The GOP's best solution on health care

[Mr. Morden]

I was half-joking. You're right that it probably wouldn't pass.

But politically, it's the only way I can see them possibly both technically keeping their promise and not causing themselves a catastrophe.

I think it's quite possible that no plan is actually able to pass in the end, and so current law remains intact.  Remember that while they can defund the current law with 50 votes in the Senate plus a majority in the House, they can't actually change insurance regulations without being subject to a Democratic filibuster, and good luck with that.

So Trump and others insist on it being "repeal and replace" rather than just "repeal and nothing", but they can't actually get the votes to pass their "replace" option, so nothing passes, and Trump tries to blame the Dems for thwarting his election promise.

[Mr. Morden]

I was half-joking. You're right that it probably wouldn't pass.

But politically, it's the only way I can see them possibly both technically keeping their promise and not causing themselves a catastrophe.

I think it's quite possible that no plan is actually able to pass in the end, and so current law remains intact.  Remember that while they can defund the current law with 50 votes in the Senate plus a majority in the House, they can't actually change insurance regulations without being subject to a Democratic filibuster, and good luck with that.

So Trump and others insist on it being "repeal and replace" rather than just "repeal and nothing", but they can't actually get the votes to pass their "replace" option, so nothing passes, and Trump tries to blame the Dems for thwarting his election promise.

But do they really think defunding the law will make people think it's the Democrats fault for the ACA's failure?

No, that's what I'm saying.  I think it's quite possible that they *don't* simply de-fund it.  They try to pass a simultaneous repeal-and-replace, but it doesn't pass because they don't have the votes for it.  And then they're just stuck and move on to other issues.  I mean, if it was actually a high priority issue for Trump, then they'd try to press ahead with it.  But since it's clear that he doesn't care, then I think "nothing passes and Obamacare survives" is a very real possibility.

[Mr. Morden]

I was half-joking. You're right that it probably wouldn't pass.

But politically, it's the only way I can see them possibly both technically keeping their promise and not causing themselves a catastrophe.

I think it's quite possible that no plan is actually able to pass in the end, and so current law remains intact.  Remember that while they can defund the current law with 50 votes in the Senate plus a majority in the House, they can't actually change insurance regulations without being subject to a Democratic filibuster, and good luck with that.

So Trump and others insist on it being "repeal and replace" rather than just "repeal and nothing", but they can't actually get the votes to pass their "replace" option, so nothing passes, and Trump tries to blame the Dems for thwarting his election promise.

But do they really think defunding the law will make people think it's the Democrats fault for the ACA's failure?

No, that's what I'm saying.  I think it's quite possible that they *don't* simply de-fund it.  They try to pass a simultaneous repeal-and-replace, but it doesn't pass because they don't have the votes for it.  And then they're just stuck and move on to other issues.  I mean, if it was actually a high priority issue for Trump, then they'd try to press ahead with it.  But since it's clear that he doesn't care, then I think "nothing passes and Obamacare survives" is a very real possibility.

I don't think Trump cares about anything, really. The point is more whether Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell care. They're the ones running the country for at least the next two years, after all.

What I mean is that if Trump actually exerted presidential leadership to insist to the GOP caucus in Congress to make something happen, then they could try to come up with some creative solutions here.  Something that could be done via reconciliation, and get enough GOP votes to pass.  He could potentially use the bully pulpit to press the issue, working alongside McConnell and Ryan, a la Obama's presidential leadership working with Pelosi and Reid, which got Obamacare passed in the first place.

But McConnell and Ryan aren't powerful enough to do that on their own.  There'll be enough members who won't listen to them that I'm guessing nothing gets done.

[Mr. Morden]

What are actual, serious GOP proposals to replace the ACA? I'm primarily asking the Republican posters on this forum. And how will they ensure affordable coverage for the 30 million Americans who could lose their healthcare as a result of repealing the ACA?

Are there no Republicans here able or willing to answer my questions?

I'm not a Republican, but the ideas that have been floating around as options for the Republican plan are described here:

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/12/news/economy/obamacare-republicans-health-care/

Also, on how to handle pre-existing conditions if there's no longer an individual mandate:

http://time.com/money/4632898/obamacare-affordable-care-act-repeal-what-happens-preexisting-conditions/

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