Stephen Colbert looks at the GOP's ObamaCare repeal chicanery, finds their replacement plan

(Image credit: Late Show)

published 17 January 2017

Republicans in Congress have voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 60 times since Democrats enacted it, but this year they won't have President Obama's veto to keep the law in place. They have already started the process of repealing big parts of ObamaCare, Stephen Colbert said on Monday's Late Show, but President-elect Donald Trump promised over the weekend that the replacement plan will cover everybody "beautifully." Without specifics, Colbert wasn't reassured: "Oh, don't worry, if you're losing your ObamaCare, you will be beautifully covered, either by insurance or six feet of dirt."

"We know Republicans are going to replace it, and they haven't told us with what, but I think they've given us a hint," Colbert said. "And that brings us to tonight's WERD." Like Colbert's old WØRD segment, most of the jokes are a combination of the host's words and the text in the box, and Colbert walked through the upsides and downsides of replacing ObamaCare before noting tartly that Republicans forbade the Congressional Budget Office from scoring the cost — estimated at 3 million jobs and $1.5 trillion — of repealing the Affordable Care Act. "That's right, the GOP is so confident that repeal will save money, that they don't want to know if that's true," Colbert said. "And if Congress can make it illegal for us to know how much it costs to repeal ObamaCare, I think they might have stumbled on the replacement: Just make it illegal for your doctor to tell you your diagnosis." Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.