Next Directions On Health Policy: Fixes Should Be Bipartisan; Improve The Health Law Or Move On
Opinion writers offer advice to lawmakers about what to do now that efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare seem to have stalled.
The Washington Post:
The Bipartisan Way To Strengthen Health Care
You’d think that Republican leaders would have learned their lesson after a second failed attempt to pass the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) — the Senate GOP’s replacement for the Affordable Care Act. It should come as no surprise that a bill drafted in secret — without holding a single public hearing or garnering the support of a single health-care stakeholder — would face widespread condemnation. (Neera Tanden and Topher Spiro, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
With Obamacare Repeal Off The Table, Will Republicans Start Trying To Actually Improve Healthcare?
Miillions of Americans whose healthcare coverage was imperiled can breathe a sigh of relief now that congressional Republicans’ reckless efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act have foundered. They can thank a handful of courageous moderates in the Senate Republican Caucus for being unwilling to repeal the ACA without having a replacement ready that wouldn’t make matters worse for their constituents. (7/19)
Lexington Herald Leader:
Health-Care Fix Must Be Bipartisan
If the Affordable Care Act is the failure that Republicans Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump insist, then getting Congress to repeal and replace it wouldn’t be so difficult. In reality, the law, signed by Barack Obama in 2010, is not a failure, quite the opposite. It has brought security to millions of Americans for whom sickness previously meant bankruptcy or premature death. It has brought greater financial certainty to the hospitals and clinics that care for them. (7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Democrats And Republicans Should Now Agree On These Real Fixes For Obamacare
With Monday’s collapse of the Senate Republicans’ latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the GOP and the Trump White House are confronted with the question of what to do next, if anything, on healthcare. But that’s a question for Democrats, too. Although there’s a general perception that Democrats consider Obamacare to be the last word on healthcare policy, that’s never been true. The ACA was the product of compromise from its inception, and also something of an experiment. No one was sure how all its moving parts would work. (Michael Hiltzik, 7/18)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
On Health Care, Republicans Should Work With Democrats
Now that the plan to "repeal and replace" Obamacare is dead and the plan to "repeal now, replace later" has expired ignominiously, what's the next treatment noted health care specialists Donald Trump, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell will try?... But instead of sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, Republicans should work with Democrats to shore up the insurance exchanges that are at the heart of the ACA. (David Haynes, 7/18)
The Des Moines Register:
To Congress: Improve Obamacare Or Move On
Republican leaders in U.S Congress are the epitome of lost and dysfunctional. When it comes to health insurance, it is painfully clear they have no idea what they’re doing or seeking. The Affordable Care Act needs to be improved, and that should be lawmakers’ goal. But that seems impossible for this group of elected officials. Americans are tired of the shenanigans. (7/18)
The Kansas City Star:
Republicans Should Move On From Obamacare Repeal
The Republican Party’s effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something — maybe now, maybe a few years from now — stumbled to a predictable stalemate Tuesday. The GOP hates Obamacare. But after seven years of debate, Republicans still can’t agree on how to make it better. (7/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Medicaid’s Potemkin Health Coverage
If ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid were measured merely by growth in enrollment and spending, California’s Medi-Cal program would rank as a huge success. Since 2012, Medi-Cal has added six million beneficiaries, primarily able-bodied adults of working age. Covering them last year brought California nearly $20 billion in additional federal funds. If Medi-Cal were a state, its population of 14 million would make it the fifth-largest in the U.S. The program’s $103 billion budget is about three times the size of Illinois’s general fund. (Allysia Finley, 7/18)
Arizona Republic:
Will Trumpcare 2.0 Pay For An Operation Like McCain’s?
Now that the Senate replacement for the Affordable Care Act has gone down the toilet, where it belongs, perhaps President Donald Trump will fashion something that lives up to his campaign promises – a plan where every American will get the kind of care received recently by Sen. John McCain.T he Republican plan wasn’t close. (EJ Montini, 7/18)
