This post was written by Lawrence O. Gostin, Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute. and was originally published in the JAMA Forum on October 18, 2012.
Lawrence O. Gostin
The “Repeal and Replace” Strategy
Romney’s preferred strategy to repeal and replace the ACA would undoubtedly rely on a parliamentary tactic called the budget reconciliation process, the very method by which the Democratic-controlled Congress enacted the ACA.
Throughout most of the passage of the ACA, the Democrats held a filibuster-proof majority. By the time Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts died in August 2009 and a by-election was held the following January to replace him, the ACA had passed both Houses of Congress. But the House and Senate versions were very different. After the election of Republican Scott Brown to Kennedy’s vacant Senate seat, the Democrats lost their supermajority, and the only way the bill could reach President Obama’s desk was through the budget reconciliation process. And that is what transpired: the ACA passed without a single Republican vote. Although Republicans denounced this parliamentary maneuver, they used it themselves to enact the Medicare drug benefit. For Romney, budget reconciliation would be the only feasible way to repeal the ACA. READ MORE »
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