Dive Brief:
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While Republicans have long been attempting to undo the ACA under Obama's watch, which would have left Democrats to squirm in the spotlight and deal with the fallout, the game has now changed.
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Now that the GOP is in control, they will have to face the consequences of repealing it, in whole or in part, and take the combination of credit and blame that comes with that, President Obama highlighted during a press conference earlier this week, The Hill reported.
- Obama warned Republicans there will be a price to pay if they kick more than 20 million people off the coverage they gained under the ACA and that “the American people will respond.”
Dive Insight:
Trump and the Republicans got what they wanted in winning the presidency and maintaining majorities in both the House and Senate. Now, however, they have to deal with it. As Obama said during the press conference, this will be the hard part for the GOP, as they move from abstractions and rhetoric to actual governance.
In addition to questioning how they would handle those 20 million individuals under a repeal, Obama took the opportunity to highlight some aspects of the law that have been positive, including its effective of slowing down healthcare cost growth.
Obama suggested that for Republicans to succeed at taking down the ACA, they will need to replace it – with something that works. And if they do come up with a better solution, he'll be all for it, he said.
“My view is that if they can come up with something better, that actually works and a year or two after they’ve replaced the Affordable Care Act with their own plan, that 25 million people have health insurance and it’s cheaper and better and running smoothly, I’ll be the first one to say that’s great, congratulations,” Obama was quoted by The Hill.
He warned if the GOP simply boot those insured under the health law and kill the protections enjoyed by all, the country is going to have a problem.
So far, Trump and the Republicans have only put forth ideas for replacement legislation, nothing detailed. While Trump said last week that he likes the protections for people with pre-existing conditions, industry stakeholders are scratching their heads over how the upcoming administration can make that work, unless they too implement some form of individual mandate that requires the healthy, as well as the sick, to purchase health plans in order to balance insurers' risk pools.