[I]n 2017, you can also rest assured that the health care industry would go all-out to protect Obamacare from repeal. Insurers like WellPoint, Molina, UnitedHealth, and Centene make a lot of money administering Medicaid, and will resist any rollbacks of that program. Hospitals have been the most influential lobbyists in favor of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. The pharmaceutical industry, led by Pfizer, ran ads supporting Obamacare in 2009 and 2010, confident that the health law would expand the market for its products. […]
The newspapers that today are filled with interviews of hapless Americans facing cancellations of their health plans due to Democrats, will in 2017 be filled with the same interviews of those facing cancellations due to Republicans [if they enact repeal]. […]
There are many Republicans and conservatives who are aware of the political trap that they have set for themselves. But they are afraid to voice that concern publicly, for fear of being branded as RINOs: Republicans In Name Only.
It’s hard to imagine a Republican winning the 2016 GOP primary by stepping back from the party’s insistence on repealing Obamacare. But it’s also doubtful that a Republican can win the 2016 general election by throwing 24 million Americans off of their health plans. And therein lies the rub.
– Avik Roy, Forbes
