Ronald Reagan used those words to describe a “government bureau,” and he could have used them to describe a government program as well.
The latest Bloomberg Businessweek offers more evidence of that fact as it outlines the difficulty a Republican president would face in trying to dismantle ObamaCare.
Let’s say Romney wins the election. As President, he wouldn’t have the power to issue an executive order abolishing the health-care law. Instead, he hopes to exploit a provision in the existing statute allowing states to seek waivers if they set up health-care programs that provide coverage similar to the federal government’s. Romney says he’ll grant such waivers to every state right away.
It’s not that simple. Under the law, the state waivers don’t take effect until 2017. Romney can issue them early—they just won’t do anything. There is nothing in the statute that would let Romney issue blank-check waivers immediately, says Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy & Strategy Associates, an insurance industry consulting firm. “You can’t make up the law as you go along.”
Lanhee Chen, Romney’s policy director, says the campaign is trying to figure out if there’s a way to move that date forward or to bypass the law’s requirements before 2017. Even if that’s not possible, Chen says the waivers still have value. “If states got the waivers at the start of the Romney Administration, they would be able to make appropriate plans,” he says. “We believe it’s important to pursue a state-based approach that focuses on health-care costs and gives states the power and the flexibility to do what’s best for their citizens.”
Congress could pass a bill moving up the date of the waivers, but that won’t happen before the election. Senators Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who has pushed for states to write their own reforms, are trying to shift the effective date of the waivers to 2014. So far the plan hasn’t gone anywhere—and won’t as long as Democrats control the Senate—which means Romney’s chances of delivering on his promise to let states opt out on Day One are essentially zero. Says Joseph Antos, a health policy analyst with the conservative American Enterprise Institute: “It’s going to be a Biblical Day One, which could last several years.”