Utahns will play key role in repeal of Obamacare

By Dennis Romboy

Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY - Members of Utah's congressional delegation will play a key role in rolling back President Barack Obama's signature health care law, which might be the first order of business for the new Congress.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to call on lawmakers to deliver a full repeal of Obamacare on "day one" of his administration, even as enrollment figures rise across the country.

Trump summoned Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to his New York office Thursday to talk about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, among other things. Lee, who did not vote for Trump, has been a harsh critic of Obamacare.

Lee and Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., wrote last week that the details of a replacement plan do not have to be finalized now. But overall, it must honor medicine's founding principle: first, do no harm.

"Congress and the Trump administration can't afford to fumble the repeal of Obamacare. We can't afford to just squeak by with the bare minimum, while preserving many of Obamacare's most burdensome and intrusive provisions," they wrote.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will be among those leading the effort to undo the health care law, which he has called a "dead drag" on the economy. He introduced the first replacement plan last December called the Patient Care Act.

"It will be repealed, and it's probably the very first thing Congress will do when we go back in session Jan. 3," Rep. Jason Chaffetz said, adding he "wholeheartedly" supports that effort.

Chaffetz called the health care law "devastating" on American families, pointing to increased insurance premiums and deductibles.

"It was originally sold on a lie. It was sold on this idea that you would save $2,500, that you could keep your doctor. None of that turned out to be true," he said Thursday at Gov. Gary Herbert's monthly KUED news conference.

Still, more Utahns than ever are signing up for health care on the federal marketplace.

More than 90,000 Utahns had enrolled or re-enrolled in a marketplace plan on healthcare.gov as of Dec 10, an 11 percent increase over last year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Enrollment is up 6 percent nationally.

Utah has the highest increase among the 39 states with a federally facilitated marketplace.

The Utah Health Policy Project said those increases are strong evidence that the Affordable Care Act is still popular in the state.

But Obamacare is decidedly unpopular with Herbert and the majority Republicans in the Utah Legislature.

Herbert said he didn't want to speculate on what the new administration and Congress would do. He also said it's unclear what it could mean for the Healthy Utah plan he pushed to enhance Medicaid coverage but state lawmakers rejected.

"It does seem to me that's going to take some time," the governor said.

Herbert said he would suggest that money Utah sends to Washington should come back in the form of block grants, giving the state flexibility on how to use it. Job training and a work requirement should be "part and parcel" to good health care, he said.

Chaffetz said there are lots of good suggestions for replacing the Affordable Care Act, including some Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., offers in his Better Way plan. Chaffetz also favors keeping some parts of the current law, such as provisions that protect people with pre-existing conditions and allow children to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26.

The congressman said he supports Trump's pick for Health and Human Services secretary, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who he said has led the charge in the House against Obamacare.

Hatch also praised Price.

"Tom is well equipped to take on the challenge of unraveling the damage that has been done and working with Congress to implement common-sense, patient-focused reforms that will reduce health care costs and increase access to affordable, high-quality care," he said in a recent statement

Hatch's committee will vet Price for his Senate confirmation.

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Credit: By Dennis Romboy Deseret News