'Democrat-created disaster' Obamacare gets terminal diagnosis

For most of Barack Obama's tenure in the White House, the nation has been at odds over Obamacare, with a majority rejecting the government's control of health-care insurance and personal health decisions.

The so-called Affordable Health Care Act – imposed on the nation by a Democrat-only vote in Congress – has forced nuns to pay for abortions, demanded that Christians violate their doctrines of faith, forced the young to pay for the care of the elderly and much more.

Its intrusion on the rights of religious believers prompted James Dobson, founder of Family Talk Radio, to publicly challenge Obama: "Come and get me. I will not yield to your wicked regulations."

Praised by Planned Parenthood for its abortion mandates, Obamacare would have, Dobson revealed, forced his ministry to close had its requirements been upheld by the courts, because the Obama administration was demanding $800,000 a year in fines.

See Dobson's comments where he calls Obama the abortion president:

His Family Talk Radio court case was among more than 100 lawsuits brought by religious ministries, individuals, organizations and companies against Obama's health-care takeover on the grounds it violates the religious rights of Christians by forcing them to pay for abortion-causing procedures.

Not surprisingly, Republicans in the U.S. House voted repeatedly to repeal it, but without any impact since Obama was loath to see any changes to his signature legislation.

But that all changed when Donald Trump was elected Nov. 8, along with a GOP majority in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

In fact, the next day, longtime Bill and Hillary Clinton ally James Carville said, "Obamacare is done."

Vice President Mike Pence has said the work will begin on Day One of Trump's presidency.

Here’s the help you’ll need to prepare your household for the realities of living under a centralized health-care system — order Dr. Lee Hieb's "Surviving the Medical Meltdown: Your Guide to Living Through the Disaster of Obamacare"

"Obamacare has failed. Now is the time to keep our promises. Step one will be to repeal," he said.

He explained Trump will sign executive orders to repeal Obama's namesake immediately.

"Today, our message is very simple. We're going to be in the promise-keeping business. … We're going to keep our promise to the American people – we're going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with solutions that lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government."

The Washington Examiner reported the GOP is assembling a steering committee to make sure the work gets done.

"An advanced copy of the lineup obtained by The Washington Examiner shows a baker's dozen of the most conservative members in the House of Representatives. These are the members most likely to keep President Trump on the conservative straight and narrow," the report said. "The RSC isn't the newest conservative caucus in Congress. But they're the biggest, with more than 170 members. And when they throw their weight around, the debate shifts. Last Congress the caucus held the line against efforts to revive the Export-Import Bank and increase federal spending. That's what makes the group's position on Obamacare so significant.

"While some Republicans have suggested a slow transition away from Obamacare, Walker and his caucus want the health care law repealed and replaced immediately."

The report said a key is that the RSC recently proposed a replacement plan "dismisses the narrative that Republicans don't have any replacement plans."

A number of ideas have been floated.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons even has released a white Ppaper with pages of detailed plans.

"At the root of Obamacare is a requirement that people buy a product – health insurance – that they do not want, or at least do not want on the terms being forced upon them by government. This in turn is based on the fallacy that the way to an equitable state of 'universal healthcare' is through comprehensive third-party payment. When that fundamental economic fallacy is uprooted and people are allowed to spend money in more efficient ways, then the inherent waste in the current system would be avoided, to the benefit of the entire economy," the group said.

"The linchpin of Obamacare is the individual mandate, which compels people to buy health insurance under threat of penalty by the IRS, which is part of the executive branch. The definition of acceptable coverage is determined by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which did not, for example, have to mandate contraceptive coverage."

The group said Trump could simply adopt a policy of non-enforcement for penalties. But members urged immediate action, because "voting for the midterm elections begins in a mere 21 months."

It lists a number of specific actions that could be adopted.

And the experts said: "Many assume that we need one big, centrally planned federal replacement plan for everyone, which will allow all to 'keep' their Obamacare benefits. The 'winners' might choose to do so. The 'losers' (far larger in number) likely would not. Remember that many exchange enrollees have lost plans repeatedly already.

"In a free market, many different structures are built, without governments, think tanks, or advocacy groups dictating the plans. Innovation of course cannot be predicted or forced to happen. The government's job is to make and enforce fair, reasonable, predictable rules that foster innovation and competition."

What's needed are honest pricing, honest reimbursement, tax fairness, fair competition, openness regarding group plans and dropping the mandates, the group said.

One of the stunning developments came this week with reports that Congress plans to strip tax support for the Planned Parenthood abortion business along with the removal of Obamacare.

The business gets about half-a-billion dollars a year from taxpayers.

Noted NBC: "Not funding $500 million per year for Planned Parenthood would give the GOP some much needed cash to pay for their healthcare replacement while also satisfying the socially conservative portion of their base."

Democrats claimed that no taxpayer money goes toward abortion, but cash is fungible, and paying other bills for Planned Parenthood, critics say, undoubtedly opens up other money for abortion.

WND columnist Dr. Jane Orient wrote recently: "The Trump administration and the Republican Congress is faced with a crisis in the Affordable Care Act. Most of the co-ops are gone. A large portion of the exchanges have only one plan to 'choose' from. The money appropriated for shoring up insurance companies that experience losses is used up, and the administration's illegal attempt to take money from other sources such as the Judgment Fund has run into a court challenge.

"The patient named ACA has been in trouble since the beginning, but Dr. Obama has intervened unilaterally to save it with exemptions for powerful players (such as some big companies and a 'small business' comprised of congressional staffers) and other types of executive finesse."

She continued: "But now the Republicans are about to take charge. They have been promising, and dithering, and delaying, and gesticulating about using the power of the purse to stop this Democrat-created disaster since 2010. But now the whole health system is in trouble as ACA tentacles are deeply entwined in it, and millions of patients are counting on ACA health plans. Whatever Congress does will have complications, and if the bipartisan fix or replacement has Republican fingerprints, the Republicans will be blamed."

She explained the GOP needs to stop illegal actions supporting ACA, stop enforcing an unconstitutional law and allow development of better alternatives.

It was reported only days ago that only four of the original 24 Obamacare health co-ops remain standing after Maryland’s co-op announced Dec. 8 it was suspending the sale of individual health insurance policies.

And attorneys for Congress have asked the courts to hold off on a lawsuit over Obamacare, since they expect the Trump administration to make changes right away.