On Friday, McConnell reportedly “delivered a private warning to his Senate Republicans: If they failed to pass legislation unwinding the Affordable Care Act, Democrats could regain power and establish a single-payer health-care system.”
History may record a certain irony if this is the argument McConnell uses to successfully destroy Obamacare. In recent conversations with Democrats and industry observers, I’ve become convinced that just the opposite is true: If Republicans unwind Obamacare and pass their bill, then Democrats are much likelier to establish a single-payer health care system — or at least the beginnings of one — when they regain power.
“I will tell you,” says Len Nichols, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University, “Democratic politicians I never thought would utter the words have mentioned single-payer to me in a non-joking way of late.”
If Republicans wipe out the Affordable Care Act and de-insure tens of millions of people, they will prove a few things to Democrats. First, including private insurers and conservative ideas in a health reform plan doesn’t offer a scintilla of political protection, much less Republican support. Second, sweeping health reform can be passed quickly, with only 51 votes in the Senate, and with no support from major industry actors. Third, it’s easier to defend popular government programs that people already understand and appreciate, like Medicaid and Medicare, than to defend complex public-private partnerships, like Obamacare’s exchanges.
Even worse for the Republicans would be if they successfully pass Trumpcare, which even Donald Trump seems to want to abandon, since it will likely cause even more Americans to lose their health care, or be forced into substandard policies, and that outcome will be traced directly back to the GOP with no chance remaining to blame Obama.
Ultimately all of this might be exactly the shot in the arm that Democrats need to put forward a policy that actually covers ALL Americans and which leaves the health insurance companies right where they belong, on the ash heap of history.
I think all of this is more than just possible, I think it is quite probable.
Source http://ift.tt/2rHjQlp
