Do the Republicans really want to repeal Obamacare? I think that many of them are starting to realize that would be a serious political (and medical) mistake. They will still trumpet that as a goal -- especially in the primaries (where they have to keep the teabaggers happy), but repealing the Affordable Care Act at this point would negatively affect nearly 30 million people. That's a lot of people (voters) to upset.
Note that the figure of those who purchased private insurance through the Obamacare exchanges (both the federal and state exchanges) now rests at slightly over 8.147 million people (more than a million more purchases than were originally predicted by the Congressional Budget Office -- and another 5 million policies are estimated to have been sold off-exchange.
You might be thinking that those 5 million off-exchange private insurance purchases haven't benefitted from Obamacare, but that would not be true. While they did not receive a subsidy to help them buy the insurance, they have benefitted from the lower premium costs (and premiums have been reduced, regardless of GOP claims) and the minimum requirement for the coverage that must be included in a policy (like no pre-existing conditions, no cap on amount insurance will pay for illnesses, free birth control for women, etc.).
That means at least 13.147 million people who purchased private insurance have benefitted from the passage and institution of Obamacare. And when you add in the 3.101 million people under age 26 who are now on their parents' insurance, and the 13.578 new people on Medicaid/CHIP, the total number of people climbs to more than 29.8 million people.
And that doesn't count the many millions who still receive employer-provided health insurance. Although they may not realize it right now, they have also benefitted. They have benefitted from the minimum requirements for all insurance policies under Obamacare (and in many instances, lower premiums for their employers).
Repealing Obamacare may sound good to those who don't realize just how much they have been benefitted from the health care law -- but if it was repealed, they would quickly realize that (and they would not be happy). Even the Republicans in Congress, although they won't admit it right now, are starting to realize the opportunity to repeal Obamacare is gone. That door is closed, and Obamacare is here to stay. The only option now is to make it better (and as recent polls have shown, that is what the majority of Americans now want). It is simply no longer politically viable to repeal Obamacare.
