Sarah Kliff wrote Health reform still stands. But parts of it have fallen. "Both Congress and the administration have repealed, stalled or backed off on a handful of health provisions, including one major new insurance program. Here’s a look at the programs that have been overturned, shutdown or stalled so far."
Kevin Drum tries to answer, Can Mitt Romney Really Repeal Obamacare?. "But how much can they repeal? That's a good question, so here's the best case scenario for liberals. Republicans can use the reconciliation process to repeal any part of Obamacare that's budget related, and that means they can repeal a big chunk of Obamacare with only 51 votes. But they can't use reconciliation to repeal pieces of the law that are strictly regulatory in nature. For that they need to use regular order, and that means they'll need 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster, which they probably won't be able to get.
So which parts are purely regulatory? There are several, but the two most important are guaranteed issue and community rating. The first means that insurance companies are required to sell insurance to anyone who wants it, and the second means that they have to charge everyone the same price. (With a few specific exceptions, like designated higher rates based on age.) So what happens if they repeal most of Obamacare but not those two parts? That's a little tricky to answer." and he goes on to try.
And for those of us in Massachusetts, John McDonough runs through what we'd lose: "Many of these are already in effect today, and others are moving quickly toward implementation. Listed here are 36 provisions of the ACA which will provide positive benefits for Massachusetts residents and which will be lost if the ACA is repealed."
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