Erick Erickson: Don’t Try to Fix Obamacare. Abolish It.
Republicans ran advertisements noting they had voted 70 or more times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and they would do it as soon as they had control of Congress and the White House.
Voters gave them just that. And now Republicans, who had used the word “repeal” like a meditation chant, act like the proverbial dog that caught the car. The plan they all liked in 2015 — one that would have ended the law’s mandates, subsidies and Medicaid expansion — would not pass today.
.. Mr. Trump’s voters supported a man who promised a government-run health care plan that would provide universal coverage. In other words, he promised more than Obamacare. For that matter, Mr. Trump promised more government involvement in health care than Hillary Clinton did.
.. Mr. Trump’s voters want Obamacare, but they want Mr. Trump’s gold-plated branding on it.
.. Democrats were far more focused on expanding coverage and ensuring every American could get insurance than they were on making coverage affordable.
.. Instead, they should focus on cost.
.. Increasing competition and choice would lower prices for all kinds of insurance.
.. Watching many Americans demand repeal, while voting for a man who promised a government-run, universal coverage solution, only increases politicians’ cynicism about the American voter.