Not enough was attention given, either, to aspects of the Republican American Health Care Act that Democrats should support. These include:

$100 billion over the next decade for funding for state market stabilization efforts, particularly reinsurance programs;

Tax credits to help middle-income Americans who must purchase health insurance in the individual market afford coverage. As the conservative health-care analyst Avik Roy has proposed, these should be combined with means-tested tax credits to make insurance affordable for both lower- and middle-income Americans. Democrats could also consider more generous treatment of health savings accounts for middle- and upper-income Americans coupled with continued protection of cost-sharing reduction payments for lower-income Americans.

Repeal or delay of the widely disliked tax on employer-sponsored “Cadillac” health plans;

Repeal or delay of the ACA tax on insurance coverage, coupled with assurances that the cost-savings insurers receive would be passed on to consumers; and