Obamacare: Republicans must repeal it now

It was all over the news last fall that average premiums for Obamacare plans will go up 25 percent in 2017, with some states seeing as much as a 116-percent increase. While here in Washington it’s a 13.6-percent increase, paying more is nothing to celebrate.

And don’t we care about our fellow Americans who will have to pay thousands more? We were promised better health care at lower costs; Obamacare failed miserably to deliver on both fronts.

Since 2010, Republicans have campaigned and won on fully repealing this disastrous healthcare law. Now that the American people gave Republicans unified control of the government, there are no more excuses.

Recently Congress passed a fiscal year 2017 budget enabling a filibuster-proof process known as budget reconciliation, enabling them to pass a simple, one-sentence repeal of Obamacare. Congress should then debate and pass a 2018 budget including a series of free-market health-care reforms that enact consumer choice, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship and lower costs.

It’s time for Congress to deliver to the American people. No excuses.

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Obamacare: Republicans must repeal it now."