ACA Delay May Hurt, Not Help, Dems in 2014

[Stephanie]

Who knew Valerie Jarret was the President?
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O-B-A-M-A-C-A-R-E, the president's signature first-term legislative achievement, may spell another round of political trouble for many Democrats, who have some new explaining to do, thanks to the White House.

Whether employers are eagerly sidestepping a key provision for another year (as many learned they would after a concession Tuesday night from President Obama) or House Republicans persist in voting to repeal the whole law (which they’ve done nearly 40 times), it’s clear the Affordable Care Act continues to exist under a cloud more than two years after its enactment.

“This is a setback for the administration and for Democrats,” Jim Manley, a former senior communications adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, told RCP. “It puts the Democrats in a little bit of a bind. …What you’re going to see is Republicans seizing on this for everything it is worth.”

Indeed. Republicans on Capitol Hill predicted that by bowing to complaints from the business community about burdens within a complex law, Obama opened a door to the possibility of delaying the implementation of the ACA as it affects individuals, who are required by January to buy insurance or pay penalties in 2015.

“What is a Democratic candidate supposed to say in light of this: 'Yes, I supported Obamacare but thankfully we delayed it to protect you from how bad it is’?" asked Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Administration officials, who this summer embarked on a campaign to encourage young, uninsured Americans to sign up for health coverage after Oct. 1 through new state-based insurance exchanges, said the individual enrollment required through January will proceed. But Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, in a statement posted on the White House website Tuesday, said the administration wanted to show flexibility as a law initially passed in 2010 will continue to take effect in 2015.

“As we implement this law, we have and will continue to make changes as needed,” Jarrett said.

“As needed” may have more to do with politics than the substantive changes Obama’s decision may have on the law, its defenders conceded.


Read more: ACA Delay May Hurt, Not Help, Dems in 2014 | RealClearPolitics
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