Pence: No one will “fall through the cracks” in ObamaCare repeal

Miki, the replacement will be very similar to ACA, except they will
add the options that the Republicans wanted to amend in the first
place, and the Democrats wouldn't allow because their donors said no.
Two of those options are Cross-State competition (BIG TIME COST
REDUCTIONS!), and Job-Job portability.

If those were originally part of ACA, then it's quite likely Hillary
would now be president. SO thank you to Pelosi for refusing :)



Pence: No one will "fall through the cracks" in ObamaCare repeal
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/03/01/pence-no-one-will-fall-through-the-cracks-in-obamacare-repeal/

Last night, Vice President Mike Pence fulfilled his office's
traditional role when the president speaks to Congress: remain in the
background and lead the applause. This morning, Pence has taken the
lead among the administration's surrogates, hitting the morning news
shows to boost Donald Trump's well-received presidential address. The
most contentious issue raised last night was ObamaCare, and Pence
tells ABC's George Stephanopoulos on the set of Good Morning America
that Trump takes the transition very seriously. The top principle,
Pence says, will be to ensure that no one "falls through the cracks":

ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Vice President Mike Pence today said "no one is going to fall through
the cracks" in President Trump's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare
amid fears that those who have health coverage now will lose it.

"What the president wants the Congress to do is to create a framework
for people to be able to afford coverage," Pence said on ABC News'
"Good Morning America." "I think the president has made it clear, no
one is going to fall through the cracks in this."

How does one define falling through the cracks? Does it mean not being
able to afford less-expensive plans in the future, or does it mean any
interruption in the status quo? Stephanopoulos tried three times to
define it as the latter, asking Pence repeatedly whether Trump's plan
would "guarantee that no one loses coverage?"

Recall that ObamaCare itself didn't meet that standard. Despite dozens
of promises from Barack Obama himself that "if you like your plan, you
can keep your plan," millions of Americans had their plans canceled in
October 2013 for being non-ACA compliant. Over the course of
succeeding enrollment periods, many more continued to lose their
existing plans as insurers bailed out of marketplaces and consolidated
their offerings. Stephanopoulos' question applies every year to the
current system, even if the media isn't quite as interested in
covering the answer to it.

However, the media will get very interested in each and every case of
canceled coverage when Republicans repeal and replace ObamaCare, and
Republicans know it. That's why a large number of them want a
replacement plan ready to approve either at the same time as repeal or
very quickly afterward. They understand the political risks involved —
and so does Pence and Trump himself, who warned Congress last night to
ensure a "stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the
healthcare exchanges." Fair or not, the Trump administration
understands that they will get judged harshly on any failure in that
process.

To say that this has made some Republicans on Capitol Hill a little
risk adverse is an understatement. Unfortunately, there's no easy way
to unwind ObamaCare unilaterally. The best policy is a rapid repeal to
take effect at the end of the current insurance cycle, and then
challenge Democrats to work on a replacement. As long as ObamaCare and
its top-down control of health insurance markets is still in
existence, they will fight tooth and nail to keep it. Only after
getting rid of it entirely first will there be an opening for another
approach.

Republicans — including Trump — ran on this promise for the last
several years. They may take some heat in the transition, but it's
nothing compared to what will happen if they don't show some courage
and deliver on this promise. Not only will it be a massive betrayal of
voters who have elected them largely on this issue, it will make it
look like the Democrats had the right answer all along, regardless of
how disastrous it has proven to be. Republicans may be between a rock
and a hard place, but they put themselves there — and they'd better
take action to resolve it, the more quickly the better.