Two top Republicans defended their Obamacare replacement plan Tuesday morning, pushing back against complaints from their conservatives colleagues that it’s “Obamacare Lite.”
“This is Obamacare Gone,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Brady and Rep. Greg Walden, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, insisted they’re confident they will be able to win over Republicans who are skeptical about the measure, which would eliminate big parts of the Affordable Care Act but leave a substantial portion of it in place.
Republicans had vowed to repeal and replace the healthcare law this year, now that they finally have support from the White House.
“We can act now, or we can keep fiddling around and squander this opportunity,” Brady said. “House Republicans are choosing to act now.”
But they are walking a fine line. If they lose too many GOP votes in the House or Senate, the effort may gridlock amid firm opposition from Democrats.
A big question is how much the replacement would cost and how many people it would cover. Brady told reporters there will be a score from the Congressional Budget Office before the legislation goes to the House floor.
Republicans initially wanted to pay for the bill by capping the tax exemption for employer-sponsored coverage, but Brady said that proposal was dropped due to opposition among the rank-and-file. Economists widely agree that limiting the employer tax break for coverage could dramatically improve how health insurance is shopped for and purchased, but employer groups have lobbied hard against such a change.
“At the end of the day, in our conference the direction they gave us was it was not a provision they were comfortable with,” Brady said. “So we decided to go with another option.”
