White House: 'Obamacare' Repeal is Off the Table in Fiscal Cliff Deal

Aides say even discussion of repeal is a "total nonstarter"

Despite previously saying in an interview with ABC that the Affordable Care Act (ACA)  was “the law of the land” and that he had no more intention to fight it, House Speaker John Boehner announced he will continue his fight for repeal.

"If we’re serious about getting our economy moving again, solving our debt and restoring prosperity for American families, we need to repeal Obamacare and enact common-sense, step-by-step reforms that start with lowering the cost of health care," Boehner said in an op-ed in the Cincinnati Inquirer.

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A White House official told Talking Points Memo on Wednesday afternoon that the law will be entirely off the table when leaders of the two parties negotiate a deal. An aide to Senate Democratic leadership called the idea “a total nonstarter. Boehner’s office knows that, so even bringing it up is counterproductive.”

[ALSO READ:Obamacare: Do Black Americans Know Enough About It?]

Republicans are hopeful that a new agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff could once again put the ACA on the chopping block. A Senate Democratic aide told the Huffington Post is not entirely out of the question as long as it does not change the the law “in any meaningful way.”

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