The Right Way to Repeal

Published March 3, 2017 6:55am ET



After years of campaigning on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare, Republicans in Congress are in disarray about what to do now that voters have empowered them to do just that. In his address to Congress on February 28, President Donald Trump helpfully exercised some leadership by letting Republicans know what kind of replacement plan he prefers. “We should help Americans purchase their own coverage through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts,” Trump said, “but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the government.”

Trump’s remarks were a shot across the bow for any congressional Republicans looking to preserve the fundamentals of Obamacare. And there are some: A few days before Trump’s speech, a draft of a House Republican repeal bill was leaked to Politico. The bill abandoned the long-favored GOP proposal to use tax credits to allow individuals to purchase their own health insurance and instead preserved Obamacare’s mechanisms for doling out direct subsidies to insurers.

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