Obamacare Traps to Avoid

"Of the four traps Republicans must avoid, two are already in the ACA: expanding Medicaid, and setting up state exchanges," argue authors of How the GOP Should Handle the Implosion of Obamacare. "The others are 'fixes' that will become popular talking points this year: increasing subsidy amounts and income cutoffs. Each of these is to convert ObamaCare into a wealth-redistribution system, whereby over time perhaps half of the U.S. population will pay for the other half."

Republicans will best serve the nation by resolutely standing on principle. ObamaCare cannot be salvaged, because government-run health care cannot work better than free markets. Government safety nets work only when relatively few people are in those nets. You cannot expand it to cover everyone and make it work.

President Obama will veto any comprehensive repeal legislation. If Republicans try to "mend it, not end it," as a compromise, expanding programs, payments and coverage while reducing penalties, or removing specific, unpopular mandates, they will become part of this problem, and some version of ObamaCare will always plague our nation.