If you like ObamaCare you can keep it, at least such appears to be the current position of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Republican House leadership through their so-called "Repeal and Replace" bill, the American Heath Care Act. "I think he's trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the president," Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said of Speaker Ryan and his bill. 

RynoCare, or "ObamaCare Lite" as Senator Paul has dubbed it, retains some ObamaCare taxes, extends the Medicaid expansion, and starts new entitlements. The conservative and constitutionalist-leaning House Freedom Caucus has strongly come out against the bill. 
 
"Every conservative group out there is opposed to this legislation," Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, said during an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe on March 8, 2017. "I think it's ObamaCare in a different form," Jordan added, "because we didn't tell the voters we were going to repeal ObamaCare but keep some of the ObamaCare taxes."

Instead, Jordan urged fellow Congressional Republicans to vote on the "exact same" repeal bill that they previously passed and sent to then-President Obama. "Let's vote on the exact same thing — 15 months ago, every single Republican in the House, every single Republican in the Senate voted on. We put it on President Obama's desk."

Congressman Jordan was referring to the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 (H.R. 3762 of the 114th Congress), which the House originally passed on October 23, 2015. In order to satisfy requirements of the budget reconciliation process to prevent Senate Democrats from filibustering the bill, Senate Republicans amended the bill, sending it back to the House. 

Republicans in the House passed the amended bill on January 6, 2016, sending it to the desk of President Obama, who in turn vetoed the bill on January 8, 2016. On February 2, 2016, House Republicans voted 241 to 186, falling short of the required two-thirds vote (290 out of 435), to override Obama's veto. 

The Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act was not a complete clean repeal of ObamaCare but it would have repealed most of it, going after the following key features, according to Govtrack's summary:

• Restricted the federal government from operating health care exchanges;
• Phased out funding for subsidies to help lower and middle-income individuals afford insurance through the health care exchanges;
• Eliminated tax penalties for individuals who do not purchase health insurance and employers with 50 or more employees who do not provide insurance plans;
• Eliminated taxes on medical devices and the so-called "Cadillac tax" on the most expensive health care plans; and
• Phased out an expansion of Medicaid over a two-year period

The same bill would have also terminated "federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year by prohibiting Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood services," according to Govtrack. 

Seeing as the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act passed in both the House and Senate and made it to the president's desk a little over a year ago, there is no reason why virtually the same Republican majority in both the House and Senate cannot do the same again, sending it to President Donald Trump, who would likely sign it rather than veto it as his predecessor did. 

Please phone your representative (202-225-3121) and senators (202-224-3121) and ask them to oppose the House Leadership's American Heath Care Act and to instead reintroduce and pass the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act (H.R. 3762 in the 114th Congress) to repeal ObamaCare without replacing it. Let them know that you want to remove the federal government from healthcare and return control of healthcare back to patients and doctors through the free market. 

Please email the same message to your congressmen.

Thanks.

Your Friends at The John Birch Society

 

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