GOP lawmakers voice concerns over ObamaCare repeal: report

Congressional Republicans voiced concerns behind closed doors Thursday that the rapid-fire effort to repeal and replace ObamaCare might not work as smoothly as GOP leaders claim, The Washington Post reports.

Citing a recording of a meeting it obtained, the Post reported that several GOP lawmakers questioned the mechanism with which they intend to dismantle former President Obama’s signature healthcare law, as well as their own plans to pass a new healthcare bill.

“We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created,” said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), according to the report. “That’s going to be called TrumpCare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.”

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) warned his colleagues against implementing a “quick fix” for the nation’s healthcare after the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

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“Our goal, in my opinion, should be not a quick fix,” Alexander said. “We can do it rapidly — but not a quick fix. We want a long-term solution that lowers costs.”

The comments from lawmakers come amid efforts by Congress and President Trump to make good on a longstanding pledge to repeal and replace ObamaCare now that Republicans control Congress and the White House.

GOP lawmakers have said they would repeal ObamaCare using budget reconciliation, a process requiring a simple majority vote, while any replacement legislation would need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster. Republicans now hold 52 seats.

“The fact is, we cannot repeal ObamaCare through reconciliation,” McClintock said. “We need to understand exactly, what does that reconciliation market look like? And I haven’t heard the answer yet.”

Among the more dire concerns of Republicans is how the party will repeal the law without taking health insurance coverage away from about 20 million Americans covered under the law.

“We’re telling those people that we’re not going to pull the rug out from under them, and if we do this too fast, we are in fact going to pull the rug out from under them,” said Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.), according to the Post.

In one of his first actions as president, Trump signed an executive order signaling how his administration might fight the healthcare law, but few details have emerged on a potential replacement.