President Trump has, once again, continued his efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. His renewed interest in repealing the ACA comes after the Texas v. United States case on healthcare that was conducted in December of last year.
The ruling of the court stated that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. According to U.S District Court Judge Reed O’Connor, the constitutional foundation for the law was that it required people to buy insurance or pay a penalty, and since Congress repealed the penalty, the foundation was deemed unconstitutional.
Because of this court ruling, the Trump Administration is asking that judges get rid of the ACA altogether, according to USA Today.
This decision also comes as a surprise to Congressional Republicans who were focused on different measures concerning healthcare, such as reducing the cost of prescription drugs, since they had no replacement for the ACA in 2017.
The New York Times reported that Republicans have been “distressed” by the administration’s efforts to repeal the act since they believe it is a “political liability” for their party.
Trump’s advisors have reached out to him to discuss the situation. President Trump, Mike Pence, Ronna McDaniel (chairwoman of the Republican National Committee) and Brad Parscale (Trump’s campaign manager) all held a phone call to discuss the problems with repealing the ACA without a plan-B.
Ms. McDaniel and Mr. Parscale claimed that they did not understand why the president was doing this, to which the president said if they do not do anything they would be “known as the party that could not figure out how to properly draft a health care legislative package.”
Other groups have spoken up about this issue including Democrats, insurance companies and hospitals saying that 20 million people would lose healthcare coverage if the courts follow the Trump Administration’s wishes.
However, White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney claimed that Americans who have health coverage through the ACA, will not lose their insurance if the law is struck down. ABC News reports that Mulvaney provided little detail about how he can ensure such a claim.
In lieu of the court ruling and renewed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Trump has tweeted that the Republicans are developing a healthcare plan better than Obamacare and that the “vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the house.”
This means that he will be developing a plan to take to the American public during his 2020 presidential campaign. In response to Trump’s tweets, Senator Chuck Schumer said “translation: they have no health care plan. It’s the same old song they’ve been singing. They’re for repeal. They have no replacement.”
Trump has also pointed to three senators, John Barrasso, Bill Cassidy and Rick Scott to “form a really great plan” to replace Obamacare.
Those three senators agree that replacing the law will require bipartisan support. Barrasso claimed “it’s going to need bipartisan support because Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House.”
In an effort by the House, they will vote this week on a resolution urging that the Justice Department reverse its position and defend the health care law in court. This vote will force lawmakers to take a side on the issue.