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Going by his business background Donald Trump won’t mind putting his name on a health-care plan, or anything else, but Republicans need to appreciate the reality that they will soon own ObamaCare. Until they pass a coherent and market-oriented substitute, as a political matter ObamaCare is TrumpCare, like it or not. This isn’t a great political position, given the law’s large and ongoing failures on almost every measure: premium trends, enrollment, limited doctor and hospital networks, insurer participation. Affordability, choice and competition are due for another tumble next year under the status quo. (1/4)

Republicans have campaigned against Obamacare since its passage. Democrats, struggling to defend it, have lost seats, statehouses, and now the White House. It has been a toxic issue for the left, as twice as many people say they have been hurt by the law as helped. Far too many Americans have lost their plans and their doctors, only to be faced with fewer, more expensive choices. Now Republicans control the levers of power in Washington — and they need to deliver immediate relief to the law’s victims. Unfortunately, all indications are that Congress intends to follow the template of the partial repeal bill vetoed by President Obama in 2015. (Heather R. Higgins and Phil Kerpen, 1/4)

Republican opponents of the health care law insist that it has failed, though it has reduced the number of uninsured Americans to the lowest level in history. They say that it has driven up costs, though health care costs have risen at a much slower pace since 2010 than they did in years past. And opponents promise they will somehow make health care cheaper and more readily available, though after all these years of reviling Obamacare they have yet to offer any serious alternative. The reality is that the repeal-at-all-costs crowd is ideologically opposed to any government role in the health care system, though every other advanced economy in the world has embraced some form of government intervention as the only way to manage costs and ensure universal access. (1/5)

Congressional Republicans, evidently hoping that by repeating an untruth they’ll convince American voters, and perhaps themselves, that it’s a truth, on Wednesday said the Affordable Care Act has “failed.” The undistilled version of this view came from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who emerged Wednesday from a meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence to assert: “This law has failed. Americans are struggling. The law is failing while we speak. … Things are only getting worse under Obamacare. … The healthcare system has been ruined — dismantled — under Obamacare.” Every one of those statements is demonstrably untrue. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/4)

This week Republicans in Congress began their effort to repeal and potentially replace the Affordable Care Act. But after listening to working-class supporters of Donald J. Trump — people who are enrolled in the very health care marketplaces created by the law — one comes away feeling that the Washington debate is sadly disconnected from the concerns of working people. Those voters have been disappointed by Obamacare, but they could be even more disappointed by Republican alternatives to replace it. They have no strong ideological views about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, or future directions for health policy. What they want are pragmatic solutions to their insurance problems. The very last thing they want is higher out-of-pocket costs. (Drew Altman, 1/5)

After six long years, the Republicans finally have a chance to kick off the Trump era by abolishing Obamacare. Even as the outgoing president huddled with Democrats on the Hill yesterday, the incoming president voiced criticism of the program and the incoming vice president said they had a mandate to junk it. But it’s a little more complicated than that. (Howard Kurtz, 1/5)

Put simply, a complete repeal with no fixed alternative is grossly irresponsible. It’s a rush to show the base, which was once again promised an easy solution (repeal Obamacare!) that Republicans can “deliver.” But what they are “delivering” is more debt, massive loss of coverage, chaos and true hardship for those who can least afford it. This is dumber politically than abolishing an independent ethics office. Republicans are perpetuating a fable — that there is a solution that is “better” than Obamacare that can pass both houses. If they think there is such a plan, let’s see it and pass it simultaneously with repeal. (Jennifer Rubin, 1/4)

Senator Rand Paul is skeptical. He thinks something's fishy about this whole "repeal and replace" thing that Republican congressional leaders have planned for Obamacare .... After Republicans were handed control of Washington in November, their longtime insistence on "repeal and replace" began morphing into "repeal and delay." Politically, Republicans find this easy to justify. ... they have never actually had a replacement policy, do not now have a replacement policy, and, given ideological and cost constraints, are highly unlikely ever to have a replacement policy. (Francis Wilkinson, 1/4)

The largest and most influential organization of American physicians has sent two stark messages to the Republican Party: Don’t mess with Obamacare until you know what you’re putting in its place. And don’t do anything that would backtrack on the law’s most important accomplishment ― bringing the number of uninsured Americans to a historic low. The American Medical Association delivered these messages on Tuesday, in an open letter addressed to congressional leaders of both parties. (Jonathan Cohn, 1/4)

It was no small feat for Republicans to suffer an embarrassing public defeat on the very first day of the new Congress, but they managed to do it by first voting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, then reversing themselves within hours after a public outcry and a spate of bad press. This is likely to be a Democratic talking point for a long time to come (“The first thing Republicans did was try to destroy the ethics office!”). But more than a mere embarrassment, it points the way for Democrats to win the most important battle of the opening year of the Trump administration: the one over repeal of the Affordable Care Act. (Paul Waldman, 1/4)

[Kellyanne] Conway seemed to commit Trump to supporting only a replacement plan that covers just as many people as the Affordable Care Act currently does. This puts Trump at odds with many Republicans, who are opposed to the taxes, spending, and regulations that are necessary to make Obamacare’s large coverage expansion possible. Which prompts a good question from Ezra Klein: When you get past all of Trump’s bluster and noise about what a disaster Obamacare is, what does he actually think about health care reform? (Greg Sargent, 1/4)

Seeking to start a panel discussion on the matter, [Jon] Scott turned to commentator Simon Rosenberg, “As I was listening to Nancy Pelosi talk about how great Obamacare is, I was wondering, why, then, did Congress exempt themselves and members of their staffs from having to live under it?” Untrue. As numerous fact-checkers have pointed out, congressional lawmakers and staffers were once eligible for enrollment in the fabulous FederalEmployees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. (Erik Wemple, 1/4)

We are the most religious democracy in the world, and our Judeo-Christian ethic demands that we take care of the downtrodden. But we are also the only advanced democracy without universal health coverage. Are we confused . . . or just hypocrites? My bet is that we are very confused. The public’s reaction to Obamacare (also known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) is a prime example of our confusion. (Jack Bernard, 1/4)