Obamacare is in the crosshairs. We have known this for a while. Congressional Republicans have attempted dozens of times to pass legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act—all of which have been stopped by either Obama’s veto or Harry Reid when he was Senate Majority Leader. Now, the GOP controls Congress and they will soon control the White House, with a man who said he plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. Most of Obama’s legacy is regulatory. It can be rolled back—and he seems to know this because he plans to meet with Congressional Democrats next week to discuss ways they can save the law (via Politico):
President Barack Obama will head to Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with congressional Democrats about how to shield Obamacare from Republican efforts to dismantle it, a Capitol Hill source told POLITICO.The meeting is at 9 a.m. in the Congressional Visitors Center auditorium and is for both House and Senate Democrats, according to a notice sent to members Friday morning.
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Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised to stand firm against repeal efforts and subsequently, Republican efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act with a more conservative framework. And a conference call convened by House Democrats earlier this week focused largely on emphasizing the benefits of Obamacare, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) noting that she sees parallels between the current situation and the 2005 effort by then-President George W. Bush to privatize Social Security, according to an aide on the call.
“The Affordable Care Act has been successful in meeting its goals of reducing cost, increasing access and improving quality of care,” Pelosi wrote to members in a “Dear Colleague” letter this week.
They will have plenty of time to strategize over what to do concerning Republican attempt to repeal the law. There are some in the GOP who want to have a three-year timetable to decide how they will dismantle the law responsibly. There are plenty of alternative plans to Obamacare that the GOP has been working on, but combining plans, ideas, and endless cost-benefit analyses are bound to occur. Others want to vote on repeal right away without a replacement plan. Republicans might be delaying the repeal of some of the laws taxes, as some GOP lawmakers want to keep a few in place to help fund the replacement plan.