Paula Dwyer , Columnist

Repealing Obamacare May Be Easy. Replacing It Won't Be.

Trump's plan for selling insurance across state lines could cause a race to the bottom.

November 10, 2016 at 9:13 PM UTC

Paula Dwyer is a senior editor with the New York editing hub, focusing on daily and long-form enterprise. She was London bureau chief for Businessweek and Washington economics editor for the New York Times, and is a co-author of “Take on the Street: How to Fight for Your Financial Future.

On day 1, repeal and replace.
Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images

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The Republican-led Congress has voted at least 60 times in six years to repeal Obamacare. With Donald Trump in the White House and a Republican majority in both chambers of Congress, the next attempt may well succeed.

But what would replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010? Throughout the campaign, Trump spoke of "erasing the lines," by which he meant letting insurers sell health plans across state lines to increase competition and decrease premiums. On Thursday, the president-elect's new website laid out a bare-bones health-care transition plan to do just that.