It’s been five years since the creation of the Affordable Care Act and Republicans and Democrats are in a high-stakes messaging war over whether the law known has Obamacare has been a tremendous success, or a spectacular failure.
“Higher premiums, higher deductibles, less choice, and fewer jobs — that’s the story of Obamacare five years later,” Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said on Monday.
The Democrats’ signature legislative achievement has proven to be one big broken promise after another.”
Democrats portray the law in stark contrast to the GOP, pointing to the millions of newly insured, many of them from low-income households who otherwise could not afford plans.
“The Affordable Care Act has provided newfound health security to millions of children, women, workers and families,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said. “Thanks to this historic law, more than 16 million previously uninsured Americans have finally secured quality, affordable coverage for themselves and their families.”
The PR battle between opponents and proponents of the law will likely play a significant role in its survival.
Recent polling shows a range of support and opposition to the law. A March 3 Fox poll found 58 percent of the public remains opposed to the law, while a March 5 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed only 44 percent opposed.
Republicans cite public opposition in their effort to gut Obamacare as soon as this year, perhaps by using a parliamentary budget maneuver that would require only 51 votes to repeal significant portions of the law.
Republicans justify their move by underscoring the many aspects of the law that dissatisfy the public, including higher premiums in some cases, fewer choices for medical care, dropped insurance policies and the unpopular tax levied against the uninsured.
“Obamacare has been a burden for families and small businesses, and as rates continue to rise, that burden is not going away,” Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said. “Today is an anniversary most Americans would rather forget.”
Democrats, however, are fighting back hard against the Republican onslaught and argue the public likes the benefits that come with the law and doesn’t want the GOP to repeal it. They believe in the absence of a GOP alternative to Obamacare, the GOP will be seen as too critical and not constructive.
“The Democrats and Obama have doubled down on Obamacare,” Democratic strategist Doug Schoen told the Washington Examiner.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell visited the Arlington Mill Community Center Monday morning with Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe to tout the healthcare law.
A young man at the event, who recently survived a brain tumor, talked about how buying an Obamacare plan on the exchange lowered his healthcare costs to about 10 percent of his income instead of half his income.
“The stories are really what tell it all,” Burwell said. “We can talk about the numbers all we want, but this is the real deal.”
Schoen said Republicans still lack a concrete and viable alternative to the healthcare law, which makes it more difficult to sell a repeal plan to the public.
While different Republicans have unveiled proposals, including Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Richard Burr of North Carolina, the party has not lined up behind a single proposal.
“The Republicans need something to bet on,” Schoen said. “In the absence of that, they will still have high negatives and be seen as too critical and not constructive.”
For now, Republicans are content to take shots at the law, with plenty of ammunition from the public.
On the Senate floor Monday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., read a letter from a Louisville constituent named Karen, who said her health insurance premium under the healthcare law has increased by $550 a month.
“All you have to do is listen to letters like Karen’s, from Louisville, to know that Americans deserve better than what Obamacare has given them,” McConnell said.
As always, Democrats were ready with an answer.
“Five years later,” Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on Twitter, “I am just as proud of the work we did as I was the day President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act it into law.”
Paige Winfield Cunningham contributed to this story.
