Members of Congress are on ObamaCare. What will they do if they repeal it?


The Republican health-care plan narrowly advanced out of the House Budget Committee on Thursday, with three conservative Republicans voting no, but it also hit some new turbulence. Four Republican governors wrote congressional leaders saying the bill would harm their states, and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said it "is not a bill I could support in its current form." Including Collins, three senators now say they won't back the bill, leaving it short of the votes it needs to pass. Republicans are turning to President Trump to whip up support, The Associated Press reports, but Trump is suggesting this bill is just an early draft.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the architect of the bill, put on a happy face Thursday, telling reporters, "We feel like we're making great strides and great progress on getting a bill that can pass."
But amid all the talk of changing the legislation to get enough votes, Republicans say they have not even started discussing an aspect of the legislation that hits close to home: What will happen to their own health insurance? Politico explains:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
ObamaCare required members of Congress to enroll in the law's health insurance plans. But so far, Republicans aren't planning to require lawmakers to participate in the new insurance market they're proposing.... Health insurance for members of Congress — and their staffs — was one of the most contentious inside-the-Beltway fights in the long, drawn-out battle over ObamaCare. Lawmakers were stripped of the health insurance that other federal employees get and tossed into ObamaCare, initially without a contribution from their employer, the federal government — thanks to a Republican amendment introduced by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. [Politico]
Republicans have some choices: They could put themselves and their staff back on the federal health insurance plan — a politically risky move — or stay on the exchanges set up under ObamaCare (if those exchanges survive the end of federal subsidies for insurance customers), or throw themselves into whatever new market they create. "I haven't given thought to that," Ryan said Thursday. "We have ObamaCare. We wouldn't have ObamaCare." You can read more at Politico.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
5 fundamentally funny cartoons about the US Constitution
Cartoons Artists take on Sharpie edits, wear and tear, and more
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western isles
The Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
The fertility crisis: can Trump make America breed again?
Talking Point The self-styled 'fertilisation president', has been soliciting ideas on how to get Americans to have more babies
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds
Speed Read Getting vaccinated appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
-
Measles outbreak spreads, as does RFK Jr.'s influence
Speed Read The outbreak centered in Texas has grown to at least three states and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is promoting unproven treatments
-
RFK Jr. offers alternative remedies as measles spreads
Speed Read Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes unsupported claims about containing the spread as vaccine skepticism grows
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015
Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozens
Speed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study finds
Speed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cows
Speed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year