House Majority Leader: Repeal Obamacare First Then Replace Later

UNITED STATES - MAY 17: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right, and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., conduct a news conference after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the Capitol, May 17, 20... UNITED STATES - MAY 17: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right, and Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., conduct a news conference after a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the Capitol, May 17, 2016. The National Defense Authorization Act and opioid addiction were topics of their remarks. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill that his preference is for the new Congress to move immediately to repeal Obamacare, and then deal with passing a replacement plan later.

“My personal belief and nothing has been decided yet. I would [move through] and repeal and then go to work on replacing,” McCarthy said. “I think once it is repealed you will have, hopefully, fewer people playing politics.”

McCarthy argued that Democrats may be incentivized to come to the table then, but he didn’t say what the time frame for replace the Affordable Care Act would be..

“Look we are going to start on this right away. I don’t want to get into timeline,” McCarthy said.

The one thing McCarthy did say was that he didn’t see an opportunity to repeal Obamacare before January 20.

McCarthy’s comments echo those from other House Republicans who have called for immediate repeal, possibly with some sort of delayed effective date, and for the replacement plan to come later. But as the No. 2 Republican in the House, McCarthy’s words carry extra weight.

Health care policy experts warn that any sort of delay between repealing Obamacare and replacing it could jeopardize the entire individual health insurance market and send insurers fleeing the market.

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Notable Replies

  1. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha; wheeze, cough; Bwa ha ha ha ha, whoosh, Bwah ha ha ha…

  2. That’s a recipe for pitchforks and torches

  3. Shorter Idiots ®: We want to bring back good old days of Dubya. Life was so much better than Obama’s Tyranny.

  4. That way the 24 million that lose coverage will stop whining after a few months and by a year the media will forget it ever existed, Now we just get them to never use the word Obama or speak of the years he was president.

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