By Erin Fenner for State of Reform
Gov. Jay Inslee has not been shy about challenging President Donald Trump’s actions and stances.
This week, Inslee said in a CNN interview that he has “zero confidence” that Trump can lead an effort to competently repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
It’s still unclear how Congressional Republican leaders plan to repeal and replace the ACA, but there are hints. But, Trump’s comments on health care continue to be dissonant with the GOP’s expressed values, and varying in general. The dissonance isn’t just on Trump, though.
There’s disagreement on the right way to repeal and replace within the Republican party. The New York Times reported on this compounded tension Wednesday:
“While Mr. Trump appeared to back a health plan being drawn up by Republican leaders, it became clear Wednesday that lawmakers were continuing to argue over its details. Republican senators emerged from a closed-door meeting on health care tight-lipped.
Some have balked at a proposal to require workers to pay taxes on particularly generous employer-provided health benefits. Some are worried about the future of Medicaid.”
Amid all this, Trump hasn’t provided a unifying plan. Or at least, Republicans in Congress don’t unilaterally see it that way. Politico reported on this Wednesday:
“House Republican leaders were ebullient after President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress Tuesday night, convinced that their proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare had just gotten the presidential seal of approval.
Conservatives who abhor the GOP leadership plan saw just the opposite.
Congressional Republicans were yearning for some direction from Trump after spending weeks splintered on their Obamacare strategy. Trump did lay out details — using tax credits to help Americans purchase insurance, implementing tort reform, allowing for purchase of coverage across state lines — but he may have done little more than give a tiny nudge toward consensus on a health care plan, where Republicans still appear far apart on a deal.”
