Get it wrong and ‘repeal and replace’ might have a double meaning

Far be it from this Editorial Board to predict the success or failure of the effort to replace the Affordable Care Act with the American Health Care Act, but at this juncture the drive is taking a full frontal assault from many quarters that could lead to its doom.

One of the most notable groups that has come out against the House plan is the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Some lawmakers, like Sen. Paul Rand, R-Ky., said the “House leadership plan is Obamacare Lite. It will not pass. Conservatives are not going to take it.” One senator’s opposition does not make legislation disappear, but he’s joined by other senators and representatives in the House Freedom Caucus and outside organizations from the Club for Growth to Heritage Action to the Cato Institute. And that is just the beginning.

The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Catholic Health Association of the United States and the Children’s Hospital Association have said, according to The New York Times, that they cannot support the bill “as currently written.” Also opposed are the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and AARP.

In a statement, AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond said the House plan “Would make changes to our current health care system, such as shortening the life of Medicare, hiking costs for those who can least afford higher insurance premiums, risking seniors’ ability to live independently, and giving tax breaks to big drug companies and health insurance companies....”

The bill’s plan for Medicaid was also attacked by America’s Health Insurance Plans, an insurance lobby that has nearly 1,300 member companies that sell coverage to 200 million Americans over plans to change Medicaid financing.

It is important to note that this legislation is being fast-tracked and while that may work in sausage making every now and again, it may not work with something even President Trump had to say last month, “I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” The lawmakers and the president might want to take a step back and instead of making sausage, remember another phrase made famous in a Paul Masson Winery ad campaign, (adjusted for the situation) “We will sell no law before its time,” particularly a law that reaches so many aspects of the economy and millions of Americans. We understand that they want to make good on their promise to repeal and replace, but if it ends up blowing up in their faces and hurting Americans, voters will be looking to repeal and replace them.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Get it wrong and ‘repeal and replace’ might have a double meaning."