From House Speaker Paul Ryan, on Republican plans to repeal and replace Obamacare:
There will be a transition and a bridge so that no one is left out in the cold, so that no one is worse off.
This quote is a month old, but I only noticed it today when Nancy LeTourneau brought it to my attention. Democrats need to hold Ryan to this.
That means no change in Medicaid expansion. It means no change in access to health coverage. It means no reduction in federal subsidies. It means making sure that insurers stay in the exchanges. It means no lifetime limits on covered medical care. It means kids can stay on their parents’ plan through age 26.
This is also a good yardstick for Ryan’s eventual replacement for Obamacare. Technically, he didn’t say that the eventual Republican replacement would leave no one worse off, only the transition. But someone should pin him down on that too.