When Democrats passed Obamacare in 2010, the coverage requirement was meant to force younger, healthier people into the system to subsidize the older and sicker. Penalties for not having coverage were light, however. A family that went without coverage in 2015 would have paid a fine of $975 -- more for wealthier families. Insurers have said they need a policy that achieves a similar effect as a mandate.
Republicans have yet to introduce a formal bill in the House or Senate, and the timeline to act has been pushed back repeatedly from promises made during the 2016 elections that a repeal and replace package would be ready during the first days of the new administration. Trump said Wednesday that there would be a White House health plan by early- or mid-March.
There are doubters that Republicans will succeed with repeal, or if they do, that it will significantly change the existing law. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner, who led the fight against Obamacare until stepping down in 2015, predicted at a health industry gathering in Florida Thursday that changes would be modest.
“They’ll fix the flaws and put a more conservative box around it,” Boehner said. “The framework is going to stay there.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.