House Speaker Paul Ryan said Monday that Obamacare wouldn’t be repealed if Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election, in an obvious but striking acknowledgement from a leading Republican.
Ryan expressed agreement with Milwaukee radio host Jay Weber, who suggested the Democratic presidential nominee wouldn’t agree to ditch the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have been trying to do for years.
“Another hard truth: Obamacare doesn’t get repealed, likely ever, if Hillary wins,” Weber asked Ryan in an interview. “Doesn’t get repealed. Agree?”
“Yes, yeah, I do agree. I do agree,” Ryan answered. “Hillary’s talking about a public option, which is basically double down on government-run healthcare. That’s the opposite of what we’re offering. We actually have a plan to replace Obamacare. All of us have basically gotten a consensus on what our plan is, but we have to win an election to put it in place.”
Clinton has said she would like to improve some parts of the healthcare law, such as increasing its subsidies to buy health coverage. But she has been clear that she would not help Republicans repeal the law.
Republicans’ next shot at getting rid of the law and replacing it with their own plan could come in four years, if they won the White House in 2020. But at that point, the law’s marketplaces would have been operating for eight years, making them much harder to shut down.
