Will the incoherent president fix the ACA mess he made?

By Jennifer Rubin October 18 at 10:15 AM

The compromise from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) would provide states with greater flexibility under the Affordable Care Act in exchange for authorizing cost-sharing reduction payments known as CSRs for two years. Those payments help offset deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers who obtain insurance under the ACA.

Trump insisted he’d been involved in crafting the deal. (Then Obamacare wasn’t dead?) Republican lawmakers, however, haven’t signed on since they’ve been touting their determination to destroy Obamacare, not to save it. On the other hand, if they don’t accept the Alexander-Murray deal (which Senate leadership squashed to push the Graham-Cassidy replacement scheme), they’ll be blamed for making insurance premiums even more costly and leaving more Americans without coverage. Welcome to the Trump era in which Republicans wind up contradicting themselves and holding the bag — and their noses — because the president is committed only to preserving his ego and claiming a win.

We might — get this — see the president demand Republican leadership move the compromise plan to the floor where “Chuck and Nancy” (Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California) can round up the votes needed to pass it.

In a critical sign of support, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Chuck Todd Tuesday afternoon, “I’m very pleased that Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray continue to work so hard to try to stabilize the insurance markets, to lower premiums, and to provide some stability, which is really needed. This bill may not be perfect. I would have liked to have seen a specific authorization and some seed money for reinsurance pools, which would further help to lower premiums. But this is a good package, and I hope it will be passed very quickly so it can have an impact on rates this year.” She’ll need to bring a number of Republicans with her and prevail upon the majority leader to put it to a vote.

On one level this shows how entirely unprincipled and reckless have been the president’s actions. One day he’ll destroy coverage, the next he might spare it. The content of bills and their affect on actual people makes no difference to him. The current situation also speaks to the intellectual dishonesty and vapidity of Republicans who inveigh against Obamacare, cannot come up with a popular alternative and then would (in some cases) rather see vulnerable citizens hurt than fix some of the problems with the ACA and buy more time for further revisions.

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