The Renewed Assault on Obamacare
The last volley of legislative attempts against the ACA, almost still fresh in mind, was all but concluded by the still maligned-by-some late Senator John McCain. Following the relief of some pressure from Robert Mueller’s report on Russian campaign interference, President Trump and his party are launching a new effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in the court system.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act was a key and ostensibly popular campaign promise of the 2016 Trump campaign, along with such hits as a coast-to-coast wall along the Mexican border and a lengthy ban on entry to the United States by all Muslims. Trump promised that in doing so he would “take care of everybody”, and that there would be “no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid.”
On Monday, President Trump had a meeting with several officials in the Oval Office including Vice President Pence and acting White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney and seemingly found some enthusiasm for not only gutting but completely voiding the ACA. By that night, the Department of Justice had contacted the 5th Circuit Appellate Court with a statement endorsing a December 2018 ruling against the constitutionality of the ACA.
That ruling, by U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor of Texas, contends that the successful removal of the individual mandate in 2017 should invalidate the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, due to the same perceived conflict with the U.S. Constitution’s Interstate Commerce Clause.
Almost immediately, President Trump hit Twitter to celebrate the new idea, preemptively declaring the Republican Party the “Party of Healthcare”. On Thursday he echoed the same at a Michigan rally, a state where Obamacare halved the percentage of uninsured.
As in many earlier scuffles over the matter, the plan to destroy it comes with no new plan to replace it, and at least some resistance from both parties. Sen. Susan Collins(R-Maine) for one, stated she is “appalled” at the new strategy which completely subverts Congress. There have been no positive reactions from congressional Democrats, with Sen. Schumer(D-NY) pushing to amend a disaster aid bill in the Senate to “prohibit the Department of Justice from using any funding to litigate the downfall of the ACA in the Circuit Court.”
However popular a repeal strategy may have been in 2016, the ACA now enjoys more popularity than ever before. Polls show 50% of Americans view it favorably, and that percentage has grown steadily.
