John Boehner and GOP Continue To Bash Obamacare
Apparently the plan for Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and the GOP is to keep up the pressure on Obamacare. During a press conference on March 13, 2014 Boehner claimed that the Affordable Care Act is actually performing at a negative level since its inception meaning that Obamacare is causing more people to lose healthcare than gain it. Most will judge the law by how many uninsured are able to gain coverage, but Boehner raises a side of the law that most saw coming, at least in the eyes of Republicans.
When a reporter asked if he truly believed that, Boehner reaffirmed his position,
“I believe that to be the case,” Boehner said. “When you look at the 6 million Americans who’ve lost their policies, and (government officials) claim 4.2 million who’ve signed up — I don’t know how many have actually paid for it — that would indicate to me a net loss of people with health insurance. And I actually do believe that to be the case.”
John Boehner estimates that the number of policies canceled as a result of Obamacare is 6 million. The White House claims 4.2 million people have signed up for insurance. In his eyes, and according to the easy math, that leads to a net loss of 1.8 million policies. However, the 6 million number is hard to pinpoint, according to Politifact. Boehner also does not account for those policies which were reinstated after an Obama mandate late last year. That mandate reinstated roughly half of the canceled policies.
GOP pollsters agree with the Republican brand for 2014. In an interview with Time Magazine, pollster Whit Ayres states, “The core message is running against Obamacare. That is the most effective message. It becomes even more effective when we can answer the question: What’s your alternative?”
Since the passage of Obamacare, the Republican Party, lead by John Boehner, has offered up dozens of bills repealing Obamacare without a reasonable replacement which the American public seems to vastly desire. The “repeal” plan was intended to put things back the way they were, instead of looking at true reform. In 2014, the tone has changed from “repeal” to “repeal and replace”.
Earlier in the year, Boehner had spoken about his own experience with Obamacare stating that it would raise his own personal rates.
It will be an interesting midterm election season to say the least. Will Republicans be successful with their “repeal and replace” strategy? Only time will tell, as the public begins to see the plan alternatives unfold. Many in the know have indicated that this season may be a ‘do or die’ for John Boehner.
