Republicans are fighting Obamacare mandates they accuse Democrats of wanting to impose. They blame Democratic senators when those conditions come into play
Republicans are fighting Obamacare mandates they accuse Democrats of wanting to impose. They blame Democratic senators when those conditions come into play
Why are Republicans not agreeing with President Donald Trump when he says that, in his view, Democrats are forcing more costly mandates on businesses and consumers? They blame the Dems.
“Vilsack’s family depended on Medicaid. When he got his plans, he paid $250 a month, with a $1,000 deductible. That’s lower than what the average American is paying,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in October 2017.
That’s a part of the argument from Democrats, who argue they’re simply replicating the 2010 health care law they voted for, under President Barack Obama. But most Republicans scoff, and argue that once they set up their own replacement, they’ll be the ones setting the rules, not the other way around.
That’s not what they can say this week, when the court heard arguments about whether a Wisconsin health insurance mandate can come into play. According to Justice Neil Gorsuch, whether a state can require health insurance companies to offer coverage to poor people without being taxed as an unconstitutional encroachment on commerce. Republicans across the country quickly blamed the Democrats — not them.
In 2003, Wisconsin set up a program in which the state worked with insurance companies to help cover residents for whom insurance companies would not. This would be different than Medicaid or Obamacare; this would be voluntary and similar to what most other states are doing. But the case got thrown out because of so many legal discrepancies between the state and other states that could not be solved.
Sixteen states sued Wisconsin, asking the Supreme Court to reconsider and allow Wisconsin to continue the law. Because other states followed the suit, not accepting the suit would have meant Wisconsin could be sued. Because the other states accept the suit, Wisconsin would no longer be allowed to keep the scheme. Republicans blamed the Democrats.
“The entire point of states this aggressive in trying to coerce insurance companies to cover people is that Democrats do it but Republicans are not to blame,” the judge representing the 17 states wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court.
But because other states are suing Wisconsin, Republicans say that now Wisconsin can’t continue to enforce the law.
“We agree that Obamacare is nothing more than a statutory power grab by states to create new, bloated layers of federal laws that burden us all,” John Malcolm, an expert on health policy from Heritage Foundation, wrote after the ruling.
Biden’s comments from last year brought it all back to the forefront.