The shutdown debate over expiring enhanced ObamaCare subsidies has put Republicans on the defensive over health care, reopening old wounds over the 2017 attempt to repeal and replace the law.
Fifteen years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, the scars from the repeal effort and the GOP’s lingering disgust for the law are influencing the party’s scattered response.
While Republicans are united in criticizing the law and the need for subsidies, there is no clear plan on how to deal with rising premiums if those subsidies are allowed to expire.


It’s called the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare is a term invented to taint people’s perception.
The sad (but predictable) thing is that it worked.
Republicans HATE Obamacare. But don’t you dare try to take away their Affordable Care Act Medicaid!!
True, but Obama basically said, “I’ll allow it.”
He said he liked the term because the GOP was saying “Obama cares”