He hadn’t thought of that.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
An “obscure Obamacare provision” could allow a future Republican president effectively gut the law:
The provision allows the executive branch to waive big chunks of the law for a state that chooses a different approach to expanding health coverage. It was designed to allow progressive states to go further than Obamacare. Vermont, for instance, wanted to create a single-payer plan.
But the tool could turn out to be an important lever for Republicans, especially if they control the White House. In theory at least, a Republican president, working with Republican governors, could use it to toss the much-reviled individual and employer mandates, health insurance exchanges, subsidies that certain people receive to afford their health plans, and mandates for what benefits are covered.
“Our hope is that we can get flexibility with the Obama administration,” said Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe, whose state is considering pursuing such a waiver. “But if we can’t get the flexibility that we want, we believe that a Republican administration would be a lot more flexible. We think we’d have a lot more common ground.”
Live by executive order, die by executive order.
I see no reason why a GOP President should be any less selective about enforcing or enacting all the provisions of the Totally Settled Law of the Land™ than President Obama has been.
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