Senator Lamar Alexander understand how hard crafting health policy is.
Alexander said replacing Obamacare could take longer than the education bill he worked to pass last year, which took six years.
“That was hard, but this is even more difficult because we spent six years as the Hatfields and the McCoys adopting our positions and shooting at each other,” he told reporters. “So building consensus in an environment like that is hard to do. But if we keep in mind that we’re trying to help people who are hurting and trying to keep people from being hurt, then that will encourage consensus.”
More than six years! Making predictions in this environment is a fool’s errand, but I’ll do it anyway. I expect repeal with delay will happen by reconciliation. But the delay will be two years. (Maybe, maybe if members of Congress get a little spooked they’ll delay repeal for three or four years, but not six.)
Then, if Senator Alexander is right, there will be no GOP replace plan in time. What then? Either Congress will kick the can and delay repeal further or key parts of the ACA will expire. This process will repeat itself indefinitely or until Democrats control the government again.
If the GOP cannot craft a plan in two or so years, they will never do so. Never. Each election cycle will be too disruptive. A health care bill is much harder than an education bill. If you haven’t noticed, health care is a third rail onto which primary and general election opponents attempt to push one another.
Endless, can-kicking repeal will be the best, achievable alternative.
But the uncertainty is terrible for insurers, as well as hospitals and state legislators trying to manage Medicaid programs. Repeated delayed repeal will probably lead to states with no marketplace insurers, a cessation if not retrenchment of Medicaid expansion, and will threaten the movement toward value-based payment.
Senator Alexander may get this, but I’m not sure the rest of his caucus does.
