Break It Down!
Sir Winston Churchill was the first to use the phrase above, when in 1939, he described the complex and unpredictable nature of Russia’s actions at the start of World War II. Churchill conceded he couldn’t predict the future but asserted there was a key to discerning Russia’s motivation, and that was, in his view, Russia’s national interest.
I’m here to submit that Republicans have found the question of what to do with and about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, to be their personal riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Having watched a rather indelicate dance unfold over the last 15 and a half years, the metaphor that comes to mind is the dog who chased and caught the car and had no earthly idea what to do with it. Is there a key? If there is, the GOP has yet to find it.
President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law March 23, 2010. Republicans far and near boast of their rock-solid opposition to the bill. Their resolve and resistance were so undiluted, even to this day they gloat in retelling that not a single Republican voted for the measure. Not only that, but once passed, they immediately commenced trying to overturn the law. In fact, the House of Representatives and Senate when controlled by the GOP have considered resolutions to repeal the ACA at least 70 times.
Suffice it to say, those efforts, all of them, failed. And frankly, no small part of the reason for the inability of the GOP to repeal and replace Obamacare is, they have never devised their own plan for what to replace it with. Not Mitch McConnell, not John Bohner, not Kevin McCarthy, not Mike Johnson, and definitely not Donald J. Trump. The next plan will be the first plan.
Clearly, the ACA has not been a panacea. However, Let’s be clear, the GOP opposition to the ACA did not just begin after the law passed. Republicans in Congress tried at every turn to kill the bill before it became law, and if they couldn’t kill it, to make it as ineffective as possible. Moreover, the rollout was shaky. However, despite an uneven start, as it became clearer, that shortcomings notwithstanding, the ACA was the best healthcare solution available, consumers satisfaction for the law increased…significantly. Two of the most popular provisions of the law are the elimination of pre-existing conditions and retaining children on their parents’ policies until age 26. To wit, the ACA currently enjoys an over 70% approval rating among Americans.
The inability of Trump and the Republican Party to replace the Affordable Care Act underscores the complexities of American healthcare policy and the difficulties of unifying a party around a single legislative solution. Deep ideological divisions, public attachment to key ACA provisions, and the practical challenges of crafting a viable alternative all contributed to the failure to deliver on Mr. Trump’s and other GOP members’ signature campaign promise. The ACA remains a central feature of the American healthcare landscape, and the Republican struggle to replace it serves as a cautionary tale about the realities of governance and the importance of policy details. For now, the GOP challenge to repeal and replace the ACA remains “A Riddle Wrapped In A Mystery Inside An Enigma ACA-Style!”
I’m done; holla back!
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For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act
BREAK IT DOWN! 