The next four days at the state Capitol will determine how we talk about the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, for the rest of the year in Georgia.
The only question is whether, on the cusp of a highly competitive election season, our GOP-controlled Legislature will let Democrats like Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter continue to simmer in voter suspicion of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.
What’s the alternative? Republican lawmakers could decide to throw themselves into the same stew pot. In fact, they’re poised to do just that.
Democratic vulnerability as a result of the Affordable Care Act’s rocky start was underscored last Tuesday in a special election in Florida to replace the late U.S. Rep. Bill Young. Both parties and a number of Super PACs poured more than $12 million into the Tampa Bay political laboratory, trying out health care messages that will be used elsewhere – including Georgia – the rest of the year.
The victory went to Republican David Jolly, who won 48 percent of the vote with a relentless trashing of Obamacare. Democrat Alex Sink, who finished at 47 percent, was stuck with an ambivalent “keep what’s right and fix what’s wrong” story line. (A Libertarian candidate siphoned off 5 percent of the vote.)
For Democrats in Georgia, attempting their best-financed comeback effort since losing power in 2002, the Florida outcome was disappointing.
While her comments on the topic have been limited, Michelle Nunn, daughter of former U.S. senator Sam Nunn and the only candidate with national backing in the Democratic primary for Senate, has signaled her intention to travel the “keep-but-fix” route.
Jason Carter, the Atlanta state senator and grandson of the former president, has referred to the ACA rollout as “a mess.” But Carter, the Democratic candidate for governor, has endorsed negotiations with the federal government that would allow a large increase in the number of poor people covered by Medicaid in Georgia – something Republican incumbent Nathan Deal has opposed.
But within days of the sinking of Sink and her nuanced health care message, hope appeared on the horizon for Democrats like Nunn and Carter. In the form of the Georgia tea party.
The two main anti-Obamacare measures still alive in the Legislature are H.B. 990 and H.B. 707.
The former, backed by House Speaker pro tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, and Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, would require legislative approval of any expansion of Medicaid rolls. That power now lies with the governor. Given that the Legislature must approve the state budget each year, the measure is hardly revolutionary.
But that’s exactly the word that supporters would apply to H.B. 707, which would require state and local governments in Georgia to shun Obamacare like an Amish backslider.
Throughout the session, many in the Capitol looked at the bill as a mere show piece intended to mollify tea partyers. But the bill began moving late last week, in two versions. Final passage could be a single Senate vote away. Adjournment is scheduled for Thursday.
H.B. 707 would “prevent the federal government from commandeering the resources of the state or local government to promote or administer” the Affordable Care Act, according to state Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, the bill’s primary sponsor. The measure would bar state and local officials from doing anything to help direct Georgians to federal exchanges offering health insurance policies.
The University of Georgia would no longer be allowed to operate its health insurance navigator program, for which it received a $1.7 million federal grant last year. Democrats like Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed couldn’t hold a health care fair in City Hall if Obamacare were mentioned.
If that weren’t enough to shift the conversation, H.B. 707 would also prohibit the state insurance commissioner, who is elected statewide, from enforcing any mandates required by the Affordable Care Act. Like the one that bars insurance companies from citing pre-existing conditions to refuse coverage.
Consider this cutting exchange between Spencer and House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, which occurred in a debate prior to House passage two weeks ago:
Spencer: "The pre-existing condition mandate was part of the ACA mandate. That would not be a state law. So therefore, the insurance commissioner would not enforce that federal provision. So, yes, they would have to take their grievance to the federal government."
Abrams: "And according to you, there is no one to take that grievance to, currently."
Spencer: "There are 17,000 IRS agents."
Abrams: "Just to clarify, I would have to go to the IRS to get coverage for epilepsy or for breast cancer?"
In most GOP primaries, Spencer’s argument is likely to be the winning one – or at least the less risky. But after May 20, the game changes.
And if you’re a Democrat, you’re marveling that Republicans may be about to declare open season on Georgia consumers – holding them up as patsies for every shady insurance operator out there.
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