Ryan: Democrats using scare tactics to disrupt Obamacare repeal effort
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday accused Democrats of using scare tactics to discourage attempts by Republican lawmakers to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
“The scare tactics started with the Democrats yesterday,” Ryan said in response to a reporter’s question. “They’re trying to make Americans think like someday this February or someday this March you’re gonna to wake up and you won’t have a health insurance plan. That ain’t happening. That’s not true.”
“What we’re doing is we’re gonna be methodical. We’re gonna be deliberative and we’re going to do this the right way. We’re going get this law repealed. We’re going get this law replaced and we’re going have a transition period so that people do not have the rug pulled out from underneath them while we get to a better place.”
On Wednesday Senate Republicans narrowly pushed through a motion that paves the way for repealing of the Affordable Care Act by taking advantage of a procedural move that eliminates the possibility of a filibuster.
President Barack Obama travelled to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to urge Democratic lawmakers to stand firm against Republican attempts to repeal the ACA.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence met with Republican lawmakers to encourage expeditiously repealing the ACA.
Ryan along with President-elect Donald Trump has long advocated repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing that law with legislation that would allow policyholders to purchase health insurance at a lower cost.
Republicans have frequently argued that ACA places an unfair burden on small businesses by requiring them to provide coverage for most of their employees. Republicans have also expressed opposition to the ACA’s mandated coverage provision, which authorizes the federal government to levy a small fine on those who have not purchased health insurance.
As of late, many insurance carriers have recently dropped out of the healthcare exchange through which ACA policies are purchased due to concerns over excessive costs.
Many policyholders also have been smacked with extremely high deductibles and premiums and some have not been able to maintain their current doctors because many ACA plans dictate which physicians they are allowed to see.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Ny.) have consistently vowed that Democratic lawmakers will fight against any attempt to repeal the ACA.
This article was republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.