Healthcare has been one of the most widely debated issues in this country for years. Obamacare has been harshly criticized as being inefficient and there are many American citizens who can’t wait to see it go as it has raised premiums they have to pay to a higher level, even still, healthcare is an issue the American people care about very much so it will be crucial in gaining the support from some of those who may not currently share President-elect Trump’s viewpoint on the issue. In Congress, however, with the President-elect soon to take office and an even stronger majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and with most Republicans already saying repealing Obamacare is the first priority upon you taking office, it theoretically shouldn’t be too hard to round up enough votes for the bill to in the House of Representatives. In the Senate it will be much more difficult as we can still expect a bitter battle from many democrats, though, on every step of the way and you can be sure they will be putting on a media blitz against, not only replacing and repealing Obamacare, but also the President-elect personally as well so it will be important we send out strong messages to the American people through the media as well. Outside interest groups will also be very important to our goal as well – most importantly, gaining the support of hospitals and health insurers will be very important as many are a little skeptical about the whole process, it will our job to convince them it will be a stable and smooth process transitioning from Obamacare to the President-elects plan and that 20 million Americans will not just suddenly be stripped of healthcare.
Congress
While Republicans may have a majority in both houses, it’s important we don’t underestimate the Democrats, especially the increasing number of “lefties” they have, as, again, they will be fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. It shouldn’t be very hard getting the bill through the House of Representatives, as similar bills repealing Obamacare have already passed before. Even still, it will be important to be in touch with Republican leaders in the house as they will be the ones setting forth the process. Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), Republican Conference Chairman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Republican Policy Committee Chairman Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN) are the leaders of the Republicans in the House of Representatives and it will be key to keep them involved every step of the way (House.Gov). Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McCarthy have both recently said that the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare will start “right away” so we do not have to worry about Republican eagerness to get this done. While it should pass through the House with relative ease, it is still important to also be in touch with the various committees in the House that are involved with healthcare bills. The Appropriations Committee, Ways and Means Health committee, Budget Committee, Committee on Education and Labor, Committee on Enerfy and Commerce, Homeland Security Committee, Judiciary Committee all have jurisdiction over health care bills so it will important to be in touch with the chairmen of each of these committees (aha.org).
Shifting to the Senate, it will be a much tougher challenge trying to pass President-elect Trump’s healthcare bill through this house. While Republicans handily control the House of Representatives, we do not have the “super-majority” in the Senate. We would need to get 60 votes here to completely repeal and replace Obamacare and while we can count on the 52 Republican senators to vote our way, convincing 8 democrats to go against their party will be quite difficult. Incoming Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently said that Democrats in the Senate will not work with us on a bill trying to repeal Obamacare, making it even that much more difficult (Barret & Diaz 2016). Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is the Senate Majority Leader, and staunch critic of Obamacare will be key to goals and he has also said very recently that repealing Obamacare is the top priority next year. Other Republican leaders in the Senate who will be important in advancing our agenda include Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), Republican Conference Chair John Thune (R-SD), Republican Policy Committee Chair John Barasso (R-WY), and Republican Conference Vice Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO) (Senate.gov). On the Democratic side, we can expect fierce fighting from, not only Sen. Schumer, but also the two popular “lefties” Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VM) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). While it will likely be impossible to convince 8 democratic senators to vote our way ourselves through negotiation and bargaining, if we gather enough support from American citizens and outside interest groups, we may be able to get them to put enough pressure on some Democrats to lean our way.
Outside Groups
Outside interest groups will play a big factor in determining the outcome of what we are trying to accomplish. At this point, convincing and assuring people and organizations, like insurance companies and hospitals, in the health industry that it will be a smooth transition should be our biggest priority. Choosing Tom Price (R-GA) as head of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Seema Verma, who our helped our friend VP-elect Mike Pence create a Medicaid expansion plan in Indiana, as head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services should help us a lot in this endeavor. Both are experience, highly respected in the Health Industry and as such, both should be our voices in lobbying members and organizations of that industry that our plan is the best course of action (Fortune-Reuters 2016). While they should be our leading voices in this sector, President-elect Trump reaching out himself to some insurance agencies, doctors groups and hospitals as well will benefit our goal in my view. I’ve put together an important list of companies and people who I believe would be key figures on our side; Dr. Mario Molina, CEO of Molina Healthcare, Kathleen Harrington, who is the chair of Policy of Government Relations for the Mayo Clinic, UnitedHealth Group, Stride Health – who provides benefits to “gig” workers like Uber drivers, and Blair Childs, who senior VP at the hospital purchasing group Premier (Fortune-Reuters 2016). If we can get this nucleus of influential people and groups on our side, I believe it would be a very strong starting for others to follow.
Public
Gaining strong support from the American Public may be the biggest factor in determining how successful we are in achieving our goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare. If we can gain enough support from the people and ignite them to encourage and pressure their representatives and Congress as whole, it may be enough to win over votes in the Senate in order to get the President-elects bill passed through. The most recent poll on pollingreport.com shows 39% of people approve, and 54% disapprove when answering the question “From what you’ve heard or read, do you approve or disapprove of the health care law that was enacted in 2010?” This absolutely favors us and we need to put on a strong blitz to encourage people in that 54% group to actively get out and support our cause and pressure their representatives. We also need try and convince more people in the 39% group that repealing and replacing Obamacare with President-elect Trump’s plan is the best way to go. We can achieve both of these by campaigning hard through the media, specifically, having the President-elect himself do interviews, go on live TV. In addition to this, having other members of his administration visible to the public is key as well; Mike Pence, Tom Price, Seema Verma – all respected in the healthcare industry – should all also be doing interviews, appearing on news outlets, and even possibly writing op-eds in major newspapers to get out information and rile up support. Putting on a strong campaign and getting our views out to the public through the media will be very important because the Democratic leaders will be doing the same thing and we need to compete strongly with them.
Repealing and replacing Obamacare will be no easy task – getting anything passed in healthcare never is – but if we can rile up enough support from key figures and companies in the healthcare industry and the American public, I’m confident we will be able to get President-elect Trump’s healthcare agenda through Congress and enacted into public policy next year.