Here's yet another Politico story that just doesn't deliver what the clickbaity headline suggests: "Democrats open to replacing Obamacare." And the subtitle: "A surprising number of lawmakers in the minority say they'd play ball if the changes aren't too far-reaching." And then you read what those Democrats are actually saying:
“If it makes sense, I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats who would be for it,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). [...]
McCaskill, for one, is skeptical Republicans can craft a workable replacement that satisfies conservatives without repelling centrist Democrats. “For six years, I’ve looked [for Republican replacement plans] in closets, I’ve looked in committee rooms, I’ve looked under desks. …They’ve had six frickin’ years to figure it out.” [...] “If they want to change things around the edges, fix some of the things we agree ought to be fixed and call it Trumpcare, that’s OK,” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats and is up for reelection in 2018. “Let’s get people covered.” […]
"Anything’s possible. We've got to get to a spot here in Washington, D.C., where we respond to peoples’ concerns," [Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)] said. "There are things that we could do that will improve access to health care and hopefully lower cost." [...]
“If there is a path toward saving the best parts of Obamacare that are actually helping deliver affordable quality health care to millions of people while addressing some of the challenges, flaws and weaknesses of Obamacare, we should work hard with Republicans on that,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). “But we don’t know yet if they’re serious.”
That's an awful lot of “ifs” and they’re not talking about "replacing" Obamacare. What they’re talking about is tweaking Obamacare. And tweaking Obamacare is not going to be enough for plenty of Republicans who are more interested in gutting it than they are in providing health insurance and care to millions of people. Especially when it comes to paying for it.
Republicans need to focus on getting Republicans on board with Obamacare replacement. Maybe then they'll be in a place to start wooing Democrats.