Republican politicians now face a difficult dilemma in their half decade war against the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The law is working, as those of us who enroll or just talk to average consumers see every day. Yet, their base – those who vote in Republican primaries – stubbornly cling to the mantra that the law has to be repealed, and are getting impatient that their party has controlled both houses of Congress for 8 months and still not repealed the law or even come up with an alternative.
Enter Republican presidential candidates Scott Walker and Marco Rubio, who have now outlined their “plans” to replace the ACA. Both leave out critical details, so we really can’t call them “plans.” But these statements serve their main purpose: to allow these “serious” candidates to say that they have an alternative to just repealing Obamacare and throwing 16 million people off health insurance.
Even without the details, it’s clear that either proposal would be disastrous. Both would repeal a law that has enrolled over two million New Yorkers and lowered costs by an average of 50% for individuals and vastly reduced the chances that you will go broke due to massive medical bills. Instead, they would, according to Richard Kirsch, Citizen Action’s former co-Executive Director: “return to the days when insurance companies could deny coverage or charge higher premiums because of a pre-existing condition, charge women more for health insurance than men and stop paying claims when people have high cost illnesses.”
Both plans would force millions of people off Medicaid immediately and take away coverage from millions of young people who are now on their parents’ plans, Richard says. And the Walker plan would allow health insurance to be sold across state lines, threatening a “race to the bottom” among states to attract insurers by loosening consumer protections.
While attacks on the ACA have been quieter in 2015, continuing proposals in Congress to repeal or cut back the ACA make it clear that the law is not yet politically out of the woods. That’s why we need to publicly counter the myths thrown out by ACA opponents, from the bizarre (remember the one about how the ACA would make it easier to pull the plug on grandma?) to the more rational sounding like that the ACA is increasing consumer prices. Thankfully, the law is now becoming more popular, with 50% of Americans saying they want the law either continued in its present form or strengthened vs. 40% saying they want it scaled back or repealed. As more and more get covered or know someone who did, it’s getting a bit easier to beat back efforts to destroy the law.