Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Blogs
    • AI
    • Deals
    • Layoff Tracker
    • HIMSS 2023
  • Opinion
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - AI and Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
  • Data & Insights
    • Data & Insights Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Government
June 25, 2015 12:00 AM

Republicans' new challenge: Replace it with what?

Melanie Evans
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is expected to formally enter the presidential race next month, urged Republicans via Twitter to “redouble their efforts to repeal and replace this destructive & costly law.”

    In eliminating the last major legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act's insurance subsidies, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday raised significant new hurdles for Republicans who continue to make repealing and replacing the law the centerpiece of this year's legislative and next year's political campaign strategies.

    The decision likely ends any chance that the courts will dismantle the law, political observers said. The 6-3 decision also ruled out any possible reinterpretation by a future administration that could reverse the court's ruling.

    For Republicans, that narrows options to override the law to the crowded campaign trail and Congress, where the Republican-controlled chambers face an assured veto from the president.

    “It is such a clear judgment,” said Joseph Antos, a healthcare economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank in Washington. “That's it. This is a clear message to Republicans if you want to change anything about the ACA, you really do have to repeal it and start all over again.”

    Any Republican plan will likely retain the more popular elements of the ACA, which have widespread public support such as the guarantee that people can't be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. “It's political reality that we're not going to go back to the old days where people can be refused coverage,” Antos said.

    But Republican alternatives offered to date scrap mandates for employer and individual coverage, which insurers insist are necessary to make guaranteed issue work. If only people with high healthcare needs buy insurance, rates become unaffordable.

    Leading think tanks on the right still aren't offering specific alternatives. A Republican alternative will take shape during the campaign, said Dan Holler, a spokesman with the conservative Heritage Action for America. “There is going to be a robust debate about what America's healthcare looks like post-Obamacare,” he said.

    Hollar said the court decision “reset the debate” on the law to its repeal. “The Supreme Court is making a habit of saving Obamacare,” he said. “If Republicans ever expect to get rid of this law, it's going to have to be done by Congress. They can't continue to rely on the court to save them.”

    A renewed debate over healthcare reform in the run up to next year's election could sway public opinion, which remains bitterly divided over the law. Half disapproved of the law in the latest Gallup poll compared with 44% in favor, although favorable opinion has climbed in recent months.

    “It's going to be hotly rhetorical,” said Dan Mendelson, the CEO of healthcare consulting company Avalere Health.

    Democratic presidential hopefuls, meanwhile, may seek to expand the law's reach to address high health plan deductibles, which are common in subsidized coverage but leave households will potentially large bills when they seek care, said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University. Democrats may also seek greater patient choice of physicians to counter the proliferation of narrow health plan networks, which insurers are increasingly using in their exchange-offered plans to hold down costs.

    Republican presidential hopefuls lost no time deriding the decision and calling for repeal. Scott Walker, who is expected to formally enter the race next month, urged Republicans via Twitter to “redouble their efforts to repeal and replace this destructive & costly law.” Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, quickly sent out a barrage of Tweets endorsing repeal of the law and its replacement.

    Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who leads Republicans on the fundraising front, joined the Twitter chorus with a call to repeal the law. "I am disappointed in the Burwell decision, but this is not the end of the fight against ObamaCare," he said.

    Democrats, in praising the ruling, tried to put the politics of Obamacare in the rear view mirror. Many are declaring the high court's decision Thursday as the final act in the nation's long-running debate over the law.

    “Five years in, this in no longer about a law, this is not about the Affordable Care Act as legislation, or Obamacare as a political football, this is healthcare in America,” President Barack Obama said in his Rose Garden speech shortly after the decision was announced.

    “What we are not going to do is unravel what has now been woven into the fabric of America,” Obama said.

    Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid used Twitter to tell Republicans to move on. “Obamacare is the law of the nation," he wrote. "Republicans should stop wasting the time of the American people by trying to repeal it.”

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    congress prescription drugs
    PBMs, Big Pharma face off in House hearing
    Biden COVID copy_i_i.jpg
    Biden administration asks employers to help more workers who lose Medicaid
    Most Popular
    1
    Centene to lay off 2,000 workers
    2
    How health systems are battling price-gouging allegations
    3
    Senate advances bill to temporarily aid hospitals, health centers
    4
    Elevance, Blue Cross Louisiana halt $2.5B proposed deal
    5
    Tower Health to sell urgent care centers, close others
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare Alert: Sign up for this breaking news email to be kept in the loop as urgent healthcare business news unfolds.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Help Center
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
      • AI
      • Deals
      • Layoff Tracker
      • HIMSS 2023
    • Opinion
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
    • Data & Insights
      • Data & Insights Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing