Dynamics Of Repeal: GOP Grapples With Challenges Of Day-One Promises
Part of the reality President-elect Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers face is finding ways to undo the 2010 health law without harming the 20 million people who gained insurance as a result of it. It's leading some policy experts to predict the evolution of an "Obamacare lite."
Bloomberg:
Repealing Obamacare Could Be Trump's First Lesson In The Glacial Pace Of Congress
Donald Trump promised voters an immediate repeal of Obamacare, but Republicans in Congress likely won’t have a bill ready for him on Day One. Or Day Two. Or perhaps even his first two weeks. Republican leaders will start deploying fast-track procedures Wednesday to get the bill through the Senate, but that will require weeks of wrangling, if not longer. It’ll be an early lesson for Trump in the sometimes-glacial pace of Congress. (Dennis, 1/4)
Modern Healthcare:
Obamacare Lite Deal May Look Increasingly Attractive To GOP
Could President-elect Donald Trump and Republicans decide it's politically smarter to reach a deal with Democrats this year to modify the Affordable Care Act, rather than repealing it and trying to create a new system from scratch? It's possible, say both conservative and liberal health policy experts. There are plenty of areas where pragmatic Republicans and Democrats could reach agreement, such as tightening enrollment rules to reduce costs, giving insurers more leeway in setting premiums, and replacing the ACA's individual mandate with strong incentives for people to maintain continuous insurance coverage. (Meyer, 1/4)
In all of this action on Capitol Hill, though, investors found some positive signs -
Bloomberg:
Promise Of Orderly Obamacare Repeal Sends Hospital Stocks Rising
At the end of a day when incoming and outgoing presidents tussled over the fate of U.S. health care, it was the words of Vice President-elect Mike Pence that seemed to matter most to anxious investors. Pence, in a visit to Congress, sought to ease concerns that a repeal of Obamacare would be done so abruptly that it leaves millions of Americans without insurance and throws health-care companies into chaos across the country. He told reporters that he was talking with Republican leaders to coordinate “both a legislative and executive action agenda to ensure that an orderly and smooth transition to market-based health care system is achieved.” (House and Kapur, 1/4)
And what about job-based coverage?
The Connecticut Mirror:
What ‘Repeal-Replace’ Could Mean For Your Employer Health Plan
If you’re like most Connecticut residents and get your health insurance through an employer, chances are the future of Obamacare doesn’t have nearly as much bearing on your coverage as it does for the nearly 300,000 people in the state whose coverage can be directly tied to the Affordable Care Act. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake for you. (Levin Becker, 1/5)
