Repealing Health Law - Campaign Promises and Reality

Over the weekend, Wall Street Journal reporter Louise Radnofsky wrote a piece titled "Repeal Health Law? It Won't Be Easy". The piece focuses primarily on the obstacles associated with repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA, aka Obama Care). Repeal of PPACA has become a common campaign promise by the majority of GOP contenders, however, not all have provided exact measures they would take to do so. Additionally, for candidates such as Mitt Romney who have a specific plan in place, it is important to recognize there are many "what if" scenarios surrounding their plan, such that if certain contingencies - such as a Republican majority in the Senate - do not fall into place, there is little chance of Gov. Romney's plan of succeeding.

The steps lawmakers in Washington are taking to make PPACA irrelevant are divided based on the constitutional powers grated to either the House or Senate. As Radnofsky points out:

---In the House, some Republicans have been studying ways to choke off funds for the law while working toward repeal, while in the Senate Republicans are pushing bills to knock out specific pieces of the law.---

When we consider the two-part plan as proposed by Gov. Romney, the inherent flaws are more than evident.

---Mr. Romney has proposed signing an executive order on "day one" offering waivers to any governor who wants his or her state to opt out of the law. His rivals note that by law, such waivers can't take effect before 2017. The move would also leave untouched the focus of conservative opposition: the requirement that individuals carry insurance or pay a fee.

Mr. Romney said he would follow this on "day two" with legislation to repeal the law, using a Senate tactic called budget reconciliation. That would require only 51 votes to succeed, a total the GOP might reach after next year's election.

But under the rules, such a bill would tackle only parts of the legislation that relate directly to the budget. Anything else would require 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster, and few see Republicans notching that number.---

While Gov. Romney's plan seems inclusive, it is evident that there exists no single "silver bullet" from the executive branch that can completely nullify PPACA.  Rather, we must rely on the Congress and the Supreme Court to defend the Constitution.  For those who ever questioned why we have 3 separate branches of government, I believe this is a great illustration.  The founders knew when they wrote the Constitution that without division of power (checks and balances), our great country would surely turn into the very same government they fought off in the American Revolution. 

In a more granular political view, Radnofsky goes into an explanation as to the specific budget challenges inherent in the reconciliation process.  If you would like to read more about this, I would suggest reading the article.  My focus is more on the disconnect between how PPACA may actually be repealed and the promises being made by the GOP candidates, rather than the challenges themselves.  The article can be found here.