(Reuters) - The chaotic launch of President
Barack Obama's
healthcare law has Democrats in Congress increasingly anxious about its
potential impact on them in the 2014 elections and scrambling to
protect themselves if the program's problems persist.
Particularly nervous
is a group of 16 Senate Democrats who are defending their seats next
year, as Republicans will seek a net gain of six seats to try to take
over the 100-seat chamber.
Some
of the Democrats, such as New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, represent
states where enthusiasm has been high for the Affordable Care Act. Among
other things, the law aims to provide inexpensive
health insurance to many of the estimated 15 million Americans with little or no coverage.
Others,
such as Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana,
represent conservative states where skepticism has been fueled by
Republican attack ads discouraging participation.
The
balky website, HealthCare.gov, has been unable to process an untold
number of applications for insurance since its debut on October 1, and
the frustration both types of Democrats have had with it was evident on
Thursday.
White House
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was summoned to the Capitol for a
closed-door meeting with all Senate Democrats and peppered with "tough
and pointed" questions about the program, one Senate Democratic
leadership aide said.
The
senators told McDonough that they wanted to see more progress in getting
the site working efficiently, and that the administration had to do a
better job of communicating its successes and failures in implementing
the biggest legislative achievement of Obama's presidency.
Telephone
calls and letters from disappointed constituents began pouring into
Shaheen's offices almost immediately after enrollment in Obamacare began
with a thud last month, when it immediately became clear that
navigating HealthCare.gov was vexed.
Administration officials have said most of the site's problems will be fixed by November 30.
Even
so, Shaheen gathered nine other Democratic senators to encourage the
White House to extend the initial enrollment period beyond March 31.
"The
rollout of the new law was a disaster. The administration had three
years to prepare," Shaheen told Reuters. "They clearly dropped the
ball."
The senator is
feeling pressure from voters partly because she was a vocal advocate of
the healthcare law, which could help about 130,000 uninsured people in
her tiny state, as well as many others who have insurance that does not
cover preexisting health conditions or that has significant limits on
benefits.
Shaheen is
widely seen as having a strong chance of winning a second six-year term
next year. But several other Senate Democrats running for reelection,
including Pryor and Landrieu, are likely to face tough challenges from
conservative Republicans.
Obamacare's stumbles are a particular problem for them as they defend a landmark law they helped write and still believe in.
LIMITING THE DOWNSIDE
Several
Democrats have offered proposals that could be rushed onto the Senate
floor if computer wizards cannot make the healthcare site more
functional within the next month - and if a controversy does not die
down over revelations that some people will lose
health insurance plans they like, despite Obama's earlier assurances to the contrary.
Landrieu said Wednesday that she was crafting a bill to allow anyone who is satisfied with their current insurance to retain it.
Senator
Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat who is not up for reelection next
year but whose state is increasingly trending Republican, has called for
a one-year delay in requiring individuals to sign up for health
insurance, echoing arguments made by many Republican lawmakers.
Of
the 10 Senate Democrats urging an extension of the March 31 deadline
for people to sign up or face a penalty, seven, including Shaheen, face
reelection next year.
"The
fundamental reason for doing the Affordable Care Act continues to
exist," Shaheen said. "Prices for health insurance were going up at a
rate that was increasingly unaffordable. Too many were not able to get
health insurance."
But the snafus have raised her and other Democrats' political antennae.
If
"getting too far out on a limb" for Obamacare started to feel risky and
the limb began to crack, said Dante Scala, a political science
professor at the University of New Hampshire, Shaheen is "going to get
closer to the trunk of the tree.
"That's
what we're seeing" in the proposal to extend the Obamacare enrollment
deadline, Scala said. While looking out for her constituency, "I think
she's trying to limit her personal downside," too.
The
frustration among Democrats is also evident in the Republican-led U.S.
House of Representatives. They are not likely to win enough votes to
take over the 435-seat chamber, where the Republican majority has voted
more than 40 times to repeal Obamacare, claiming it will destroy jobs
and raise medical costs.
Some Democrats describe feeling let down by the administrative shortcomings.
Democratic
Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland told Reuters that he offered
some firm advice to Obama during a recent meeting.
"I
think what the president has to do (is) ... own the problem," Cummings
said. "Then he's got to say, step-by-step, exactly how it's being fixed
and what kind of progress is being made."
TROUBLE AHEAD?
For
now, the Democrats are mostly stuck in a wait-and-see mode, hoping the
administration meets its self-imposed November 30 deadline for
eliminating the website's glitches.
"If
the Obama administration fixes it and people start signing up, then
we're in a good spot," said a Senate Democratic aide, "and you won't see
much of a liability" from the messy rollout. If they don't, "then we're
going to have trouble" heading into the 2014 elections.
Democratic
lawmakers have indicated it is increasingly urgent that people in their
states begin to see benefits from Obamacare soon, or else the situation
will feed critics' claims that the program is a failure.
Pryor
is the only remaining Democrat in the congressional delegation
representing Arkansas, where Obama was trounced by Republican
Mitt Romney in the presidential election last year.
During
an interview with Reuters, he said misperceptions about Obamacare
dominate many of his conversations with constituents. Some people didn't
like it, but "others who have looked at the (costs) ... are actually
pleased."
He said some
voters have been led to believe that the government itself is selling
insurance, rather than arranging for the sale of coverage from private
carriers, with government subsidies reducing costs for those with lower
incomes.
By the November
2014 elections, people will have had about a year's worth of experience
with Obamacare, Pryor said. He cited private studies projecting that the
law will help rural hospitals and the overall
economy in Arkansas.
Republicans see an opposite scenario, one they say will boost their election chances next year.
The
National Republican Congressional Committee, which strives to elect
Republicans to the House of Representatives, is targeting seven seats
held by Democrats who represent districts that have voted for
Republicans in the last three presidential elections.
Several
of those Democrats proudly voted for the healthcare act, said
spokeswoman Andrea Bozek. "Now it's time for them to be accountable for
the failures of this law."
