BY JESSIE HELLMANN - 09/27/18
06:00 AM EDT 128
Democrats say they
will grill top Trump administration officials over what they say has been its
efforts to “sabotage” ObamaCare, if they take back the House majority this fall
and win committee chairmanships with subpoena power.
While Democrats are
unlikely to see significant health-care legislation enacted while President Trump is in
the White House, they say they’ll work to advance several bills designed to
“undo” the damage caused by the administration and build up the Affordable Care
Act (ACA).
The measures and the
tough hearings could help set the stage for the 2020 presidential race, when
Democrats hope to unseat Trump.
A blue wave in
November would give House Democrats the power to conduct investigations, issue
subpoenas and drag administrative officials before Congress to ask tough
questions about their handling of the 2010 health-care law that Republicans
have attempted to repeal.
“We have to. Part of
constituting the majority would be more oversight on the executive branch,”
said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.),
who is poised to take the gavel on the Ways and Means Committee if Democrats
win back the House.
“What they’ve done is
try to dismantle [the ACA] through the regulatory process,” Neal added. “I
think if we were so lucky as to be the majority, I think we would certainly be
in the position to stop that.”
If Democrats win back
the House — FiveThirtyEight puts those odds at 79.5 percent — they would have
the power to protect aspects of former President Obama’s signature legislative
achievement, which many of them helped write and pass eight years ago.
The strategy could
include investigations into the administration cutting funds for consumer
enrollment assistance, expanding access to non-ObamaCare plans, canceling key
insurer subsidies and declining to defend ObamaCare in court.
House Democrats were
virtually powerless as Republicans attempted to repeal ObamaCare over the past
1 1/2 years of Trump’s presidency.
After Republicans
failed in their repeal efforts, the administration began making regulatory
changes that, Democrats argue, are aimed at weakening the law and depressing
enrollment in ObamaCare.
“It will be a
refreshing change to be able to have hearings on all these — this whole array
of issues we haven’t really had in-depth hearings about,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.),
a senior Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations.
“I think health care
will be one of the very first things that we address,” she added. “There’s a
lot of fear out there, and we need to calm people who are so afraid they’re
going to lose their health care or not be able to afford their health care. I
think that will be a big agenda item.”
House Democrats have
already demanded answers from the administration regarding legal and regulatory
efforts to weaken ObamaCare, but as the minority party they’ve received
inadequate replies.
The threat of
subpoenas, however, could make the administration more willing to provide those
answers by providing testimony from officials at the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
“Even before you see
meaningful legislation, you’re going to start seeing hearings, subpoenas,
[Government Accountability Office] reports — you name it — looking into the
Trump administration and the way it has managed Medicare, Medicaid and
particularly the Affordable Care Act marketplaces,” said Shawn Gremminger, a
lobbyist for Families USA, a left-leaning health-care advocacy organization.
“I think you’re going
to see a lot of witnesses from CMS and HHS having to spend a lot of time in
front of committees,” he added. “Republicans did that when in charge of the
Hill and Obama was in the White House.”
Democrats also have an
interest in “undoing” the damage they say Republicans and the Trump
administration have inflicted on the health-care law.
“The most important
thing is stabilizing the Affordable Care Act,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.),
who will become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee if Democrats are
in the majority. “Obviously, the president is constantly trying to sabotage
anything and everything, from preexisting conditions to essential health
benefits.”
A bill sponsored by
Pallone, Neal, and House Education and the Workforce Committee ranking
member Bobby Scott (D-Va.)
would expand access to ObamaCare subsidies, reinstate insurer payments cut off
last year by the Trump administration, block the expansion of non-ObamaCare
plans called association health plans and restore marketing and outreach funds
for the health-care law.
But if Republicans
maintain control of the Senate, and with Trump at the helm of the executive
branch, passing substantive Democratic-backed legislation could be difficult
these next two years.
Still, Congress came
close to passing legislation to shore up the ObamaCare markets last year, until
it was derailed by House Republicans.
Democratic lawmakers
say there may be room for compromise with their GOP counterparts, especially if
ObamaCare premiums continue to rise ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“Hopefully we’ll be
able to get some of the Republicans to join us,” Schakowsky said. “I was here
during the whole Bush administration, and even though we fought like cats and
dogs, at the end of the day, we would come up with compromises.”
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