As Republican lawmakers promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, their staffers are spending hours responding to a flood of phone calls and emails from people worried about losing coverage or benefits.
“In the last few weeks, something has changed,” said Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. “All of a sudden our phone calls and emails are lighting up.”
But angry constituents didn’t deter Democrats from passing the Affordable Care Act. And they likely won’t stop Republicans from trying to repeal the healthcare law, either.
Some staffers say they’ve had trouble getting other work done, because they’re obligated to respond to every constituent who reaches out. And the calls are overwhelmingly from people who don’t want the law repealed.
In one Senate Republican office, 90 percent of constituents calling about healthcare in the past few weeks have pressured for keeping the law. A health aide who works for a House Republican said her call load nearly doubled in the first month of the new Congress, with callers overwhelmingly opposed to repeal.
“I definitely got behind on my legislative responsibilities because every time I’d look away from my healthcare messages there would be 100 or 200 more,” the aide said.
Republicans, as they seek to repeal and replace the healthcare law, are finding themselves in a similar situation as Democrats in 2009, when liberals faced heavy opposition in town halls to their healthcare reform ideas. Hecklers are again disturbing town halls around the country, but this time to express outrage that the law’s subsidies and consumer protections might be taken away.
Yet GOP leaders don’t appear to be wavering in their commitment to ditching much of the law, insisting on Tuesday that the effort is on track and they will have a repeal and replace measure ready within weeks that will solve Obamacare’s problems.
Members, particularly conservative members, are shrugging off the opposition from constituents.
“The protesters are not going to vote for us anyway,” said Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, who helped found the Freedom Caucus, a group pushing for quick repeal of the law even if a replacement isn’t ready.
“Members of Congress are scared all the time, and they actually need to just lean in,” Labrador said.
Some members are downplaying similarities between the 2009 protests, which ultimately gave rise to the Tea Party, and the protests now. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said he believes much of the opposition didn’t arise organically, but was instead organized.
“When you see the ads out there for paid protesters, when you see the signs, they’re not made up in someone’s living room,” Perry said. “This is a very different operation.”
Other lawmakers expressed more sympathy for constituents who fear they or their families will be hurt if the healthcare law is repealed.
“The people coming to the town halls are concerned, and their concerns are reasonable,” said Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich.
But responding to those concerns requires a different script for aides, who are used to hearing from constituents frustrated by the law while President Barack Obama was in office.
They used to be able to respond to callers with empathy, assuring them the boss was on their side. Now, they have to do a lot more listening and telling people they won’t just strip away the healthcare law with nothing in its place.
“I think we’ve generally been saying we don’t have a desire to leave anyone in a lurch,” said Juliana Heerschap, spokeswoman for Brat. “Ensuring there’s a transition is certainly a priority. I think that’s the standard line we’ve been using.”
One healthcare lobbyist said she has noticed the difference during her frequent visits to Capitol Hill offices.
“The staff are not agreeing or disagreeing with the callers — they are just listening, taking down the input and otherwise trying to stay on top of the phones that are ringing off the hook,” the lobbyist said.
