What comes next for American health care?

What comes next for American health care?

Although the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare failed in the U.S. House, the effort is far from over. The current plan is to chip away at provisions of the Affordable Care Act through executive actions, negating the need to unite all factions of the Republican party, and at least some Democrats, behind a new health care plan.

The hard part will be eliminating the parts of Obamacare that Trump wants to cut without weakening the insurance system beyond repair. Trump and Congressional Republicans have said they want Americans to have access to affordable care. The problem of higher premiums was a rallying cry throughout Trumpês campaign to be president. Yet some of the changes the Republicans and administration propose such as lowering federal subsidies to lower-income people buying insurance would raise premiums substantially. Analysts have said that not enforcing the individual mandate another goal of Congressional Republicans if they canêt repeal it outright would also drive up premiums.

Neither Trump nor the Republicans in Congress will abandon this fight. But as they discovered when they tried to pass a bill replacing Obama Care in March, itês hard to do everything they want to do and still make the numbers work.