Obamacare backers eye mobilization Nationwide effort meant to counter GOP push for repeal

WASHINGTON - Energized by Republican moves to roll back the Affordable Care Act, leading patient advocates, consumer groups, labor unions and Democratic officials are mobilizing a nationwide campaign to defend the law and protect millions of Americans who depend on the law and other government health programs.

The campaign, which is quickly ramping up ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next week, aims to reshape debate over the law after years in which the public conversation has been dominated by its critics.

But supporters of the policy - also called Obamacare - believe that as Republicans move to gut the 6-year-old law, Americans, including many who voted for Trump, will come to appreciate its protections and fight to keep them.

"This is about one of the most important things in every person's life: the basics of your health," departing Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a speech Monday.

"This is real, and it affects everyone's lives. ... That is what's different, when the conversations shifts from the rhetoric to reality."

Already, there are signs of this new dynamic, as a growing number of Republicans voice concerns about rushing to repeal Obamacare without first outlining a replacement, something the GOP has yet to do.

Polls show thin support for the Republican strategy to repeal now but delay a replacement. No major organizations representing patients, physicians, hospitals or others in the nation's health care system back the GOP approach.

And Trump enters office with historically low public confidence, a weakness that the health care law's defenders figure to exploit.

Democratic senators kept up the pressure Monday, taking to the Senate floor and using Facebook to challenge the Republican repeal effort. In a play on Trump's signature campaign line, Democrats promise that the GOP strategy would "make America sick again."

Activists planned a national effort Tuesday to get Americans to telephone members of Congress and urge them to vote against legislation that would roll back the law. "This is as important to us as a presidential campaign," said Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union, whose 2 million members played a central role in helping pass the health care law and are expected to be crucial in defending it.

Republicans, who will control both the White House and Congress for the first time in more than decade, credit their victories in part to a relentless campaign against President Barack Obama's signature health care law.

Democrats have taken a hands-off approach to the law in recent years, wary of being linked to its struggles.

But as this new chapter in the health care debate begins, they have some key advantages.

"Democrats who were always a little squirrelly on robustly defending the Affordable Care Act are on very firm ground in fighting repeal," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Though public opinion about the ACA is still split, most provisions of the law are extremely popular, even with Republican voters. That may fuel a major backlash if the GOP moves to take them away.

Eight in 10 Americans in another poll say they like provisions in the law that eliminate out-of-pocket costs for many preventive services such as cancer screenings or provide federal aid to states for expanded Medicaid coverage for low-income patients.

The same strong majority supports the law's system of insurance marketplaces - such as HealthCare.gov - where people who don't get coverage through an employer can shop for health plans.

And 80 percent of Americans favor the government subsidies provided through the law to help low- and moderate-income people buy insurance.

GOP leaders have called for major cutbacks in Medicaid and a change in insurance rules that would only guarantee coverage for people who didn't have gaps in coverage. Republicans also would no longer require insurers to offer basic benefits.

Also aiding the Obamacare defense could be GOP interest in making broader changes to other popular safety net programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. Medicare provides coverage to more than 50 million elderly and disabled Americans. And Medicaid covers more than 70 million poor children, adults and seniors.

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Credit: By Noam N. Levey and Michael A. Memoli - Washington Bureau