McConnell: Senate To Vote On Repeal This Week, Replace Plan Will ‘Rapidly’ Follow
But the Senate majority leader didn't offer any specifics. Meanwhile, possible GOP defectors threaten the strategy to dismantle the law without a plan for replacement and the decision over what to do about taxes puts Republicans between a rock and a hard place.
The Associated Press:
GOP Lawmakers Vow Quick Action To Enact New Health Care Law
Top Republicans said Sunday they’ll move quickly to enact a new health care law, but they won’t say how long that might take or what might replace President Barack Obama’s version. Questions surrounding the future GOP plan have unnerved key parts of the health care industry, including hospitals and insurers that have warned Congress against uncertainty. (1/8)
The Wall Street Journal:
Republican Skepticism Grows Over Strategy On Health-Law Repeal
Republicans in both the House and Senate are expressing growing skepticism of their party’s approach to repealing the Affordable Care Act, signaling potential peril ahead for a strategy that relies on nearly complete GOP unity. In the House, some conservatives are balking at a budget document meant to serve as the vehicle to repeal the 2010 health law. Meanwhile, in the Senate, a growing number of Republicans are questioning the wisdom of repealing the law without knowing how they will replace it. (Peterson and Armour, 1/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Law Taxes Complicate GOP’s Repeal Strategy
Republicans eager to scrap the 2010 health-care law are wrestling with whether to immediately cut off the tax revenue it brings in. Among the thorniest issues GOP lawmakers face as they hash out how to try to dismantle the Affordable Care Act is that getting rid of the health law’s taxes now would eliminate a source of revenue they would need to fund the two- or three-year transition period until any replacement plan is in place. Repealing the taxes would throw into question how to fund the subsidies that help many people get health coverage by offsetting their premium costs, health analysts say. (Peterson and Rubin, 1/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Obama Urges GOP Plan To Delay Its Repeal Of Health Law
Mr. Obama, in a live interview on the news website Vox, said Republicans repeatedly promised they could do better but have failed to put out a stronger plan. He said it would be hard for the GOP to craft a better, cheaper proposal that leaves everyone satisfied, but that he would publicly support it if they do. “You don’t want a situation where they make a promise they can’t keep,” Mr. Obama said. “I’ve worked on this a long time. If we have a better way to do this, we would have done it. It would have been in my interest to do it, because I knew I would be judged by how it worked.” (Armour, 1/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Repeal Obamacare? Count Me In If You Can Do Better, Obama Challenges GOP
Republicans now face the high hurdle of matching their rhetoric about providing a better system than the one Democrats were able to implement, Obama said. He called plans to simply repeal the plan without a clear replacement ready “irresponsible.” (Memoli, 1/6)
Politico:
Obamacare Repeal's Doomsday Scenario
Hospital and health plan leaders talk in almost apocalyptic terms about what might lie ahead if Republicans abolish Obamacare without a blueprint for its replacement. Their doomsday scenario: Millions of people could lose their health care coverage, hospitals could hemorrhage cash and shocks to the $3 trillion-a-year health system could send ripples through the entire economy. (Demko and Cancryn, 1/9)