Confidence in Republican health care plan on life support

Confidence in Republican health care plan on life support

Many Republicans were especially thrilled about one thing in November: With control of both houses of Congress and the presidency, they could finally pull the plug on the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

After he took office, President Trump urged Congress to act swiftly on his plan, of which The Daily Herald has obtained an exclusive copy. Here it is:

Step 1: Repeal Obamacare.

Step 2: ??????????

Step 3: Awesome health care system.

In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we turned to you, our readers, to choose the best way to deal with it.

Thirty-one percent in our poll said to improve the existing law, an approach that would require Democrats to play ball with Republicans. Maybe they’ll find a compromise to preserve the popular parts of Obamacare and fix what doesn’t work. Then maybe they’ll all hold hands and sing “Kumbaya.” There’s always a chance.

Thirty percent backed a single-payer system like the one in Canada. This is the only option in our poll that’s hopeless, at least until 2021 when President Bernie Sanders’ socialist government takes over. With the wild mood swings of voters, again, there’s always a chance.

Twenty-four percent said to remove government from the health care business altogether. If you’re like me and you plan to live to 100 without ever getting sick or injured, this sounds perfect. Everyone else will be at the mercy of heartless insurers and greedy pharmaceutical companies, but we’ll be fine.

And only 15 percent want to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a Republican plan. GOP leaders finally released a rough sketch of their plan Thursday, but the details remain a closely guarded secret — so secret that none of them knows what they are yet.

It’s almost as if they didn’t expect to need a plan, but here we are, in the middle of a game of political hot potato. They’d better not hold the potato too long – a visit to the emergency room costs a fortune.

Doug Parry: parryracer@gmail.com; @parryracer

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