EDITORIAL: GOP wants to replace Obamacare, but with what?

Jan. 16--A little more than a quarter-century ago, a political movement built around reforming the U.S. health-care system sprouted.

A sizeable share of Americans were growing tired of the dog-eat-dog aspects of a system that (a.) didn't adequately cover all Americans, (b.) brought financial ruin on too many who needed long-term treatment, (c.) lacked incentives to foster wellness as opposed to merely treating illness and (d.) did very little to curb the runaway costs of health care.

As the push for changes grew with Bill Clinton's 1992 election to the presidency, conservatives looked for solutions that would minimize the impact of government and allow for a greater role for private enterprise. One such plan birthed by the Heritage Foundation and circulated by congressional Republicans in 1993 would have required Americans to purchase health insurance, offered government dollars to those Americans too poor to afford it, set coverage minimums and banned denial of insurance based on pre-existing conditions.

Sound familiar? It should. It's very much like the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. Let us explain.

The conservative proposal died in Congress in 1993, as did the Clinton administration's more ambitious plan. However, the Republicans' alternative emerged the next decade when Massachusetts, under Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, passed a law with many of the same components.

At the start of this decade, the Obama administration borrowed heavily from Romneycare and its forefather, the old Heritage Foundation plan, to pass the Affordable Care Act.

Last week in an act of fratricide, conservative Republicans in the Senate and the House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, a policy that emerged from within their ranks that they once championed.

In truth, Obamacare needs updating and reforming. While parts of it have vastly improved health care -- covering more Americans who were previously uninsured and slowing the rate of inflation related to treatment, for example -- other sections need adjusting.

That hasn't happened.

And what is the Republican replacement this time? So far, nothing. Oh, it's going to be better, they say. No one will lose a thing, they say. There's no need to worry, they say.

Having had seven years to devise an alternative to Obamacare and broadcast its details far and wide, congressional Republicans stand mute on what replaces the Affordable Care Act.

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