Over the past week, two high-ranking congressional Republicans have (reluctantly) expressed sentiments that suggest the GOP may be slowly conceding in the now years-long debate over health care reform.
In an interview with The Spokesman-Review published Friday, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the number four ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, said the Affordable Care Act likely won’t be repealed.
McMorris Rodgers said President Barack Obama’s signature health care law is probably here to stay, so Republicans should focus on other issues.
“We need to look at reforming the exchanges,” the Republican conference chairwoman said.
Her comments mark a departure from the GOP mission of repealing the law in its entirety. House Republicans have voted to repeal or change the legislation over 50 times in the last four years. Few of the bills have gained traction in the Senate.
There are signs that other GOP leaders may be starting to slowly accept the reality that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay. Last Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) conceded that repealing President Obama’s signature health reform law “isn’t the answer,” saying it’s too late to roll back all of the changes in the insurance industry over the past several years.
“Obamacare is the law of the land. It is there and it has driven all types of changes in our health care delivery system. You can’t recreate an insurance market overnight,” Boehner told a group of his constituents at a Rotary Club meeting in his home district.
While a spokesperson for Boehner downplayed the comments, telling Roll Call, “For four years now the House Republican position has been repeal-and-replace,” the truth is that the Republican position on health care has grown increasingly inconsistent.
Republicans in the House have repeatedly promised to introduce a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, even suggesting that it will be able to preserve the ACA’s most popular provisions — but that plan hasn’t materialized yet. Congressional Republicans have started to show their frustration that the GOP has not been able to unify around one plan for health care reform, and even Fox News recently called Republicans out for their lack of action on health care.
If House Speaker Boehner has done anything consistently, it’s been his inconsistent messaging on health care reform. As MSNBC reports, Boehner has sent some very mixed messages over the past few years:
- In 2011, Boehner tried several times to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
- In 2012, shortly after the national elections, Boehner suggested he was done trying to repeal the law. “It’s pretty clear that the president was re-elected,” he said. “Obamacare is the law of the land.”
- In 2013, Boehner returned to trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act and even shut down the federal government in part over ill-defined opposition to the law.
- In 2014, just a few weeks after saying his caucus will keep up its repeal crusade, Boehner has returned to the realization that the ACA is “the law of the land” and full repeal “isn’t the answer.”
While it may be unpopular among Congressional Republicans, Boehner’s underlying message remains intact, reinforcing the slow – but inevitable – shift in the debate over health care reform.
“Between all of the positive news surrounding implementation of the law, the remarkable enrollment data, Democrats starting to look at the law as a political benefit, Republicans hedging on ACA issues like Medicaid expansion, and the nation’s top GOP lawmaker abandoning full repeal as “the answer,” Obamacare proponents finally have the wind at the their backs,” writes MSNBC.
Meanwhile, enrollment in Obamacare plans has topped 8 million, and public opinion is rapidly improving — even in Republican districts.
Still, some Republicans are hanging on to the rhetoric and reaffirming their commitment to punish millions of newly insured Americans by repealing the health care law with no replacement.
Obama himself has chided the GOP for wasting time and resources on repeal efforts.
“Republicans have voted more than 50 times to undermine or repeal health care for millions of Americans,” Obama said during his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. “They should vote at least once to raise the minimum wage for millions of working families.”
But, as the President noted just two weeks ago, the GOP may be slow to accept the law because they are still working through their “stages of grief.”
For the sake of the American people, let’s hope their grieving period doesn’t last through the rest of Obama’s presidency.
Related Articles
- Virginia Republican Puts Extreme Ideology Over Health Of State Residents, Blocks Medicaid Expansion Over Unrelated Abortion Politics (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Obama Calls Out Republicans For 50-Plus Votes To Repeal Obamacare, But Not One On The Minimum Wage (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP Reaffirms Commitment To Punishing Millions Of Newly Insured Americans (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Fact or Fiction: Now That Enrollment Is Over, How Accurate Are Republicans’ Affordable Care Act Talking Points? (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- New Study Shows What We’ve Known All Along: Republican Policies Are (Literally) Killing Us (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- “This Law Is Working”: Today’s Report Signals A Turning Point For The Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The Cost Of GOP Obstruction: New Research Shows States That Embraced The Affordable Care Act Are Faring Significantly Better (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Get Ready For A Right-Wing Meltdown: CBO Says Obamacare Will Cost Less Than Projected, Cover 12 Million Uninsured Americans This Year (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Insanity: Ted Cruz Still Thinks He Can Repeal The Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Deadly Obstructionism: 32 Year Old Florida Woman Dies Thanks To Republicans’ Refusal To Expand Medicaid (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- New Survey Yields More Proof That The Affordable Care Is Working (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Rev. Al Sharpton’s Pointed Message: “Hating Obama Is Not A Health Care Plan” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Paul Krugman Offers Some Awesome Advice: It’s Time To “Celebrate” Obamacare And “Ridicule Right-Wingers” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- OOPS: Paul Ryan Accidentally Exposed The Ugly Truth About GOP’s Obamacare “Replacement” Plan (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Game Over For Obamacare Haters (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Report: Obamacare On Track To Hit 7 Million Enrollees (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- BREAKING: Obamacare Enrollment Tops 6 Million! (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Stuck In The Coverage Gap: Low-Income Women In States Not Expanding Medicaid Face Major Barriers To Critical Health Care Services (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- New Bill Seeks To Expand Insurance Access For Immigrant Women And Families (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- How The Affordable Care Act Opens The Door For Two Vulnerable Populations (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- STUDY: Uninsurance Rate Falls As Millions Sign Up For Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- At Least 9.5 Million Uninsured Americans Have Gained Coverage Under Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Most Of The States Where People Struggle The Most To Afford Health Care Aren’t Expanding Medicaid (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 12 Times Republicans (Falsely) Claimed Nobody Would Sign Up For Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Most Of The Americans Who Oppose Obamacare Still Want To Figure Out How To Make It Work (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Paul Ryan Gets An Earful From Constituent Who Will Save Hundreds Under Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP State Senator Likens Medicaid Expansion To A ‘Tar Baby’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Why You Shouldn’t Believe The Hype About The GOP’s Obamacare “Alternative” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Koch Brothers Group Abandons Anti-Obamacare Ads After Fact-Checkers Prove Them False (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Outside Political Groups Are Spending Records Amounts To Deny Poor People Health Care (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Watch This Doctor Totally School An Anti-Obamacare Senator On Health Care (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Yet ANOTHER Obamacare “Horror Story” Turns Out To Be Fake: Cancer Patient Who Blamed Obamacare For “Unaffordable” Costs Will Actually Save Money (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP Threatens Pay Cut For Medicare Doctors Unless Key Obamacare Provision Is Delayed (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- STUDY: Uninsurance Rate Falls As Millions Sign Up For Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP Finally Goes Too Far On Obamacare: Why The 50th Repeal Vote Is Not The Charm (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP’s Proposal For Health Care Would Lead 1 Million To Lose Employer-Sponsored Insurance (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- How One Governor Is Trying To Avoid Responsibility For Denying Health Care To 600,000 Poor People (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- A New Low? GOP Exploits Innocent People Who Need Obamacare – By Having Them Campaign For Its Demise (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Koch Brothers Hire Paid Actors To Play Obamacare ‘Victims’ In New Attack Ad (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Paul Krugman Takes On The Latest Falsehood In The GOP’s Sabotage Campaign: ‘No, Millions Of Americans Won’t Lose Their Jobs Because Of Obamacare’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- STUDY: Obamacare Could Help Save Americans From ‘Financial Distress’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- No, Obamacare Is Not A Job-Killer (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Author Of CBO’s Job Report Refutes Republicans’ Claim That Obamacare Is A Job-Killer (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- This Week’s Huge Media Fail: Most Media Outlets Botched The CBO’s Obamcare Report (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Obamacare Finally Gives Workers The Freedom Conservatives Demand. Not Surprisingly, Conservatives Are Still Complaining. (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Obama Calls Out Fox News In Pre-Super Bowl Interview: ‘You And Your TV Station Keep Scandals Alive’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP Peddles ANOTHER Fake Obamacare ‘Horror’ Story During State Of The Union Response: Is This The Best They Can Do? (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The Five Worst Things About The New Republican Proposal To Replace Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Number Of Uninsured Americans Drops Amid Obamacare Rollout (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP’s Pathetic “Replace Obamacare” Plan May Finally Be Coming (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Study: Obamacare Will Raise The Poorest Americans’ Incomes By At Least 5 Percent (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 5 Ways The GOP Will Continue Trying To Undermine Obamacare In 2014 (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Pennsylvania Man Confronts His Governor For Refusing To Expand Medicaid: ‘How Many More People Have To Die?’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Debunked: 10 More Myths About The Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The GOP’s Playbook To Sabotage The Affordable Care Act: Republicans Spent Time Planning To Undermine Obamacare, Still Haven’t Taken Time To Develop Their Own Plan For Reform (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Obamacare Exposes Republican Hypocrisy (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Study: States Rejecting Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion Will Cost Taxpayers Billions (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Benefits Of Medicaid Expansion For All States (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Red States Remain Adamantly Opposed To Medicaid Expansion (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- People Of Color, Low-Income Populations Hit Hardest In States ‘Opting Out’ Of Medicaid Expansions (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The Ones Left Behind: Republican Obstruction Keeps Millions Of Poor Americans From Getting Health Insurance (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 3 Big Obamacare Numbers To Start Off The New Year (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- MythBusters: Affordable Care Act Edition (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Media Coverage Of The Affordable Care Act: A Bigger Disaster Than The ACA Website Rollout (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Separating The Myths And Realities On Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- What The Media Is Not Telling You: Everything You Need To Know About Those Infamous “Policy Cancelations,” And Why Obamacare Has Nothing To Do With Them (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The Cost Of Failure To Enact Health Reform: What Would Happen Without The Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Study Yields Promising Findings for Obamacare: Three-Quarters of Americans With Individual Insurance Plans Will Qualify For Subsidies Under Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Why Did The Media Miss The Most Important Health Care News This Week? (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The Five Worst Things About The New Republican Proposal To Replace Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- After Getting Fact-Checked By MSNBC Reporter, GOP Senator Admits His Obamacare ‘Alternative’ Would Burden The Elderly And Other Vulnerable Americans (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Study: Average Obamacare Plans Are Cheaper Than Employer-Sponsored Ones (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Health Care: Even The GOP Doesn’t Know What The GOP Wants (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- CDC Report Documents Extend Of Health Disparities (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 30% of Americans Skip Out on Medical Care Because It’s Too Expensive (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Kentucky Governor Sees Affordable Care Act As A Chance To Heal An Ailing State (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Affordable Care Act Brings Crucial Coverage To Jail Population (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- By Withholding The Medicaid Expansion, Republicans Will Keep The Unintended Pregnancy Rate High (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- GOP Lawmaker Admits To Motivation For Obstruction: “We’re Trying To Create A Barrier To Enrollment” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Arkansas May Kick More Than 80,000 Low-Income People Off Their Health Insurance Plans (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- STUDY: GOP Obstruction Is Leaving Nearly 6 Million Americans Without Medicaid Coverage (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- U.S. Ranks Near Bottom Among Industrialized Nations In Efficiency Of Health Care Spending (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Promoting Prevention Through The Affordable Care Act (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- California Is Already On The Verge Of Beating Its Obamacare Enrollment Goal (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Enrollment Update: Two Million People Have Signed Up For Obamacare! (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Study: Enrollment Of Young Adults In Obamacare Not As Important As Initially Thought (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- HealthCare.Gov Enrollment Checklist (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid Expansion Has Already Cut The Number Of Uninsured West Virginians By A Third (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Good News For Obamacare, Terrible News For Obamacare Haters: The Law Is Not Going To Collapse (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Insurance Companies Are Optimistic About Obamacare: “We’re All In, And We’re Happy We Are” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Patients Are Less Likely To Get Information About Obamacare In States Where Governor Opposes It (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Debunking The Latest Obamacare Myth: The ‘Insurance Company Bailout’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- What The Newest Obamacare Numbers Mean For The Health Law (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- More Americans Now Say They’re Planning To Enroll In Obamacare – And Many Of Them Are Healthy (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 5 Ways The GOP Will Continue To Try To Undermine Obamacare In 2014 (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Nearly 4 Million Low-Income Americans Now Have Health Coverage Under Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Behind The Numbers: Americans Share How Obamacare Helped Them (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Republican States Lag In Health Care Coverage For Residents (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Remember All Those Obamacare ‘Horror Stories’? Not Looking So Bad Now. (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The GOP’s “Scary Movie” Strategy for Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- The GOP’s Unhealthy Bias Against Obamacare (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- New Research On ‘Double Discrimination’ Shows Harmful Physical, Mental Health Effects (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Racial Disparities In Cancer Research: A Bigger Problem Than You Realize (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Individuals Risk Psychiatric Disorders From Discriminatory Policies (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- LGB Individuals Living In Anti-Gay Communities Die Earlier, Study Shows (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- CDC Report Documents Extend Of Health Disparities (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- 30% of Americans Skip Out on Medical Care Because It’s Too Expensive (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Kentucky Governor Sees Affordable Care Act As A Chance To Heal An Ailing State (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Affordable Care Act Brings Crucial Coverage To Jail Population (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Systematic Inequality Behing Staggering Racial Gap In Cancer Survivor Rates (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Pharmaceutical CEO: Cancer Drug Is Only For ‘Westerners Who Can Afford It’ (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Republican Obstructionists Are The Real Death Panel (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Sorry, Republicans: The Obamacare Train Didn’t Wreck (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Conservatives Scramble To Come Up With New Anti-Obamacare Talking Points, But The Facts Speak For Themselves (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Virginia Lawmakers Continue To Refuse Medicaid Expansion, Decide To Build Themselves New Offices Instead (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
- Obamacare Enrollment Surges Past 7 Million: “This Law Is Here To Stay” (publichealthwatch.wordpress.com)
Discussion
No comments yet.