GOP's
‘repeal and replace’ is a loser in 2016 election
In 2012, Chief Justice John
Roberts joined the Court's four liberal justices and saved
Obamacare's centerpiece: the compulsory individual mandate. Last
week Roberts, along with sometimes conservative Justice Anthony
Kennedy, joined the liberals again to pull Obamacare's fat from the
judicial fire.
This
time the Court preserved the crucial subsidies that most individuals
enrolled in Obamacare receive. In the current case, King v. Burwell,
petitionersargued that the Act precluded subsidies in 34 states
where the federal government, not the state, established the
Exchange. The Court upheld the subsidies in all states even though
the act says in plain English that subsidies were authorized in
exchanges “established by the state.”
Not
surprisingly, Republicans and Conservatives have assaulted the
Court's majority opinion as deeply flawed and highly political. And
they have repeated their rallying cry to repeal and replace
Obamacare.
But
here is what those same Republicans and conservatives have not told
you. They have not said that they are relieved that the Court ruled
the way it did. “What?” you say. “That's impossible!” Wrong.
If
the Court had struck down the subsidies in the 34 states in which
the exchanges had been established by the federal government, 6.5
million Americans in those states would have found themselves
between a rock and a hard place. With their subsidies terminated,
most of them would no longer be able to afford their Obamacare
coverage.
The
fact of the matter is that the Republicans in Congress did not have
an effective alternative to cope with the disruption that would have
adversely affected millions of their constituents had the Supreme
Court killed the subsidies.
The
High Court's ruling has let the GOP off the hook, but only
temporarily. It's a certainty that the GOP's standard bearer for the
presidency in 2016 will campaign on driving a stake into the heart
of Obamacare. It's equally certain that the Democratic nominee,
presumably Hillary Clinton, will urge the nation to elect her so
that Obamacare can be retained and improved.
Thus,
it will be the 2016 presidential campaign where the rubber meets the
road for the Republicans. Their nominee will have to put up or shut
up on what their replacement for Obamacare would be. But the truth
is that the GOP has no replacement. It only has fragments.
Some
Republicans, the radical right wingers, will simply favor the
obliteration of Obamacare. Others in the GOP will trot out a list of
specific, competing fragments that will include tax credits for
private health insurance, expanded use of Health Savings Accounts, a
catastrophic health insurance program, medical malpractice reform
and/or allowing each of the 50 states to do their own thing. Call
that last one the States Rights option. It's a cop out.
It’s
a virtual certainty the GOP standard bearer will be cornered without
a viable alternative to Obamacare. That will be music to Hillary
Clinton's ears. She will say Obamacare is working and needs to be
improved. She will say the Republican Party has never supported
health care reform and intends to destroy Obamacare.
The
GOP loses that argument, and with it they lose the White House.
But
there is a way to let the American people determine what kind of
health insurance system they want. What if the GOP promised to enact
an alternative to Obamacare that enables American people to freely
choose between their plan and Obamacare? If the GOP built a better
mousetrap, the American people would do to Obamacare what the GOP
can't – reject it in favor of something vastly better.
That
better mousetrap has been around more than half a century. Prior to
Obamacare it was the largest health insurance program in the nation.
It currently covers more than 8 million Americans. It offers its
members a choice every year among a variety of fee for service and
HMO plans. The fee for service plans enable one to choose their own
doctor and hospital. Like Obamacare, its premiums are subsidized.
The
plan is a working partnership between the nation's private health
insurance companies, Blue Cross, and the federal government. Prior
to Obamacare, it covered all of the members of Congress, including
all the Republicans. It's name is the Federal Employees Health
Benefits Plan (FEHBP).
Giving
the American people a choice between Obamacare and FEHBP is real,
can be understood by average Americans and will enable them to
choose the program that best suits their needs. It’s a winner –
for everybody.
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