Republican lawmakers are fiercely debating what major legislation to take up as we move into 2018. Many GOP lawmakers favor another attempt at repealing Obamacare, however, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is strongly against it.
Come January, the Republican majority in the Senate will fall to one seat, and McConnell believes the Senate should work on passing legislation that is less partisan.
"Well, we obviously were unable to completely repeal and replace with a 52-48 Senate," McConnell told NPR.
"We'll have to take a look at what that looks like with a 51-49 Senate. But I think we'll probably move on to other issues," said McConnell, as quoted by the Hill.
McConnell is not the only Republican lawmaker who wants to put Obamacare in the drawer. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has also expressed that Obamacare repeal should be put on the back burner as Congress turns its focus to welfare reform.
“I don’t think the healthcare issue is done. … At the end of the day, we’ve got to go after the root cause — healthcare inflation and entitlements. Welfare reform is going to be our next lift,” Ryan said.
Despite the wishes of GOP leaders, millennials should be pushing lawmakers to focus on repealing Obamacare as we go into the new year, rather than turning to focus on welfare reform. Both are important issues that need to be addressed, but Obamacare is much more damaging to millennials in both the short and long term.
Thankfully, the individual mandate was nixed by the tax bill. Still, what is left of Obamacare places an undue financial burden upon the millennial generation, in addition to a poor economy, job market, and lofty student loan debt.
The millennial generation is still relatively young, with many in college or just getting started in their careers. This makes the vast majority of millennials lacking in financial stability, with little to no savings put away. The last expense millennials need is skyrocketing healthcare.
The continually increasing rates of insurance premiums are an unneeded financial burden to millennials who now choose to have health insurance. And in many cases, these high premiums are forcing millennials to choose to go without healthcare, whereas if they were less expensive, more millennials would be covered.
“Insurance companies have already said that without the mandate, they’ll have to raise premiums and pass on other costs to people who do have health insurance,” reports NBC News.
Because of the high cost of insurance, millennials will be discouraged from purchasing it. Most see no reason for it because they are young and healthy and do not project a need for healthcare in the near future. However, if they develop an injury or condition requiring medical attention, they will become burdened financially by out-of-pocket medical fees. Obamacare makes health and well-being a gamble for them.
In addition to the financial aspect, the GOP should continue to fight for a repeal because it was a major campaign promise. Millennials are highly skeptical of all politicians and should be holding leaders accountable to their word.
According to Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler, repealing Obamacare is “absolutely necessary for the conservative base." He said as congressional Republicans decide what major legislation to tackle next year, it “needs to be Obamacare.”
Therefore, for the sake of not only their health and well-being, but their wallets and their trust in government, millennials should be pushing GOP lawmakers to take up the Obamacare repeal again as we go into the new year.
Katie Zehnder is a recent grad of Regent University. In addition to writing for Red Alert Politics, Katie is an editor for Red Millennial.
