Brow Beat

John Oliver Says Time Is Running Out on Republicans’ Obamacare Replacement: “Tick Tock, Motherf—ers”

Republican lawmakers’ efforts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare have been repeatedly stalled since the election of Donald Trump, as seen most recently—and dramatically—with the pushback from their constituents at town hall events. It’s gotten to the point where in order to enact meaningful change that won’t be potentially harmful to millions, Congress might be running out of time. “Republicans have happily complained about the flaws of the law, taken no responsibility for fixing them, and in fact have often undermined the whole thing,” as John Oliver explained Sunday night. “But that time is now over. It is their turn to present a plan—and the clock is ticking.”

Oliver dedicated his main segment to the conversation on Obamacare, which remains complicated by misleading promises, logistical nuances, and a lengthy campaign to completely undermine the American health care system as it’s existed for the last seven years. (Over 20 million have gained coverage since its implementation.) Republicans have already changed their mission from “repeal” to “repair,” but the solutions they’re presenting remain significantly flawed. As such, according to Oliver, “Every time you get near something resembling a Republican plan, it seems to just recede into the distance.”

Oliver honed in, primarily, on the talking points conservatives tend to use when asked about how to improve the American health care system—briefly summarizing the benefits and drawbacks of refundable tax credits, health savings accounts, block grants, and high-risk pools. As Oliver explained, each, in their own way, disproportionately hurts the sick and poor while offering greater flexibility to the healthy and financially stable.

And that’s a problem, per Oliver, because President Trump has repeatedly made blanket promises amounting to cheap, universal coverage for all Americans—convoluted and unworkable promises, admittedly, but promises all the same. Republicans are in a pretty tight spot, in other words. And Oliver could only revel in it: “Tick tock, motherfuckers.”