The New York Times reports that President Obama plans to support an amendment to the Affordable Care Act that would allow states to opt out at the beginning of the process -- in 2014 -- rather than three years later in 2017:
The bipartisan amendment that Mr. Obama is now embracing was first proposed in November, eight months after enactment of the Affordable Care Act, by Senators Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Scott Brown, Republican of Massachusetts. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, a Democrat, is now a co-sponsor.
The legislation would allow states to opt out earlier from various requirements if they could demonstrate that other methods would allow them to cover as many people, with insurance that is as comprehensive and affordable, as provided by the new law. The changes also must not increase the federal deficit.
Like Kevin Drum, I think this is a political ploy. Congressional Republicans have committed to a “repeal and replace” strategy, which rules out experimentation under the framework of health-care reform. In all likelihood, Republicans will reject the amendment, and Obama will use the occasion to present himself as a reasonable broker. Or, as Drum writes, “See, we gave them a chance to implement their own policies, but they turned us down.”
I should also say that this measure doesn't require Republican opposition to be a political winner. Health-care reform was bound to be polarizing, but in the long-term, the Affordable Care Act can't survive without buy-in from some faction of the GOP. Congressional Republicans are already aligned against it, which leaves Republican governors and other state officials as the only other option. Yes, some -- like Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli -- are using their stature to oppose the law, but there must be others who see opportunity in flexibility. A more flexible system that moved some Republicans from anti-ACA to not-anti-ACA would be a big step forward in the law’s long-range political viability.
