We are now into the eighth year of Republicans beating the anti-Obamacare drum. Yet in 2017, with the White House, the House and the Senate under GOP control, the possibility of eliminating the Affordable Care Act is real. Already, several ideas that repeal — some of which also replace — the ACA have been put forward by legislators.

The reality, however, is that wholesale repeal without a substantive replacement plan may not be the best approach. Fortunately, the ACA contains within itself a basic framework for altering the law and identifying what works best. Recent proposed legislation builds on this possibility and represents one of the most interesting policy ideas in recent memory.