Analysis: GOP vexed by factions on replacing health law
Some Republicans would revise and rebrand "Obamacare," junking unpopular provisions like its requirement that most Americans carry health insurance, while preserving well-liked parts.
President-elect Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders will have to unite the groups on complicated changes affecting the financial and physical well-being of millions of people.
Republicans have "a really narrow path," says Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute, a free-market health care research organization.
The unpopular "individual mandate" to carry health insurance or risk fines could be replaced with other persuasion short of a government dictate.
[...] popular provisions such as protecting those with pre-existing health conditions would be retained in some form, as well as financial assistance for low- and moderate-income people.
[...] its GOP advocates believe most Americans will find their goal of "universal access" politically acceptable when measured against the Democratic ideal of "universal coverage" underwritten by government.
Trump may have given this group some cover by saying that he wants to keep parts of the law, but his bottom line remains unknown.
Next they could move on to much bigger objectives like restructuring Medicaid and Medicare, and placing a cost-conscious limit on tax breaks for employer coverage.
Budget hawks see health care as the main driver of government deficits, and they are loath to address that imbalance by raising taxes.
The most conservative lawmakers want to "pull Obamacare up by the roots as if it never existed," says Republican political consultant Frank Luntz.