Delaying the individual mandate in Obamacare for one year would offer an opportunity to change the debate on the healthcare law, Republican political strategist Karl Rove said Wednesday.
"You gain a chance for continued dialogue," Rove said on Fox News, offering his support for a move by some Republicans in Congress to delay the implementation of Obamacare until 2015 rather than continue failed attempts to defund it.
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The Affordable Care Act goes into effect in January.
"The president said, 'If you're corporate America, I will give you a pass for a year. But, if you are an individual, you are stuck to pay insurance or pay a fine,'" Rove noted, referring to the administration's delay of the employer mandate to provide coverage by one year.
"Individuals have to, by Dec. 31 of this year, buy insurance or start to pay a fine."
The delay would also further highlight the downside of the law and its effect on the economy, added Rove, who engineered former President George W. Bush's two runs for the White House and now is a Fox News contributor.
"What happens when millions of people start losing their [insurance] coverage next year [when employers start dropping healthcare plans]? Then we'll see how it is affecting employment," Rove said.
Republicans in Congress have been divided over whether to defund Obamacare. But, Rove said, the delay option being floated by some Republicans likely would pick up support from Democrats because
polls indicate the law to be unpopular with the general public.
He said a delay "has a much better chance of passing (in Congress)" than a GOP defunding measure, which has already failed 41 times in the House. He said it also would change the debate on the issue.
"Right now the narrative is that Republicans are fighting each other. You get the Democrats supporting this, Democrats and Republicans alike think the president is making a mistake," Rove said.
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