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What ‘Repeal And Replace’ Might Mean For Obamacare

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The fight over Obamacare. The president’s on the Hill. Republicans are ready to act. What will survive?

Members of the House of Representatives, some joined by family, gather in the House chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, as the 115th Congress gets under way. (Scott Applewhite/AP)
Members of the House of Representatives, some joined by family, gather in the House chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017, as the 115th Congress gets under way. (Scott Applewhite/AP)

It’s day one of the new Republican Congress, and the first thing on the table — after a retreat on easing ethics oversight — is Obamacare. Repeal has been the battle cry for years. Now Republicans have majorities in the House and Senate. They’ve got Donald Trump coming to the White House. What will they do about American health care? To say repeal is easy. To build an alternative is hard. Democrats are getting in the trenches. This hour On Point, the Republican way on Obamacare. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Julie Rovner, heath policy reporter at Kaiser Health News. Author of "Health Care Politics and Policy, A-Z." (@jrovner)

Noam Levey, healthcare policy reporter for the Los Angeles Times. (@NoamLevey)

Linda Blumberg, senior fellow in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Jason Pye, director of public policy and legislative affairs for FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group. (@pye)

From Tom’s Reading List

Kaiser Health News:If Republicans Repeal Health Law, How Will They Pay For Replacement? — "Leading Republicans have vowed that even if they repeal most of the Affordable Care Act early in 2017, a replacement will not hurt those currently receiving benefits. Republicans will seek to ensure that 'no one is worse off,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with a Wisconsin newspaper earlier this month. “The purpose here is to bring relief to people who are suffering from Obamacare so that they can get something better.”

Los Angeles Times: Republicans finally have the power to repeal Obamacare, but they're still not sure how -- "Congressional Republicans, despite pledging to quickly repeal the Affordable Care Act, are struggling with what parts of the law to roll back and how to lock up the votes they will need, particularly in the Senate, to push their ambitious plans."

Urban Institute: Implications of Partial Repeal of the ACA through Reconciliation — "This scenario does not just move the country back to the situation before the ACA. It moves the country to a situation with higher uninsurance rates than was the case before the ACA’s reforms. To replace the ACA after reconciliation with new policies designed to increase insurance coverage, the federal government would have to raise new taxes, substantially cut spending, or increase the deficit."

This program aired on January 4, 2017.

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