Repeal or Replace?: What Plans Will Presidential Hopefuls Offer for Obamacare at Wednesday's Debate?

ST. PAUL, Minn.—A wide and varied field of Republican presidential hopefuls all have their own plans to make the country better—if elected. And nearly all have weighed in on the government health care system—some calling for full repeal and others offering replacement strategies.

Regardless, Obamacare is sure to be a hot topic during Wednesday’s presidential debates, with candidates each having their own opinions on how to “fix” a severely flawed government health care system—either by repealing Obamacare or replacing it. The second prime-time debate of the long election season is set for 8 p.m. ET Sept. 16 on CNN, with an earlier debate beginning at 6 p.m.

One patient freedom organization will be watching the debate closely, interested in how each candidate plans to address an intrusive, expensive and failing federal health care system. Twila Brase, president and co-founder of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, http://www.cchfreedom.org), a national organization dedicated to preserving patient-centered health care and protecting patient and privacy rights, says full repeal is the only feasible option.

Brase wrote about the upcoming debate and the presidential hopefuls’ take on health care in her regular commentary that is included in CCHF’s weekly e-news, stating that the GOP budget reconciliation bill to repeal Obamacare is back in play—sort of. Republicans appear ready to use reconciliation, which needs only a simple majority vote, to repeal a limited list of Obamacare provisions. However, the Morning Consult reports, “the move will be symbolic, since any such legislation heads right to the White House for a veto.”

“If that’s true,” Brase asked, “why are Republicans not sending President Obama a bill to repeal the whole thing, rather than just a few sections of the 2,700-page law? Might Republicans actually hope he’ll sign it? And if Obama did sign it, would Obamacare ever be repealed?”

Brase added if the six rumored sections are repealed, it would benefit several groups: individual mandate (benefitting citizens and voters); employer mandate (all businesses, including tribal); medical device tax (device manufacturers); 40 percent ‘Cadillac Tax’ on high cost plans (employers and labor unions); the Independent Payment Advisory Board (physicians and patients); and the expansion of “small group market” definition to companies with up to 100 employees, instead of up to 50 employees as it is today (businesses).

“With these repeals in hand, who would fight for a full repeal if a Republican gets elected president in 2016?” Brase continued. “And what highly visible sections of law could a Republican president use to easily raise the public’s ire? Despite being 2,700 pages long, much of the public still thinks of Obamacare as simply a law about insurance with mandates, penalties and a few pluses like being able to get coverage despite being sick. The rest of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is virtually unknown.”

Brase said the country should not be surprised by this. A recent analysis of the ACA’s reading level put it at the 13th grade—harder to understand than an academic paper about chess. She added that if all six sections are repealed, will the public raise its voice against the ACA for complex and less tangible sections of the law that are establishing a government-run national socialized health care system? Will they understand the sophisticated euphemistic ACA terms that put outsiders rather than doctors in charge of medical decisions?

“Republicans may be making a dangerous gamble by taking out a few sections the public knows about, rather than a complete repeal of everything the public does and doesn’t know about,” Brase said. “If Obama plays to win the endgame (Obamacare Forever), the GOP gamble could go sideways. Congress must keep its eye on 2017. They must make sure they don’t lose the public will for repeal—and the chance to send a Republican president a one-page bill like H.R. 132 that repeals Obamacare in just six lines of text!”

For more information on CCHF, visit its web site at http://www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/cchfreedom or its Twitter feed, @CCHFreedom.

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a patient-centered national health freedom organization based in St. Paul, Minn., exists to protect health care choices and patient privacy. CCHF sponsors the daily, 60-second radio feature, Health Freedom Minute, which airs on approximately 350 stations nationwide, including 200 on the American Family Radio Network and 100 on the Bott Radio Network. Listeners can learn more about the agenda behind health care initiatives and steps they can take to protect their health care choices, rights and privacy.

CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, R.N., has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” A public health nurse, Brase has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. She is at the forefront of informing the public of crucial health issues, such as intrusive wellness and prevention initiatives in Obamacare, patient privacy, informed consent, the dangers of “evidence-based medicine” and the implications of state and federal health care reform.