Even Right-Wing Breitbart Thinks The GOP Plan To Replace Obamacare Is Terrible

While the Affordable Care Act has been a polarizing topic since it was signed into law seven years ago, there appears to be a growing consensus among both liberals and conservatives that the GOP’s Obamacare replacement plan is terrible.

A story posted Tuesday on right-wing website Breitbart – of which Chief Trump Strategist Steve Bannon was formerly the executive chair – slammed Paul Ryan’s health care plan and the White House for claiming that the legislation fulfills their promise of fully repealing the landmark health care law.

Instead, the conservative site says the replacement bill doesn’t go far enough in hurting the maximum number of Americans.

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White House press secretary Sean Spicer falsely stated that the healthcare bill from House Speaker Paul Ryan represents what will eventually be a full repeal of Obamacare. Yet, the GOP bill–which has been panned by many conservatives and dubbed “Obamacare 2.0”–keeps key elements of Obamacare in place.

When asked about this at a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon by the Washington Examiner’s Sarah Westwood, Spicer inaccurately stated that if this bill were to be signed into law it would constitute a repeal of Obamacare. Repealing Obamacare was a top campaign promise made by President Donald Trump in 2016.

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It has been called by conservative critics Obamacare 2.0 because the bill keeps in place the Obamacare requirements that insurers allow for coverage of pre-existing conditions and allows children to stay on their parents’ health care until they’re 26-years-old. It shifts the individual mandate from being a tax paid to the government to a penalty paid to insurance companies, does not even address the Medicaid issue in states effectively, helps illegal aliens access healthcare in the system, and it does not allow for purchasing of insurance across state lines as Republicans have promised for years—among many, many other problems.

Specifically on the Medicaid front, the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) says that the bill “misses the mark” in terms of rolling back the entitlement. 

The reasons behind Breitbart’s opposition to the Republican bill are obviously ludicrous. They are essentially whining that the replacement plan keeps two small parts of the law intact – coverage for pre-existing conditions and children up to age 26 – and doesn’t roll back Medicaid coverage enough for low-income Americans.

Liberals, on the other hand, see the Republican legislation for what it is: a handout to insurance companies that will hurt Americans who need Obamacare the most – the sick, the elderly and those who don’t earn enough money to afford insurance coverage.

But opposition is opposition. Reasons aside, it’s good news that so many on both sides of the political spectrum – yes, even Breitbart – are fighting against the latest Republican attack on the Affordable Care Act.

With liberals enthusiastically united against the repeal efforts and Republicans squabbling with each other over how many Americans they want to hurt, it looks like Obamacare isn’t going anywhere – at least not yet.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.