Suddenly there’s a new, more conservative agenda. And almost everything in healthcare is up in the air.
Beyond that, there’s great uncertainty whether and at what level Republicans will fund a wide range of health programs, including medical research, mental health and addiction services, public health, community health centers and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Trump’s picks for cabinet-level posts, notably Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) at the Office of Management and Budget, are no fans of government social spending.
Republican experts say there’s no question Congress will push to repeal the ACA via a party-line, expedited budget bill. It’s likely they’ll also try to erase or roll back the law’s Medicaid expansion. But these observers acknowledge that congressional GOP leaders themselves don’t know what they’re going to put in the ACA’s place—or precisely how they’ll do it.
“They’re working through that,” said Dean Rosen, a Republican lobbyist who formerly served as a senior Republican Senate staffer. “Republicans will own the changes, and they have to be very careful they don’t find themselves in the same position as the Obama administration, defending an unpopular, partisan piece of legislation.”
