Political Insider

Confusion for Georgians with Obamacare as Congress kicks off debate

President Donald Trump signs his first executive order as president, ordering federal agencies to ease the burden of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump signs his first executive order as president, ordering federal agencies to ease the burden of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)
Jan 31, 2017

For Alex Dang, Republicans' promise to gut the Affordable Care Act is terrifying. The affordable insurance plan he has enables Dang to control his diabetes, which otherwise could disable or kill him.

Betsey Weltner is more than happy to see Congress dismantle the health care law, which she says has forced her to buy expensive health insurance she doesn’t want or need.

These disparate, passionate opinions of two Georgians reflect an extraordinary divide among Americans over the fate of the law known as Obamacare. The fault line runs straight through Washington, where GOP leaders are eager to pull the trigger on Obamacare but don't know precisely where to shoot.

Indeed, after initial indications Republicans might push to have President Donald Trump sign a repeal plan his first day in office, it’s now clear that replacing some pieces of Obamacare will take weeks or months or even longer.

For now, the more than 480,000 Georgians with Obamacare have no clue what will become of their health coverage. Will they keep the insurance they have? If not, will they have access to another kind of coverage? Will it be affordable? Will it cover the same treatments, medications and other benefits that Obamacare offers? Fewer? More?

Short answer: no one knows — including Congress.

Read more here.

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About the Author

Tamar Hallerman is an award-winning senior reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She covers the Fulton County election interference case and co-hosts the Breakdown podcast.

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