Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times. This week the House will try again using a budgetary tactic called reconciliation to repeal parts of the law.
Reconciliation is the filibuster-proof tool Democrats used to pass the President Barack Obama’s signature health care law in March of 2010. Earlier this year, Republicans signaled they would use the legislative tool for full repeal, yet recently they’ve backtracked and plan to only repeal parts of Obamacare, leaving many of the tax increases and other regulations in place.
According to a new national survey conducted by The Heritage Foundation, a majority of Americans (60 percent) oppose a partial repeal of the law that would leave the tax increases in place. More Americans said they would oppose “Congress repealing Obamacare but leaving intact the tax increases included in the law” than those that actually oppose the law in its entirety.
The bill falls far short of Republicans’ promise to use reconciliation to fully repeal the law. Grassroots advocacy groups like Heritage Action are asking members of Congress to use reconciliation to fully repeal Obamacare.
The new survey is consistent with past polling conducted under the American Perceptions Initiative, a project of The Heritage Foundation’s communications department. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in King v. Burwell, a majority of Americans (61 percent) agreed it was appropriate for Congress to use the same process to repeal Obamacare that was used to pass it. In fact, seven out of 10 Americans agreed Congress should remove Obamacare’s mandates and regulations that have increased the cost of health care and disrupted health care coverage for millions of Americans.
Paul Winfree, The Heritage Foundation’s director of economic policy studies, believes using reconciliation to pass a full-repeal of Obamacare, despite veto threats from Obama, will set the stage for 2017:
…passing a full-repeal bill, forcing President Obama to veto it, and holding override votes, would further delegitimize this illegitimate law and make Obamacare a central focus of the presidential election.
While Americans remain split on Obamacare, it’s clear they tie the law to new mandates and regulations, higher costs, and skyrocketing premiums. Building the case for using reconciliation to fully repeal Obamacare should start with the positive impact it would have on the individual: more affordable options with greater freedom to keep coverage that fits your needs, with the doctors you want.