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Republicans Advance Strategy To Get Around Senate Democrats To Dismantle Obamacare
Reproductive health care policy has captivated the national conversation, thanks to Republican lawmakers threatening a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funds and planning congressional inquiries into the national women’s health organization. But these issues have, perhaps intentionally, overshadowed another legislative move in the health care arena.
On Tuesday, House Republicans quietly advanced a strategic bill gutting key parts of the Affordable Care Act — a move that could lay the groundwork for a future Obamacare attack if a Republican wins the presidency in 2016.
Legislation seeking to repeal Obamacare is far from novel; the House has voted on over 50 similar bills in the past, most dying in the Senate. But this specific measure may have a better chance of advancing further. That’s because it relies on a complex strategy to get around a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
Using a method called “reconciliation” that allows tax-related measures to be fast-tracked to the president’s desk, GOP lawmakers can dodge the Senate by slashing the budgetary pieces of Obamacare. This complicated workaround wouldn’t repeal Obamacare outright. However, it would eliminate the central policy that the Affordable Care Act is founded on: The individual mandate that requires Americans to purchase health insurance, which was ruled a “tax” when it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.
“By tearing down many of the worst parts of the law — like forcing people to buy insurance only to later tax them for it — we could stop Obamacare in its tracks and start working toward a more affordable, higher-quality, patient-centered system,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, House Republicans quietly advanced a strategic bill gutting key parts of the Affordable Care Act — a move that could lay the groundwork for a future Obamacare attack if a Republican wins the presidency in 2016.
Legislation seeking to repeal Obamacare is far from novel; the House has voted on over 50 similar bills in the past, most dying in the Senate. But this specific measure may have a better chance of advancing further. That’s because it relies on a complex strategy to get around a potential Democratic filibuster in the Senate.
Using a method called “reconciliation” that allows tax-related measures to be fast-tracked to the president’s desk, GOP lawmakers can dodge the Senate by slashing the budgetary pieces of Obamacare. This complicated workaround wouldn’t repeal Obamacare outright. However, it would eliminate the central policy that the Affordable Care Act is founded on: The individual mandate that requires Americans to purchase health insurance, which was ruled a “tax” when it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.
“By tearing down many of the worst parts of the law — like forcing people to buy insurance only to later tax them for it — we could stop Obamacare in its tracks and start working toward a more affordable, higher-quality, patient-centered system,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said on Tuesday.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/09/30/3707235/obamacare-reconciliation-advance/
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