hurdle to kill a filibuster in the Senate.
“The fact is, we cannot repeal Obamacare through reconciliation,” said McClintock. “We need to understand exactly, what does that reconciliation market look like? And I haven’t heard the answer yet.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.