Politics

How You Can Save Obamacare

January 6th 2017

As some Republican congressmen appear to be losing enthusiasm for repealing the Affordable Care Act, liberal activists are urging constituents to get on the phone with their elected officials to convince them to scrap the effort altogether.

President-elect Donald Trump's administration plans to make repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, its “first order or business,” Vice President-elect Mike Pence said in a Wednesday meeting with House Republicans, CBS reports. Yet, Republican leaders have failed to detail its replacement, leaving some GOP Senators expressing reservations about the policy proposal.

mike-penceAP/Patrick Semansky - apimages.com

Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joined Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) when he voiced his objections to scrapping Obamacare before introducing a replacement on Friday, Bloomberg reports.

"Repeal and replacement should take place simultaneously," Corker said.

"I think when we repeal Obamacare we need to have the solution in place moving forward," Cotton said Thursday on MSNBC. "Again, that solution may be implemented in a deliberate fashion. But I don’t think we can repeal Obamacare and say we’re going to get the answer two years from now. Look, this is a very complicated problem."

The Center for American Progress, whose President Neera Tanden helped write the Affordable Care Act, have pounced on these insecurities.

Igor Volsky, the deputy director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, tweeted an graphic displaying the names and numbers of congressmen whose support for repealing Obamacare appeared to be wavering.

Vice President for Health Policy Topher Spiro tweeted a call to contact senators Tuesday.

Spiro instructed Twitter users to call Republican senators in specific states.

Spiro tweetsTwitter/Topher Spiro - twitter.com

The math.

As Vox reports, Republicans need 50 senate votes to pass the repeal plan and there are 52 senate seats held by Republicans. So three defections would kill the replacement bill, as Bloomberg reporter Sahil Kapur tweeted Thursday.

You don't need to have a Republican senator or live in any specific state to voice meaningful opposition to repealing the ACA.

On Wednesday, Twitter user @MMVarney encouraged progressives to even call congressional Democrats.

Former Congressional staff member Emily Ellsworth provided instructions on how to call their representations in a November Twitter thread, as ATTN: reported previously.

Obamacare has been a constant topic of debate among Americans an elected officials. Since its implementation, uninsured rates have fallen to record lows, but customers have expressed concerns about increasing premiums and low quality plans. Nevertheless, A Kaiser Family Foundation poll published January 6 reports that 75 percent of Americans surveyed did not want the Affordable Care Act repealed without a replacement.

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