A closed-door meeting of GOP lawmakers at the party’s retreat this week revealed lawmakers fraught with doubts about repealing Obamacare.
A secret recording of the closed-door meeting sent to several news outlets showed that several Senate and House members are concerned about repeal, including how to get a replacement plan together and how to avoid damaging the insurance markets.
The recording comes as Republicans aim at creating repeal legislation by March or possibly April that can be approved in the Senate via a simple majority instead of a filibuster.
One lawmaker reportedly said lawmakers should be ready for anything they do to be labeled as “Trumpcare.”
“We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., in a report in the Washington Post. “That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.”
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said that any savings from repealing Obamacare, likely to be half a trillion dollars, needs to go toward setting up a replacement.
The comments come as Republican leadership has yet to coalesce around an Obamacare replacement plan. The GOP plans to repeal Obamacare via reconciliation and leave Obamacare’s subsidies and other parts intact for a few years until a replacement is created.
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, chairman of the House Rules Committee, questioned a key pillar of the GOP leadership’s “Better Way” plan to give people refundable tax credits. He reportedly said on the recording that the refundable credit wouldn’t work for middle-class families who can’t afford to pay their premiums and wait for a tax refund.
Currently Obamacare also offers tax credits to pay down the cost of insurance, however, it includes an option that lets people get the credit up front instead of with their tax refund.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
