The right-leaning Wall Street Journal editorial board is warning congressional Republicans they are wrong to think that Democrats will bear the blame if the GOP fails to replace “Obamacare” and the existing healthcare law collapses.
The paper said in an editorial published Monday night that with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the GOP has an “opportunity is to show that conservative ideas can succeed in health care” but if they can’t pass reform and Obamacare continues to fail, Republicans will suffer in 2018.
“The media will blame Republicans for every premium hike, and voters believe they elected a GOP Congress and President,” the paper said. “If this bill fails Republicans will be forced to come hat-in-hand to [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer’s Democrats for the votes to stop a downward spiral of surging premiums and declining choices. Conservative reform won’t be included.”
The GOP passed one healthcare bill in the House and now they are crafting their own version in the Senate, with some Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky indicating they are likely to vote no on it.
Trump has suggested Republicans could allow Obamacare to simply “fail” on its own as the individual insurance markets contract but House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Tuesday the GOP, which ran on “repeal and replace” for nearly a decade, has a “duty” to offer a better alternative.
