A Three-Year Delay on an Obamacare Repeal Just Won’t Work

***NEWS RELEASE***

For Immediate Release December 19, 2016

CONTACT:
Beth Harrison, Hamilton Strategies, 610.584.1096, ext. 104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, or Deborah Hamilton, 215.815.7716, 610.584.1096, ext. 102

A Three-Year Delay on an Obamacare Repeal Just Won’t Work

Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom: Refusing to Repeal the ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act Now Will Make It a 2020 Election Issue

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Repeal it all, repeal it now.

That’s the mantra of those who want President-elect Donald Trump to keep his campaign promise to repeal Obamacare. And among them is Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF, www.cchfreedom.org), a national health freedom and patient advocacy organization committed to health care that is in the best interest of patients and doctors—not the government.

“To delay the repeal for years means no repeal,” said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. “This process should take no longer than a few months, and should be completed by June of next year or September 2017 at the very latest. If reconciliation is the only way to secure repeal, the bill should repeal far more than the repeal bill President Obama vetoed in January.

“Not repealing the ‘Unaffordable’ Care Act would be bigger than President Bush’s broken ‘read my lips’ campaign promise,” Brase continued. “This is especially true, not only because of the promises made on the campaign trail by Donald Trump and Mike Pence, but also because many Republican candidates campaigned on this commitment as well. If an Obamacare repeal takes three years, as some are predicting, it becomes an election issue in 2020. The Republicans who won on it this year stand to lose big if it’s still around in 2020. And Americans stuck in its grip for another four years—or forever—will be the biggest losers of all.”

After being in Washington, D.C., a few weeks ago to discuss CCHF’s support for full repeal of Obamacare without delay, Brase says, several things must come together for a repeal.

“I think the Affordable Care Act will only be repealed if: President Trump really wants it; Congressman Tom Price, Trump’s choice for Secretary of HHS, begins rescinding the 40,000 pages of ACA regulations, memos and guidance documents; liberty-minded Senators resist fake repeals; the House Freedom Caucus demands full repeal; and the American people require nothing less.”

In fact, Brase added, a new study confirms that Americans are ready to be free from government health care. Just last week, McLaughlin & Associates released the findings of the “Secure America Now” National Survey, which asked respondents about topics such as the direction of the country, the economy, foreign policy and foreign relations, jobs, health care, and the job performance of both Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

Question 13 read: “Do you approve or disapprove of repealing and replacing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as ‘Obamacare?’” Of the 1,000 respondents, 59.5 percent approve a “repeal and replace” plan (35.1 percent strongly approve; 24.4 percent somewhat approve), as opposed to 33.2 percent who disapprove (20 percent strongly; 13.3 percent somewhat). Another 7.3 percent reported that they “don’t know.”

As more evidence of the need for a quick repeal, Brase points to a quote from former president Bill Clinton, when he said on the campaign trail in October: “So you’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. It’s the craziest thing in the world.”

“Bill Clinton was exactly right,” Brase said. “Obamacare is crazy, and it’s wrong. Repeal should be quick and resolute. Many people are hurting today because of the Obamacare mandate and its costs, and they deserve to be set free.”

Earlier this year, CCHF launched The Wedge of Health Freedom (www.JointheWedge.com), an initiative to transform and simplify health care in America, starting with direct payment between patients and doctors. Once the hundreds of third-party-free doctors practicing today nationwide join The Wedge and are a part of the “Map of Freedom,” patients will be able to easily find them and embark on a journey back to freedom, affordability and simplicity. These Wedge practices, where patients can find affordable, confidential, patient-centered care, are located in 42 states and can be found online.

CCHF is a national patient-centered health freedom organization existing to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. For more information about CCHF, visit its web site at www.cchfreedom.org, its Facebook page or its Twitter feed @CCHFreedom. For more about The Wedge of Health Freedom, visit www.JointheWedge.com, The Wedge Facebook page or follow The Wedge on Twitter @wedgeoffreedom.

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Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, a patient-centered national health freedom organization based in St. Paul, Minn., exists to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. CCHF sponsors the daily, 60-second radio feature, “Health Freedom Minute,” which airs on nearly 800 stations nationwide, including nearly 200 American Family Radio and 100 on the Bott Radio Network. Listeners can learn more about the agenda behind health care initiatives and steps they can take to protect their health care choices, rights and privacy. For information on how to add “Health Freedom Minute” to a station lineup, contact Michael Hamilton at mhamilton@hamiltonstrategies.com, (610) 584-1096 or (215) 519-4838.

CCHF president and co-founder Twila Brase, R.N., has been called one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Health Care” and one of “Minnesota’s 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders.” A public health nurse, Brase has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, Politico, NBC Nightly News, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others. She is at the forefront of informing the public of crucial health issues, such as the importance of patient privacy and informed consent, the dangers of “evidence-based medicine,” “population health” and “pay for performance” and the implications of state and federal health care reform on patient choice and patient access to care.

For more information or to interview Twila Brase of Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom, contact Beth Harrison at 610-584-1096 x104, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com or Deborah Hamilton at 215-815-7716 or 610-584-1096 x102.