Ryan: ObamaCare replacement coming ‘this year’

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that Congress’s work to repeal and replace ObamaCare will be finished “this year.”

Ryan was responding to a question about President Trump’s comments on Sunday that “maybe it’ll take ’till sometime into next year” to roll out a Republican replacement plan.

But the Speaker said legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare will pass this year. When that legislation would go into effect that could possibly extend into future years, he added.

“I think there’s a little confusion here,” Ryan said. “The legislating is going to be done this year. We are going to be done legislating with respect to healthcare and ObamaCare this year. The question is how long does it take to implement the full replacement of ObamaCare.”

{mosads}Ryan made the vow to act “this year” at a press conference last month as well. 

On Tuesday, Ryan said the Department of Health and Human Services would determine when the repeal and replacement legislation should go into effect. Republicans have talked about a transition period of 2 or 3 years.

Ryan has put forward an even more ambitious timetable in the House, focusing on the end of March for moving ObamaCare legislation.

Republicans, however, are facing headwinds as they look to repeal the law and have not coalesced around a replacement.