Republican congressmen heading out to speak to constituents at town halls are being advised by a conservative messaging firm to stop talking about a "full repeal" of Obamacare because it is highly unpopular with the public despite once being one of the main planks of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
According to the Washington Post, the few Republican lawmakers who are brave enough to go out and face angry voters in their districts were given advice on how to present the American Health Care Act, which was recently passed in the GOP-led House of Representatives. In a memo issued this week by conservative firm WPA Intelligence, lawmakers were cautioned to avoid using the term “full repeal” because it is highly unpopular.
On May 4, the House pushed through House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-WI) health care bill -- dubbed the AHCA -- before it had been scored by the Congressional Budget Office and before it was fully read by House members. After initial celebration -- including a rally in the White House rose garden with the president -- House members have taken a beating when returning to their home districts.
According to conservative and former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes, pushing through what he called "RyanCare," was a huge mistake.
"A very real flaw in the bill went unnoticed, one that will slam the very people who can least afford it," Forbes wrote in his namesake magazine. "Here it is: RyanCare will make health insurance unaffordable for millions of Americans who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but are too young for Medicare, especially folks in the 50-to-64 age bracket."
"This is truly an unforced error of the first order, politically and economically,” he added."If the Republican Senate doesn’t fix the RyanCare error. . .Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2019.”
At issue is the very volatile decision to allow states to be granted a waiver on a rule banning insurers from charging patients with preexisting medical conditions more than others.
Senate Republicans have already stated that the House bill will be getting a major overhaul and are reportedly working on portions of Obamacare that are popular with the public.
