Obamacare repealed...then what?

[Person Man]

Does it mean that Democrats drop healthcare reform as a priority, or push to the left, or campaign on repealing the repral?

[Person Man]

No one wants to guess about this? I have apprehension that Democrats will go back to either ignoring the issue or to go back to things like bigger tax refunds and high SCHIP thresholds and call it a day.

[wolfsblood07]

Yes, I think they're going to realize that it's impossible to have government run health care in this country.  For decades they've been fighting for it.  It's an unwinnable battle.

[Mr.Phips]

Yes, I think they're going to realize that it's impossible to have government run health care in this country.  For decades they've been fighting for it.  It's an unwinnable battle.

I actually agree with this. 

[TJ in Oregon]

The Republicans will probably "repeal" it while keeping exchanges, the mandate, and pre-existing condition coverage. Actually repealing the whole thing outright would step on too many toes and the inertia of our system will likely prevent things from changing much.

[Person Man]

Yes, I think they're going to realize that it's impossible to have government run health care in this country.  For decades they've been fighting for it.  It's an unwinnable battle.

Basically, they will just focus on social issues then?

[7,052,770]

If they play the 2020 brinksmanship game, I think the optimal strategy is to 1. filibuster the replacement bill and 2. offer an amendment enrolling the entire country in Medicare with near unanimous Dem support  3. have the 2020 Dem nominee pledge to sign it immediately upon taking office.  That would be their best strategy IMO.

There wouldn't be anywhere close to "unanimous Dem support" for single payer...

[Santander]

Yes, I think they're going to realize that it's impossible to have government run health care in this country.  For decades they've been fighting for it.  It's an unwinnable battle.

How are you going to feel when people die due to lack of access to healthcare?

Because it is totally a binary choice between state-run healthcare and people dying in the streets.

[Green Line]

We replace it with something better.

[Cashew]

Because it is totally a binary choice between state-run healthcare and people dying in the streets.

Without some sort of government intervention it is inevitable.

[The_Doctor]

The Republicans ignore the issue instead of solving it.  Because they're strategic morons who don't realize the Democrats will do something when they return to power.

They'll come out with a fig leaf of a plan and call it a day.  The next Democratic President gets single payer done to the screeches of the Republican Party who calls him a socialist. Barack Obama laughs himself silly as he planned for his plan to become single payer.

Multiple Republicans develop ED, which single payer covers anyway.

[Hermit For Peace]

I guess the answer is, who cares? The rich people and well-to-do (like Trump and everyone else in Congress) will still be able to afford health insurance, and that's really all that matters.

[Sbane]

If they play the 2020 brinksmanship game, I think the optimal strategy is to 1. filibuster the replacement bill and 2. offer an amendment enrolling the entire country in Medicare with near unanimous Dem support  3. have the 2020 Dem nominee pledge to sign it immediately upon taking office.  That would be their best strategy IMO.

There wouldn't be anywhere close to "unanimous Dem support" for single payer...

There is going to be widespread support for "medicare for all" but not for "single payer". Democrats should be smart and advocate for "medicare for all" during this whole debate and run on it in 2020.

I don't see how the Republicans are able to lower the cost of insurance in the exchanges, which is what people are pissed about. Maybe they institute high risk pools and lower costs for everyone else? Who goes into those high risk pools though? Anyone with diabetes or heart disease? Or only those with complications or a history of cardiovascular events? And this isn't even tackling those with a history of a myriad of other health conditions. Perhaps they offer extra subsidies for those in these pools, but will a fiscally conservative Republican caucus go along with that? Should be interesting......

[Person Man]

If they play the 2020 brinksmanship game, I think the optimal strategy is to 1. filibuster the replacement bill and 2. offer an amendment enrolling the entire country in Medicare with near unanimous Dem support  3. have the 2020 Dem nominee pledge to sign it immediately upon taking office.  That would be their best strategy IMO.

There wouldn't be anywhere close to "unanimous Dem support" for single payer...

There is going to be widespread support for "medicare for all" but not for "single payer". Democrats should be smart and advocate for "medicare for all" during this whole debate and run on it in 2020.

I don't see how the Republicans are able to lower the cost of insurance in the exchanges, which is what people are pissed about. Maybe they institute high risk pools and lower costs for everyone else? Who goes into those high risk pools though? Anyone with diabetes or heart disease? Or only those with complications or a history of cardiovascular events? And this isn't even tackling those with a history of a myriad of other health conditions. Perhaps they offer extra subsidies for those in these pools, but will a fiscally conservative Republican caucus go along with that? Should be interesting......

If you are disabled then you should get medicaid, right?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

[Sbane]

If they play the 2020 brinksmanship game, I think the optimal strategy is to 1. filibuster the replacement bill and 2. offer an amendment enrolling the entire country in Medicare with near unanimous Dem support  3. have the 2020 Dem nominee pledge to sign it immediately upon taking office.  That would be their best strategy IMO.

There wouldn't be anywhere close to "unanimous Dem support" for single payer...

There is going to be widespread support for "medicare for all" but not for "single payer". Democrats should be smart and advocate for "medicare for all" during this whole debate and run on it in 2020.

I don't see how the Republicans are able to lower the cost of insurance in the exchanges, which is what people are pissed about. Maybe they institute high risk pools and lower costs for everyone else? Who goes into those high risk pools though? Anyone with diabetes or heart disease? Or only those with complications or a history of cardiovascular events? And this isn't even tackling those with a history of a myriad of other health conditions. Perhaps they offer extra subsidies for those in these pools, but will a fiscally conservative Republican caucus go along with that? Should be interesting......

If you are disabled then you should get medicaid, right?

If you are disabled you get Medicare. I am not talking about those people. I am talking about people with a history of heart disease (history of MI,stroke or CHF) or diabetes with complications. These people are not necessarily disabled, but would have a very hard time getting insurance at a decent price without the protection afforded by Obamacare.

[pbrower2a]

I expect the Republicans to replace Obamacare with "Profits First" medicine that will be even costlier... and substandard. After all, corporate profits and executive compensation will be the only measure of economic virtue in Trump's America.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

(serious)

[Bojack Horseman]

I hope the Democrats start running ads for the election about health care that run along these lines:

"This was my son Jonathan. For the first time in his life, he got coverage through the exchanges.  But then Donald Trump and the Republicans abolished the exchanges and he lost his coverage. He could no longer get his medication for his bipolar disorder, and he committed suicide. If it weren't for Donald Trump and the Republicans, Jonathan would still be alive.

[Person Man]

Anymore takers? Do we just go back to 2008 and say Health Care is "settled" or do we try to repeal the repeal or go further? Do we even try to go to the right and allow patient dumping or total privatization?

[dead0man]

There isn't much chance they'll dump the entire thing.  EVERYBODY (well, everybody that matters...that includes all the big important Dems) agrees it's broken as it sits now, something needs to be done.  Something will likely be done to it, maybe it will be better, maybe not.  Hopefully better.  Maybe we'll get something halfway decent by the 2040s.

[pbrower2a]

It's a profits-first system based upon cost-loading without subsidies or welfare  -- the worst possible system. Run out of money when sick? You die if loved ones don't mortgage away their dreams. There will be people deciding whether to live or die.

It won't be pretty. Vote Republican and vote for economic sadism.

"Medicare for All", 2020 Democratic campaign slogan.

[DrScholl]

Nothing, because it's not going to be repealed. The Republican leadership likes to talk about repeal, but isn't going to risk potential losses on actually doing it. That talk about delaying the repeal until after 2020 is proof of the apprehension that the leadership has.

[Hermit For Peace]

What really galls me is that they want to repeal it without FIRST having a BETTER plan to replace it with. A plan that won't cost MORE than Obamacare and that also won't be more cumbersome.

But it sounds like the ACA is already entrenched in the system with millions of people benefiting from it, and to repeal something like that would be INSANE.

Just make it better, what's so hard to understand about that?

The coal miners are benefiting from the ACA, and yet, they voted FOR Trump who wants to repeal it.

What's wrong with that picture?

[The_Doctor]

Nothing, because it's not going to be repealed. The Republican leadership likes to talk about repeal, but isn't going to risk potential losses on actually doing it. That talk about delaying the repeal until after 2020 is proof of the apprehension that the leadership has.

This. The Republicans are going to put on a dog and pony show and we wind up with a slightly altered ObamaCare plan.