Obamacare

Democrats have owned the debate for two years, while Republicans have had difficulty articulating their side of it.

Conservatives are now challenging the law's regulations in court, not Congress. A key Republican says it's a bad idea.

A group of moderate Republicans was pushing this week to include legislation for “stabilizing” Obamacare within a spending bill that funds the government beyond its latest shutdown deadline of Friday night. The lawmakers’ proposal contains new money subject to abortion funding restrictions—a…

Activists who oppose abortion doubted Donald Trump when he was a candidate because he had once described himself as "very pro-choice." A year into his presidency, however, they happily point to victories he has achieved for them.

In one part of the room, lawmakers and public health experts debated whether an increase in opioid abuse among Medicaid expansion states could be a direct result of Obamacare policy. In the other part by himself—a shock, I tell you—was Rand Paul.

Was Samuel Alito worth the Iraq war?

Shocked by Donald Trump’s election, Democrats adopted a strategy of resistance that’s simple and blunt: Anything Trump is for, they’re against. It’s turned out to be one of the least successful strategies a political party has ever pursued. Yet Democrats have stuck to it.

Senate Republicans announced Wednesday afternoon that they would not attach measures providing additional funding to Obamacare in a year-end spending bill to keep the government open.

As Republicans prepare to celebrate their tax reform victory, a potential disaster lurks right around the corner.

As the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare withered on the vine, the self-described socialist senator from Vermont rushed to fill the political vacuum. Bernie Sanders’s Medicare for All Act of 2017 is a single-payer proposal that shamelessly attempts to harness the popularity of…

Birmingham, Ala.

To those feverishly speculating, whether in glee or in terror, that the election results in Virginia and New Jersey portend loss of GOP control of the House of Representatives in midterm elections a year from now, I ask this question: What difference does that prospect make not as of January 2019…

President Trump proposed axing Obamacare’s individual mandate in a tax reform bill late Wednesday morning, to help offset the cost of reducing rates. To meet this year’s budget, an overhaul cannot increase the deficit by more than a projected $1.5 trillion over the next decade, and Republican…

Boston

Boston

Obamacare “repeal and replace” may have failed this year, but that doesn’t mean the Affordable Care Act can’t be significantly defanged. For example, there is still time to excise the Independent Payment Advisory Board from the law before it is up and running.

Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray reached a bipartisan deal on Tuesday to reinstate subsidies paid to insurers for lowering costs on certain low-income insurance enrollees. This “cost-sharing” process is a one-two step: One, a carrier reduces the amount of health expenses a particular…

The Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate’s health committee have struck a deal to fund reimbursements to insurers that discount prices for low-income individuals, just days after the Trump administration determined the payments were illegal without an appropriation from Congress.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, stops cost-sharing payments to insurance companies. The purpose of these payments is to lower the deductibles and co-pays for lower- and middle-income Americans purchasing health plans on the Obamacare insurance…

Trump administration officials announced late Thursday they will end reimbursements to insurers for lowering costs on individuals “immediately,” potentially destabilizing premiums on the exchange unless Congress reacts with legislation to continue the payments.

Obamacare “repeal and replace” may have failed this year, but that doesn’t mean the Affordable Care Act can’t be significantly defanged. For example, there is still time to excise the Independent Payment Advisory Board from the law before it is up and running.

New rules issued Friday by the Trump administration—effective immediately—will allow conscientious objectors to opt out of Obamacare's contraception and abortion-pill mandate for religious or moral reasons.

Protesters in pristine pulmonary health didn’t stop chanting until chairman Orrin Hatch asked “Where’s the damn police?” and the damn police showed up. Sen. Lindsey Graham traveled miles off script and actually had saliva on his lips as he vowed to thrust “a stake in the heart of single-payer…

Jimmy Kimmel has recreated himself. Where the late night comic once stood, an inflatable liberal tube man now waves franticly and flaps hysterically to warn about the evils of rolling back Obamacare. It's not funny, and worse, it's not even original.

Vice President Mike Pence departed New York City immediately after President Trump concluded his speech before the United Nations General Assembly Monday morning to attend a Senate policy lunch in Washington, D.C. to help wrangle votes on the latest Obamacare repeal effort.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about the prospects for Graham-Cassidy, the GOP's last chance this year at undoing Obamacare.

If more congressmen like Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., start heading for the exits, it will become harder for Republicans to defend their House majority next year in what figures to be a challenging election cycle.

The effort to repeal and replace Obamacare isn’t quite dead. It will officially expire on September 30 without any further congressional intervention. According to guidance handed down by the Senate parliamentarian just before Labor Day, the end of the federal fiscal year is when this year’s budget…

Last week, insurance giant Anthem announced it was pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges in Nevada, leaving most of the counties within the state without even one insurer to cover demand in the individual marketplace. This latest development only increases the pressure on Congress to do something.

Last week, insurance giant Anthem announced it was pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges in Nevada, leaving most of the counties within the state without even one insurer to cover demand in the individual marketplace. This latest development only increases the pressure on Congress to do something.

The failed Republican effort to kill Obamacare had a saving grace. It’s small but significant. We now know the chief cause of skyrocketing health-insurance premiums since Obamacare was activated in 2013. And it’s not the “essential benefits” everyone is forced to buy, though they’ve often been…

This week on the Confab, executive editor Fred Barnes asks what we learned about Obamacare's skyrocketing premiums from the Senate healthcare-legislation fiasco. And then senior writer John McCormack talks about how the legislative wreckage of repeal and replace may still provide a vehicle for…

The failed Republican effort to kill Obamacare had a saving grace. It’s small but significant. We now know the chief cause of skyrocketing health-insurance premiums since Obamacare was activated in 2013. And it’s not the “essential benefits” everyone is forced to buy, though they’ve often been…

Today on the Kristol Clear podcast, filling in for Bill Kristol is senior writer Michael Warren, who talks about the Senate's epic failure to repeal Obamacare, and the chaos being spread by the president's new communication director, Anthony Scaramucci.

From full repeal to skinny repeal to no repeal.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, deputy online editor Chris Deaton talks with host Eric Felten about the Obamacare repeal debate going on in the Senate Wednesday.

Senate Republicans still don't have 50 votes to pass any piece of legislation dealing with Obamacare, but they may nevertheless vote to proceed to debate on health care legislation Tuesday with no apparent endgame in sight.

The latest version of the Senate GOP’s bill to partially repeal and replace Obamacare was pronounced dead the evening of Monday, July 17, when Utah senator Mike Lee and Kansas senator Jerry Moran announced their opposition, bringing the number of “no” votes to at least four. In a Senate that…

The latest version of the Senate GOP’s bill to partially repeal and replace Obamacare was pronounced dead the evening of Monday, July 17, when Utah senator Mike Lee and Kansas senator Jerry Moran announced their opposition, bringing the number of “no” votes to at least four. In a Senate that…

The Senate’s way forward on health care is still uncertain, but majority leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that the upper chamber will take a procedural vote on at least something next week.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer Michael Warren comes by to talk about the failure of the White House to move the repeal and replacement of Obamacare across the goal line.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about what comes next and when for Obamacare repeal, as Obamacare reform is on hold for a week while Sen. John McCain recuperates from a blood clot.

Insurers would be able to offer plans escaping nine Obamacare mandates by offering at least one compliant plan, according to a portion of a draft of the revised Senate healthcare bill obtained by the Washington Examiner.

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, senior writer John McCormack talks with host Eric Felten about Ted Cruz’s efforts to amend the Senate GOP’s floundering (okay, foundering) healthcare legislation.

After a frenzied week of healthcare negotiations, the Senate recessed for the Fourth of July holiday not with a bang, but a whimper.

Nevadans living in 14 of Nevada's 17 counties who want to purchase coverage on the state's Obamacare exchange won't have any insurers to choose from next year, after two insurers decided to exit the marketplace for 2018.

Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.

Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.

Michael Warren is on vacation this week, and Andrew Egger is filling in for him on White House Watch. Michael will be back in the saddle on July 3.

Late Friday night, Utah senator Mike Lee issued a lengthy statement (which is well worth reading in full) ripping and ridiculing the Senate GOP health care bill:

Today on the Kristol Clear podcast, editor at large William Kristol talks with host Eric Felten about the Senate leadership's proposed repeal, replace (or at least rethink) of Obamacare. Can support be built for healthcare legislation that is rushed?

In the first two years of the Obama administration, “Read the bill!” was an effective anti-Obama­care rallying cry. Republican congressmen, as well as conservative and Tea Party activists, demanded that legislation weighing in at more than 2,000 pages and affecting one-sixth of the economy be…

The draft health care bill released by Senate Republicans on Thursday contains a number of differences with the House bill. One provision, a holdover from Obamacare, prompted a lawsuit from the House of Representatives in 2014.

Lena Dunham, the HBO celebrity and Democratic activist, had an op-ed in the New York Times over the weekend arguing against a regulation under consideration by the Trump administration. According to a leak, conscientious objectors could opt out of the Obamacare mandate that forces American…

In the Time magazine issue published after the 2008 election—whose cover depicted Barack Obama as Franklin Roosevelt—Peter Beinart anticipated a new “era of liberal hegemony” that would last until “Sasha and Malia have kids.”

Nancy Pelosi didn't tell us it would take this long: Congress passed Obamacare in 2010 and we're still finding out what's in it.

On Wednesday morning, Vox published a leaked draft of a proposed federal regulation that would allow business owners to opt out of Obamacare's contraceptive mandate for religious or moral reasons. "Employers seeking an exemption would not be required to notify the government, under the drafted…

A new poll shows that less than a quarter of people surveyed support the GOP bill to partially repeal and replace Obamacare.

The Republican party's dream of an Obamacare replacement might yet become reality. But the House-passed American Health Care Act is a nightmare: a labyrinth of policy trade-offs and academic ideas the public has resisted entering. It's currently polling in the 30s—a relative achievement, given that…

Aetna announced late Wednesday it will withdraw from the last two Obamacare exchange states in which it was still participating, taking one of the nation's insurance giants off the law's markets entirely next year.

Mississippi governor Phil Bryant would waive certain Obamacare mandates specified in the House-passed health care bill if doing so would improve the state's insurance market, Bryant's office told THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Wednesday.

A national survey conducted entirely after House passage of the Republican health care bill found that support and opposition to Obamacare is split evenly among Americans.

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Michael Warren tells us about the president's most listened-to advisor; Fred Barnes comes by to talk with host Eric Felten about the House vote to repeal and replace (or perhaps just revise) Obamacare. And Garrett Graff, author of the new book Raven…

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, editor at large William Kristol shares his perspective on the House's passage of the American Health Care Act and the road ahead in the Senate for Obamacare repeal.

As President Donald Trump and House speaker Paul Ryan spoke on the phone Thursday morning, hours before the House would vote on the American Health Care Act, they discussed an idea: If the bill passed, Ryan and a group of House Republicans would travel to the White House for a post-vote statement…

Today on the Daily Standard podcast, executive editor Fred Barnes discusses the House's passage of the American Health Care Act, and why it was a necessary win for President Trump and the GOP.

House Republicans held together just enough on Thursday to pass their partial Obamacare replacement, a surgically repaired bill that a critical mass of conservatives and moderates blocked until they became more comfortable with the final product in recent days.

Amid a tense Democratic debate over whether pro-lifers have any place inside the party, Nancy Pelosi delivered a blunt message to her fellow Democrats: Trump won because of the party's rigid stance on abortion and other social issues.

The latest version of the American Health Care Act continued to leak GOP support on Tuesday, as Republicans stumbled to defend critical details of the bill that Democrats and outside groups have effectively defined as dangerous to sick consumers.

If the House of Representatives ends up passing a new version of the American Health Care Act in the next couple of weeks, Republicans can thank the White House—for staying mostly out of the way. While both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence continue to speak with both House…

The term "pre-existing conditions" has become a catch-all to describe a certain category of health status, high-cost medical patients, and a popular provision of Obamacare under scrutiny in the health care reform process. It's applicable to all three of these things. But without understanding how,…

The House Freedom Caucus officially backs an updated version of the GOP health care bill that includes a significant amendment co-sponsored by the group's chairman, the conservative bloc's spokeswoman announced early Wednesday afternoon. She did not respond immediately to a Twitter inquiry asking…

Last year Republicans persuaded a majority of Americans that Obamacare should be "repealed and replaced." Even Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton expected that President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders would promptly offer a viable alternative to Obamacare. The president's…

Last year Republicans persuaded a majority of Americans that Obamacare should be “repealed and replaced." Even Americans who voted for Hillary Clinton expected that President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders would promptly offer a viable alternative to Obamacare. The president's…

The word around Capitol Hill is that Republicans are preparing to revive the dormant American Health Care Act after members return from their Easter break. Lawmakers have tried adding some conservative muscle to the bill in an effort to make weight. But a central reason why the AHCA could be back…

In two weeks Donald Trump will serve his one-hundredth day as President of the United States of America. He approaches that milestone with an approval rating of 40 percent, the lowest of any modern-day president at this stage of his tenure. The man who made his reputation, and part of any fortune…

Fred Barnes talks with host Eric Felten about the renewed effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. Michael Warren discusses Donald Trump's evolving hawkishness. And Andrew Ferguson explains a singular pronoun problem.

Ever since the American Health Care Act stalled out, Republicans have been trying to kick start the reform again. On Thursday, Speaker Ryan backed a proposal to create a $15 billion federal high-risk pool for people with pre-existing conditions.

One day soon I will presumably receive a notice from the D.C. health exchange informing me how much my family’s health insurance will cost for 2015. That I’ve not yet been made privy to this salient bit of information mere weeks before I have to decide whether to change providers is a function both…

At 39, Tom Cotton is the youngest member of the Senate. He was elected from Arkansas in 2014 after two years in the House. And having served in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan as an infantry captain, he quickly emerged as an influential senator on military and foreign affairs.

How does the Trump administration’s Syria policy differ from the Obama administration's? It's not evident there's much practical distance between the two, despite a prepared statement from President Trump Tuesday afternoon blasting "the past administration's weakness and irresolution."

After the failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—the House Republican alternative to Obamacare—there was plenty of blame to go around. President Donald Trump pointed his finger at the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), the group of 30 or so conservatives who largely opposed the bill, tweeting,…

After the failure of the American Health Care Act (AHCA)—the House Republican alternative to Obamacare—there was plenty of blame to go around. President Donald Trump pointed his finger at the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), the group of 30 or so conservatives who largely opposed the bill, tweeting,…

It's official: Ivanka Trump is now an employee of the federal government. The daughter of President Donald Trump and wife of senior adviser Jared Kushner, Ivanka is making official what was already clear from her frequent appearances alongside her father at the White House and last week's news that…

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with executive editor Fred Barnes on President Trump's revived efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare.

In a flash, Washington changed. With the collapse of their health care plan, the political power of President Trump and congressional Republicans took a hit. And since power is a zero-sum game, Democrats, the bureaucracy, liberal interest groups, and the media were big winners.

It was the Huffington Post headline that caught my eye:

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Michael Warren joins host Eric Felten to talk about how the Obamacare repeal legislation fell apart. Then, Jenna Lifhits stops by to confab about the maybe scandals involving the Russian connection and Obama administration snooping.

Editor at large William Kristol's weekly Kristol Clear podcast, where Bill argues that—like Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before him—Trump could benefit from an early setback like the failure of the Obamacare repeal/replace bill. So, what should Trump focus on now?

This is an updated version of an article that appears in the April 3, 2017, issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

In a short briefing of reporters in the Oval Office late Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump said he was "disappointed" and "a little surprised, to be honest," that the American Health Care Act did not have the votes to pass the House of Representatives. Flanked by Vice President Mike Pence…

President Trump is "moving on" from health care after the House scuttled a planned Friday afternoon vote on the White House-backed American Health Care Act, says a senior White House aide.

Republicans pulled out all the stops but ultimately pulled the bill.

Sen. Ted Cruz and House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows have called on Republicans to roll back Obamacare's insurance mandates in the American Health Care Act. These include blanket requirements for coverage of those with pre-existing conditions: Insurers are prohibited from denying…

The American Health Care Act lost another vote Wednesday night when Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, an ardent pro-lifer and fiscal moderate, announced his opposition to the bill. "The overriding concern I have is the Medicaid expansion being significantly altered," Smith told the Asbury Park Press.…

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on Wednesday that the Senate parliamentarian has told him that it may be possible for Republicans to push harder on repealing Obamacare's regulations than the current House bill, which contradicts the assertion by House leadership that the legislation goes after…

The House GOP health bill faces more defections than it can withstand from inside the party's own conference, after a spokeswoman for a conservative caucus announced several no votes on Wednesday, and multiple members have warned that several moderates are also still opposed to the legislation in…

President Donald Trump emerged from a meeting with House Republicans Tuesday morning confident that their health care bill would pass the lower chamber this week, even as conservatives continued to express doubts about the legislation's new and arguably improved substance.

Where to begin? Monday was jam-packed with news regarding Donald Trump and his administration. Unfortunately the best news for Trump, a solid first day of hearings for his Supreme Court nominee (more on that below), was overshadowed by the appearance of FBI director James Comey and National…

Texas senator Ted Cruz, one of the leading critics of the congressional GOP's health reform plan, revealed Sunday that he and two of his colleagues met White House officials at Mar-a-Lago this weekend to discuss changes to the American Health Care Act.

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Fred Barnes stops by to talk about all the players trying to break up Donald Trump and Paul Ryan's cozy relationship of convenience. Can they keep it together long enough to get a healthcare bill passed? And Michael Warren walks us through this week at…

As the Republican alternative to Obamacare winds its tortuous way through Congress, the parallels with the big mistake President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats made eight years ago are unmistakable. Such large changes to society should only be done with a broad coalition, otherwise they…

As the Republican alternative to Obamacare winds its tortuous way through Congress, the parallels with the big mistake President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats made eight years ago are unmistakable. Such large changes to society should only be done with a broad coalition, otherwise they…

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with deputy online editor Chris Deaton on why "losing coverage" is a mistaken focus in evaluating the CBO's estimates of the GOP health bill.

Trusting the process makes for good life advice and bad legislating. The morning after congressional Republicans released their Obamacare replacement, dubbed the American Health Care Act, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham complained it lacked the "Trumpism of the health care reform" the…

The Congressional Budget Office on Monday dropped its highly-anticipated analysis of the House Republicans' healthcare plan, arming all sides with results that can back up their favorite talking points on healthcare. The CBO report, on the one hand, says that millions more people will be uninsured…

A budget estimate of the House GOP's health bill has found that millions of Americans insured through Obamacare's exchanges would opt out of purchasing coverage once the federal government stops penalizing them for doing so.

Editor in Chief Stephen F. Hayes joins Byron York and Hugo Gurdon of the Washington Examiner on The Right Question to discuss the messy roll out of the GOP's Obamacare repeal.

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Michael Warren and Chris Deaton join host Eric Felten to talk about the unsteady rollout of the GOP's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. And John McCormack comes by to tell us about the tension between the White House and Capitol Hill over the…

Editor at large William Kristol's weekly Kristol Clear podcast, where what happens on the podcast stays on the podcast as Bill talks about how he likes to spend time in Vegas. Speaking of gambling, the GOP is taking a big—and completely unnecessary—gamble by rushing a big, comprehensive Obamacare…

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with deputy online editor Chris Deaton about the GOP's troubled Obamacare repeal and replace efforts.

The White House continues to argue that the House Republican health-care bill is the best and only way to repeal Obamacare. "No matter where you are, especially on the conservative side, you cannot possibly believe that the current health care system is an effective program," said press secretary…

Trusting the process makes for good life advice and bad legislating. The morning after congressional Republicans released their Obamacare replacement, dubbed the American Health Care Act, conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham complained it lacked the “Trumpism of the health care reform" the…

Who can forget watching in one’s youth the great sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? It aired for just two glorious seasons, from 1961 to 1963, on NBC on Sunday nights from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m. It was a memorable touch of wry reality, sandwiched between the fantasies of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of…

House speaker Paul Ryan got himself into trouble Thursday for broadly describing why the GOP considers the risk-sharing under Obamacare between younger and older consumers a failure, leaving out the details that got reporters questioning his understanding of insurance.

Congressional members and staffers generally act like their fellow Americans sit around waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to release scoring of major legislative proposals, much like they await the release of March Madness brackets. The truth is that most Americans hardly care what the…

The House Republican health care bill has an odd problem: Nobody seems to support it. Nobody, that is, except President Trump and his administration. While the House plan appears to be the work of Speaker Paul Ryan and the two committee chairmen of Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, the White…

Amid unsparing challenges from conservative critics and policy wonks, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that the House GOP's new health care legislation is "the bill" to begin undoing and supplanting Obamacare, and has the White House's backing.

House Republicans revealed draft legislation Monday evening designed to allay conservative lawmakers without spooking moderates, reassure wary voters, and not alienate Democrats too much.

The Trump administration has a problem with anonymous sources and the media outlets who run stories based entirely on them. This, in the White House’s view, is how unfair and untrue narratives about the Trump campaign's nefarious connections with Russia persist. "People start taking things as fact…

House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited healthcare bill, but the plan would only repeal major parts of Obamacare starting in 2020 — when the political world will be engulfed in the next presidential election.

After years of campaigning on the need to repeal and replace Obamacare, Republicans in Congress are in disarray about what to do now that voters have empowered them to do just that. In his address to Congress on February 28, President Donald Trump helpfully exercised some leadership by letting…

The fight to repeal Obamacare is ramping up as Congress prepares to return from its recess. Senators and representatives will hear from President Trump on Tuesday during his address to a joint session, and repeal and replace is expected to be among the most important talking points in the speech.

Former House speaker John Boehner, who oversaw multiple attempts to undo Obamacare during his tenure, predicted Thursday that most of President Obama's health care law "is going to stay there," and that previous talk of repealing and replacing the law amounted to "happy talk."

In passing Obamacare, its supporters promised the moon. Obamacare was allegedly going to cost $938 billion over ten years, result in 23 million people getting insurance through its exchanges as of 2017, reduce the typical family's premiums by $2,500 a year, and make sure that if you liked your…

With Obamacare unraveling in almost all ways, it's time to unravel the phony accounting practices that have allowed it to hide some $104 billion in federal spending. Under Obamacare, this money has been paid directly to insurance companies as outlays, yet it has gone into the books as "tax cuts."…

There has been a lot of speculation about what will happen to various people if Obamacare is repealed and replaced with a conservative alternative. Would millions lose coverage, as some have claimed, because they couldn't keep their plan and couldn't afford a new plan? Or would people be freed up…

In his excellent rundown of yesterday's ruling by the Ninth Circuit refusing to reinstate President Trump's immigration executive order, National Review's David French noted something rather curious about the court's rationale. In essence, the court said that Trump's campaign rhetoric was an issue…

Amid concerns of cold feet in the congressional GOP and noncommittal comments from President Donald Trump, House speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday the House and Senate would conclude their role in repealing and replacing Obamacare by the end of 2017, but cautioned that implementing a new regime will…

Dozens of pro-life leaders sent a letter to Congress Thursday afternoon urging Republican senators and representatives to honor their commitment to prohibit taxpayer-funding of elective abortion coverage under any health-care bill to replace Obamacare.

Republicans rode their near-unanimous support for repealing Obamacare to big wins in the elections of 2010, 2014, and 2016. Now, having won control of the House, Senate, and White House largely on the strength of that clear and courageous commitment, some Republican officeholders are thinking that…

Part of why Obamacare is so unpopular is that it is neglects the typical American. As Republicans deliberate over an alternative to Obamacare, this provides a huge opening.

Doctors are divided over whether to keep the individual mandate that compels Americans to purchase health insurance. That's according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal said he would vote against Rep. Tom Price to be secretary of Health and Human Services because the Georgia lawmaker and physician is "trying to destroy a woman's right to health care."

It is an amazing fact that the individual mandate to buy health insurance largely originated with policy wonks and politicians on the conservative side of the aisle. This ill-conceived and unconstitutional (despite the opinions of five justices) idea eventually became perhaps the most despised part…

Donald Trump has said repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act should be done "very quickly"—but the issue was nowhere to be found in the president's inaugural address at the U.S. Capitol Friday. Trump's speech, which struck populist themes on trade, immigration, foreign policy, and…

Today is Inauguration Day, so it seems fitting to kick things off with the inaugural edition of this new feature here at THE WEEKLY STANDARD. For the first 100 (or so) days of the Donald J. Trump administration, look to this space for inside coverage of our 45th president, his White House, and his…

On the last full day of the Obama White House—a phrase conservatives have waited eight long years to utter—it's worth recalling the Obama administration's own arguments about the connection between Obamacare's "community rating" mandate and runaway health costs.

Rep. Tom Price, the nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services in the new presidential administration, said during his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he was committed to President-elect Donald Trump's vision of providing "insurance for everybody."

President-elect Donald Trump says his proposal to replace Obamacare will guarantee "insurance for everybody" and "great health care" that is "much less expensive and much better." Here's more from the Washington Post's interview with Trump:

The House approved a budget Friday providing for Congress to axe the revenue-related portions of Obamacare, teeing up a repeal procedure that congressional Democrats are powerless to stop.

A new report, cited in various media outlets, claims that repealing Obamacare would "cost roughly $350 billion" over a decade and "leave no funds available for 'replacement' legislation." In truth, repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a good conservative alternative would cut federal spending…

President-elect Donald Trump may have cranked up the heat on Republican lawmakers working to repeal and replace Obamacare, telling the New York Times the two goals must be accomplished "together" in an interview published Tuesday.

Vox interviewed President Obama on Facebook Live Friday. He discussed health care, along with the doomed fate of his health care law. One of the more interesting things he had to say was this:

Nearly seven years ago, moments before President Obama signed the national healthcare legislation into law, he declared, "When I sign this bill, all of the overheated rhetoric over reform will finally confront the reality of reform."

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with frequent contributor and Hudson Institute senior fellow Jeffrey H. Anderson on repealing Obamacare, and his related story about how the GOP can avoid being blamed for high premiums.

Democrats are addicted to Obamacare. It has performed poorly, alienated far more people than it has aided, and been a political disaster. Yet Democrats can’t shake it. In 2010, it was the issue that delivered the House to Republicans. In 2014, it gave them the Senate. In 2016, it was one of the…

When it comes to trying to decide what the worst part of Obamacare is, there's no shortage of contenders. From a constitutional standpoint, the worst part is its unprecedented individual mandate. From the standpoint of the republic's overall well-being, the worst part is its consolidation and…

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with deputy online editor Chris Deaton on Obamacare's future in 2017.

Top GOP officials say their first order of business in the new year is to repeal and replace Obamacare. But the first order itself has a clear first step.

Politico reports:

A published draft letter attributed to Republican governor Susana Martinez touting Obamacare's benefit to her state was the work of the independent New Mexico health care exchange, the exchange's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD, and the text was never shared with Martinez's staff before it was…

Over at the Washington Examiner, Philip Klein has the must-read health care policy story of the day. Klein's spoken to several legislative aides about the GOP plans to repeal Obamacare:

According to a new study from the Center for Health and Economy, Obamacare premium hikes will cost taxpayers an additional $10 billion in the coming year. With rising premiums come rising subsidies.

It's the opportunity Republicans have been awaiting for six years, which invites the obvious question: Are they going to screw it up? In January, a united Republican Congress and Republican White House will finally have the ability to dispose of Obamacare, the unpopular and destructive…

The White House Monday is going directly after the couch-sitting, video-game-playing consumer in an effort to boost Obamacare sign-ups before an enrollment deadline later this week. The Obama administration recruited Shaquille O'Neal, retired NBA center, to play point for the first-ever "White…

It’s the opportunity Republicans have been awaiting for six years, which invites the obvious question: Are they going to screw it up? In January, a united Republican Congress and Republican White House will finally have the ability to dispose of Obamacare, the unpopular and destructive…

For years now, the Republican party has promised to “repeal and replace" Obamacare. Now that voters have delivered Republicans control of the White House and Congress and they can make good on that promise, suddenly they are singing a different, decidedly off-key, tune: "Repeal and delay."

Several years ago, the American Medical Association supported Obamacare. But on Wednesday, it decided to support a noted opponent of the law for a key government position: Georgia representative Tom Price, who Donald Trump has selected to be Secretary of Health and Human Services in his…

Opponents of Obamacare should be greatly encouraged by President-elect Donald Trump's pick of House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Price, an M.D., has advanced the most serious Obamacare alternative to date on Capitol Hill. His legislation…

The WEEKLY STANDARD Podcast with online editor Michael Warren on Trump's HHS pick—a Georgia Republican doctor with a plan to replace Obamacare.

The issue of repealing and replacing Obamacare is going to be central to the role of Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Donald Trump administration. The president-elect's choice for the job, Georgia representative Tom Price, has spent plenty of time working on the matter in his role as…

Tom Price, a Republican congressman from Georgia and orthopedic surgeon, is Donald Trump's choice for secretary of Health and Human Services. The New York Times reports:

Republicans should have no trouble repealing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obama­care. They can invoke the procedure known as reconciliation, which means only 51 votes in the Senate will be needed to kill the unpopular health insurance plan. Since there will be 52 Republicans in the new…

On Friday, four Republican senators introduced a bill that would prevent the Obama administration from paying certain insurers in what they say amounts to a "bailout" of Obamacare.

Republicans should have no trouble repealing the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obama­care. They can invoke the procedure known as reconciliation, which means only 51 votes in the Senate will be needed to kill the unpopular health insurance plan. Since there will be 52 Republicans in the new…

Discontent with Obamacare—and with the delivery of health care more broadly—unites most Americans across our other divisions. That discontent creates enormous opportunities and risks for our president-elect.

Discontent with Obamacare—and with the delivery of health care more broadly—unites most Americans across our other divisions. That discontent creates enormous opportunities and risks for our president-elect.

Throughout the 2016 campaign, there's been quite a lot of anguish about how to cover Donald Trump. It was collectively decided that his dishonesty necessitated extraordinary measures to inform the public he was a yuge liar. CNN started calling him a liar regularly in the chryon underneath their…

When Obamacare was first passed, Vice President Joe Biden famously said it was a "big f—ing deal." Now, though, there's a surprising level of bipartisan agreement that it's a big honking disaster. There had been many warning signs, but last week it became official: Obamacare premiums are going up…

In the small town of Geneva, Ohio, 50 miles to the northeast of where the Indians and Cubs split the first two games of the World Series, Donald Trump lit into something just a tad less American than baseball or apple pie: Obamacare.

When Obamacare was first passed, Vice President Joe Biden famously said it was a “big f—ing deal." Now, though, there's a surprising level of bipartisan agreement that it's a big honking disaster. There had been many warning signs, but last week it became official: Obamacare premiums are going up…

The Washington Post calls attention to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey about how much Americans are prioritizing Obamacare relative to other health care issues this election season (emphasis mine):

One of Obamacare's key architects said Wednesday morning that Americans weren't being penalized enough for forgoing health insurance coverage, which he characterized as "probably the most important thing experts would agree on" as it relates to improving the law.

Republicans may have an opportunity to salvage the election on the congressional level by making an explicit pitch to voters that they can stop Hillary Clinton on Obamacare and taxes. Online editor Michael Warren joined MSNBC's Morning Joe on Wednesday to discuss the lessons of 1996, as well as why…

In 2008, the year that Barack Obama was elected as president, the combined annual profits of America's ten largest health insurance companies were $8 billion. Under Obamacare, the ten largest health insurers' annual profits have risen to $15 billion. This is another fine example of the natural…

The Obama administration has tried to put a good face on the news this week that Obamacare premiums are spiking an average of 25 percent for 2017. The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the increases under the heading, "More Than 70 Percent of Consumers Can Find Marketplace…

As recently as last month, the White House insisted that illegal immigrants are "are not eligible to collect benefits associated with the Affordable Care Act." But undocumented immigrants accessing the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, could be forgiven if they thought otherwise.

President Barack Obama tried to reassure the American public on Thursday that his health care legislation "worked," amid competition and cost issues in multiple states and skepticism from both sides of the aisle.

President Obama and Hillary Clinton love to talk about the "20 million people" who've allegedly been added to the health insurance rolls under Obamacare. But in truth, a lower percentage of Americans have private health insurance now than in 2007, even though Obamacare is the law.

If further evidence were needed that this country faces two choices going forward on health care, a leaked Hillary Clinton email just provided it. The choices we face are (a) the repeal of Obamacare and its replacement with a conservative alternative, or (b) a government monopoly. Obamacare cannot…

Donald Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, tweeted an op-ed from Republican medical doctors critical of Obamacare with an accompanying message Monday afternoon.

Amid ongoing concern that President Obama will bail out his insurance company allies who've lost money selling Obamacare, his own Justice Department has now effectively admitted that he has no legal authority to do so. In a brief filed in federal court, the Justice Department argues that the…

Obamacare enrollment is projected to flatten or even decline next year, according to a new report from Standard and Poor's, leading to a possible increase in insurance costs.

Minnesota governor Mark Dayton liked it, but couldn't keep it—his staunch support of Obamacare, that is, which he dropped on Wednesday with a tough assessment of the law.

Obamacare's days are really and truly numbered. Problems with the law are reaching critical mass. So the Obama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to prop up the system—and by "extraordinary," we mean illegal.

Donald Trump is a terrible champion for Republicans for many reasons—the recently released 2005 audio tape reveals the most egregious one. But his performance in Sunday's debate in St. Louis against an ineffective Hillary Clinton demonstrated just how ill-equipped Trump is to challenge the weakest…

In this episode of THE WEEKLY STANDARD Confab, Michael Warren recaps the Veep debate; Jeffrey Anderson updates us on the Obamacare death spiral; and Ethan Epstein tells us about a lump of Taiwanese jade that looks like a cabbage—no foolin'!

Bill Clinton made headlines this week when he said that Obamacare "craziest thing in the world" because small businesses and individuals "who make just a little too much" to qualify for any of Obamacare's subsidies are "getting killed." Indeed, Obamacare's structure is so crazy that that those who…

Hillary Clinton doesn’t want to talk about Obamacare, but her husband clearly feels no such reluctance. Bill Clinton—who has his finger on the pulse of public sentiment to a greater degree than either President Barack Obama or Hillary—spoke rather freely about Obama's signature legislation early in…

Obamacare’s days are really and truly numbered. Problems with the law are reaching critical mass. So the Obama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to prop up the system—and by "extraordinary," we mean illegal.

While stumping for Hillary Clinton on Monday, former president Bill Clinton criticized the health insurance market under Obamacare as "the craziest thing in the world."

On July 28, 2009, newly elected President Obama made a "guarantee" during an AARP town hall pushing the then-newly introduced Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare:

When open enrollment in Obamacare starts next month, enrollees in four states will be able to choose plans from only one insurer.

In his latest assault on the separation of powers, President Obama seems poised to take unilateral executive action—in direct defiance of legislation he signed—to bail out insurance companies under Obamacare. In its above-the-fold story on Friday, the Washington Post mischaracterizes Obama's power…

While waiting for a chance to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a conservative alternative, there are right ways and wrong ways to address its 2,400 pages of shortcomings. The right way was recently demonstrated by a group of five Republican senators, who proposed a bill to offer millions of…

As Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner reports, the House has passed legislation that will "exempt former Obamacare enrollees from the individual mandate if they lose insurance due to the collapse of one of the federally-backed markets."

Back in the 2004, a brash state senator from Illinois lit a fire at the Democratic National Convention with his soaring rhetoric. One of Barack Obama's goals was to deliver a message of unity during a divisive campaign season, a message that Americans were more alike than they're dissimilar:

Obamacare appears to be circling the drain. All the things that were predicted are coming to pass. Copays and premiums are rising and insurers are bailing out of the market. Obamacare depended, always, on young, healthy people enrolling. They would need less care so their premiums could be used pay…

In the Washington Post, Michael Gerson argues the thing that might cost Hillary Clinton the election is something that neither presidential candidate is spending much time talking about: Obamacare. He writes that immigration may be "the main motivating issue" that gets voters to turn out, but "the…