A push to repeal Obamacare first and replace it later quickly fizzled out.
It appears that repealing the Affordable Care Act, derogatorily known as Obamacare, is not viable and with no chance for success.
“Republicans' new push to repeal Obamacare without implementing an immediate replacement appeared to stall Tuesday as three GOP senators said they would not vote for it to move forward, for now. It followed the latest bill to replace Obamacare also collapsing on Monday night as four Republicans opposed it.”
However, there are actions Trump can take to force its failure. Robert Reich tells us how Trump can sabotage the Affordable Care Act:
Now that Mitch McConnell can’t muster enough votes to replace it, Trump said today he wanted to "let Obamacare fail; it'll be a lot easier. And I think we're probably in that position where we'll just let Obamacare fail. We're not going to own it. I'm not going to own it. I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We'll let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us and they're going to say, 'How do we fix it? How do we fix it?' Or, 'How do we come up with a new plan?'" (McConnell still insists he wants to vote on a repeal-only bill in the "near future.")
Remarkably, Trump blamed Democrats for the failure, saying "it would be nice to have Democratic support" and calling Democratic senators "obstructionists" for not getting behind the plan."And in this case, think of it: so many good things, we didn't get one vote and their plan has failed," Trump said.
Here are 5 simple ways Trump can sabotage the Affordable Care Act, and “let it fail:”
1. Keep insurers guessing about whether the subsidies will be available this coming year, so they can’t be ready.
2. Stop letting the public know about the Affordable Care Act’s availability, where they can sign up for it, and how.
3. Stop enforcing the mandate requiring that younger and healthier people buy insurance so they’ll indirectly subsidize older and sicker people.
4. Delay federal payments to states that have expanded Medicaid under the Act.
5. Make it harder for states that have expanded Medicaid to qualify.
6. Allow big insurers to continue to merge into a handful of insurance goliaths who can charge whatever they want.
If he let's the Affordable Care Act fail, it's up to us to hold Trump and the Republicans fully accountable.
By Jacob Pramuk
