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 Trump told the New York Times he wanted a substitute for President
Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare law done "very quickly or
simultaneously" to the vote to get rid of it. (http://nyti.ms/2ia9qLk)
The law, popularly known as Obamacare, has enabled millions of
previously uninsured Americans to obtain health insurance, but
Republicans condemn it as a government overreach.
With Trump set to succeed Obama on Jan. 20, Republicans, who control
both chambers of Congress, face a dilemma. They have a chance to
make good on their promise to gut the law, but forging an agreement
on a replacement plan has eluded them.
If Congress does not put in place a substitute, millions of
Americans with the insurance may be at risk of losing coverage.
The law extended insurance coverage to uninsured Americans by
expanding the Medicaid program for the poor and creating online
exchanges where people can shop for health insurance plans. It also
provides subsidies to help individuals and families afford those
plans.
House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that some
elements of an insurance substitute likely would be ready when
lawmakers vote to repeal Obamacare, but others would take longer.
Some Republicans have said it could take up to two years to craft a
replacement. Trump said a delay of that length was unacceptable,
telling the Times: "It won't be repeal and then two years later go
in with another plan."
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Trump's comments were
"not inconsistent" with lawmakers' plans.
The Senate is set to vote this week on a timeline to draft
legislation repealing Obamacare. If it passes, the House would vote
next. But a vote to actually repeal the law would come later.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans were mired
in "internecine fights" and called on Trump to publish his own
Obamacare substitute.
Trump during the 2016 election campaign put forth general principles
for health reform, such as removing the mandate that all Americans
have insurance or pay a tax and expanding the use of tax-free health
savings accounts, but he did not release a full plan.
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"If they are repealing, they have an obligation to show us a full
replacement plan, not just a little piece of it," Schumer said. "And
once they show us that plan, we'll give them our opinion of it."
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican who heads the health
committee, said some Obamacare replacement steps need to be in place
before March 1, when insurance companies will be deciding whether to
offer plans for 2018.
In a speech on Tuesday, Alexander said interim steps could include
letting people use Obamacare subsidies to purchase other plans or
giving states flexibility to determine which benefits insurance
plans must cover.
House Speaker Ryan said Republicans would like to pack whatever
replacement provisions they can into repeal legislation. Because the
Senate plans to use a budget procedure known as reconciliation, they
only need majority support in the 100-member Senate where
Republicans hold 52 seats.
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who heads the finance panel, said
Senate rules for the reconciliation process could make it difficult
to put replacement provisions in the repeal bill.
"If he can come up with something that would help push this forward,
I'd be all for it," Hatch said of Ryan.
(Writing by Emily Stephenson; Additional reporting by Lisa Lambert;
Editing by Caren Bohan, Lisa Shumaker and Howard Goller)
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