With framework of repealing ACA in place, GOP turns focus on replacing it

Photo / Russ Dillingham Emily Brostek, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, spoke at an ACA rally in Portland on Sunday.

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By James McCarthy

In a 227-198 vote on Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget resolution aligned with the Senate’s earlier 51-48 vote that facilitates efforts of the Republican majority in Congress to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act through a process known as budget reconciliation.

The significance of those votes is that it prevents Democrats from using a Senate filibuster to derail the Republican effort to repeal and replace the ACA. It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster and Republicans only have a 52-48 majority in the Senate.

Maine’s two representatives in the U.S. House split their votes, with 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, voting against the budget resolution and 2nd District Rep. Bruce Poliquin, D-Maine, voting for it. Earlier in the week, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined fellow Republicans in supporting the measure, while U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, voted with the Democrats against it.

In a statement issued before Friday’s vote, Poliquin explained why he was voting to set into motion the eventual repeal of the ACA: “Tens of thousands of fellow Mainers and millions of Americans are suffocating under the spiking Obamacare monthly premiums, co-pays and deductibles while other health insurance premiums continue to shrink — and it’s getting worse … the Affordable Care Act has become unaffordable for thousands of Mainers. We must address this crisis.”

Poliquin characterized Friday’s vote as “only the first step necessary in the process to support health insurance relief to American families and small businesses.”

Poliquin said he’d support the actual repeal of the ACA “if the replacement includes coverage for pre-existing health conditions and keeping those 26 years old or younger on their parents’ plans. Any replacement law must also eliminate job-killing taxes and regulations such as the medical device tax.”

What comes next?

Bloomberg reported that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he’s drafting legislation to replace the ACA.

The newspaper reported that Rand told CNN in general terms that his proposal would help people pay for medical bills through tax credits and health savings accounts, allow individuals and small businesses to form associations when buying insurance and include a provision to legalize the sale of inexpensive insurance policies that provide abbreviated coverage.

Speaking at a rally in Portland on Sunday, Emily Brostek, executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, said the ACA has helped the state’s uninsured rate fall by 25%, “including a 32% decline for working Mainers.”

“Over 74,000 Mainers relied on the [federal ACA] Marketplace in 2016, and we are on track to enroll even more people this year,” she said. “Could the law be improved? Yes! If there are things to fix, we should fix them. But Maine people want more coverage not less. If congressional Republicans have a plan that would cover more people, make coverage more affordable, and lower our out-of-pocket costs, let’s hear it.”