Republicans in US seek own policy cure to replace ‘Obamacare’ law

WASHINGTON – Reuters

UnityPoint Clinic Methodist Medical Center is seen in Peoria, Illinois. ‘Obamacare’ requires most Americans to buy insurance, offers subsidies to help low-income people receive coverage and sets minimum standards for coverage. REUTERS photo

Top Republicans are saying they can no longer just be the party of “No” on Obamacare: They need to come up with an alternative policy.

While many Americans are skeptical of President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, they also tell lawmakers they worry about keeping their costs from getting out of control. For those voters, a party that offers a platform to repeal the 2010 law without anything to replace it may not be very attractive.
As a result, lawmakers from both the establishment wing of the Republican Party and the more fiscally conservative small-government proponents in the Tea Party movement are exploring healthcare policies.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said it would be a major topic at a Republican retreat next week.

“We need to present the American people with a positive,” said long-time Senator John McCain of Arizona, who in 2008 had a detailed healthcare reform plan as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate against Democrat Obama. “A number of people are working on it, and we’ve come up with the various provisions, and now hopefully we’re going to put together a Republican package” on healthcare, McCain told Reuters outside the Senate last week.

Several bills have already been introduced by Republicans in the House and Senate but no single plan has yet emerged.

Some start with the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - a move that would almost certainly be vetoed by Obama if it passed both chambers, which is unlikely as long as Democrats hold the Senate.

Some bills propose new tax credits or deductions to help people pay for health insurance.
The law, commonly called Obamacare, passed Congress in 2010 as the most sweeping U.S. social legislation in 50 years and survived a legal challenge by opponents in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012.

It requires most Americans to buy insurance, offers subsidies to help low-income people receive coverage and sets minimum standards for coverage. It aims to dramatically reduce the number of Americans who lack health insurance policies.

Instead of starting with a total repeal, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin has suggested transition legislation that might initially eliminate some provisions such as mandatory coverage of maternity care and move people with pre-existing conditions into high-risk insurance pools.

Alternative policy

Some Tea Party-backed House conservatives also are urging action, arguing that it may no longer be enough to simply denounce Obamacare as lawmakers start campaigning for congressional elections in November.

“What’s our alternative to this terrible thing called Obamacare?” asked Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio at a recent lunch meeting of House Republican conservatives.

Another conservative, Representative Raul Labrador of Idaho, said that if Republicans want to win in 2014, they should start “letting the American people know what we are for.”

Boehner, who has presided over dozens of House votes to limit or curtail Obamacare, said that at their annual retreat Jan. 29-31, House Republicans would discuss a plan to make healthcare insurance more accessible and affordable.

Republicans have opposed the law for years. They say Obamacare relies too heavily on mandates and results in too much government interference in the marketplace.