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Obama warns of ‘reckless’ plan to repeal ACA without a replacement
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President Barack Obama, JD, said it would be “reckless” for Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act without having a suitable replacement ready to go.
Two weeks from his final day in office, Obama continued to push back against a plan to terminate his signature health care legislation with another scholarly writing urging Republicans to rethink their approach.
“This approach of ‘repeal first and replace later’ is, simply put, irresponsible — and could slowly bleed the health care system that all of us depend on,” Obama wrote in a perspective published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald J. Trump have vowed to act swiftly to repeal the ACA, although Trump has said he would like to keep certain pieces of the legislation guaranteeing coverage to patients with pre-exiting conditions and allowing children to remain on their parents’ health care plans until age 26 years.
Observers have said implementing a replacement for the health care law is easier said than done, and Obama worries that any gap will have negative consequences.
“Given that Republicans have yet to craft a replacement plan, and that unforeseen events might overtake their planned agenda, there might never be a second vote on a plan to replace the ACA if it is repealed,” he wrote. “And if a second vote does not happen, tens of millions of Americans will be harmed.”
It was the second time in his presidency that Obama used the unconventional approach of an academic journal to address health care reform.
In July, he became the first sitting U.S. president to publish an academic paper when he wrote about the progress and future of the ACA in JAMA and warned Republicans against “moving backward on health reform.”
In his most recent writing, Obama said a delay between repealing and replacing the ACA could lead insurance companies to pull out of the Marketplace or significantly increase prices, and could force hospitals and other health care centers to cut jobs and wages.
“What the past 8 years have taught us is that health care reform requires an evidence-based, careful approach, driven by what is best for the American people,” he wrote. “That is why Republicans’ plan to repeal the ACA with no plan to replace and improve it is so reckless. Rather than jeopardize financial security and access to care for tens of millions of Americans, policymakers should develop a plan to build on what works before they unravel what is in place.” – by Gerard Gallagher
Reference:
Obama BH. N Engl J Med. 2016;doi:10.1056/NEJMp1616577.
Disclosure: Please see the full perspective for President Obama’s public financial disclosure report for 2015.