--- description: President Obama will hold a meeting with Democrats on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to discuss how to protect the Affordable Care Act next year title: Obama Wants to Help Democrats Save Obamacare From Donald Trump image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e1915e08c4416d8/6988b433bc6cfc30c53dface/gettyimages-504725244.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Health Care](/tag/health-care/) ## Health Care Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Wants to Help Democrats Save Obamacare From Donald Trump by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 30, 2016 5:29 PM CUT  U.S. President Barack Obama talks with members of Congress after delivering his State of the Union speech before members of Congress in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol January 12, 2016 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Barack Obama talks with members of Congress after delivering his State of the Union speech before members of Congress in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol January 12, 2016 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 30, 2016 5:29 PM CUT [President Obama](http://time.com/4302043/barack-obama-2016-time-100/ "undefined") will hold a meeting with [Democrats on Capitol Hill](http://time.com/4596817/democrats-donald-trump-congress/ "undefined") on Wednesday to discuss how to protect [the Affordable Care Act](http://time.com/4584755/donald-trump-cabinet-tom-price-health-human-services-obamacare/ "undefined") next year against Republican efforts to dismantle his signature domestic achievement. The meeting will include both House and Senate Democrats, a senior Democratic aide confirmed. The meeting was first reported by[_Politico_](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/obama-to-huddle-with-hill-democrats-on-saving-obamacare-233062 "undefined"). Republicans are planning a rapid repeal of the Affordable Care Act early next year, a move that would finally fulfill a GOP campaign promise but also throw the country’s health insurance markets into uncertainty. Republican leaders have said they may delay the repeal’s effective date for as long as three years to allow time to implement a replacement. Democrats are divided on how best to salvage Obamacare. Some have expressed a willingness to work with Republicans on a replacement to the law, but almost all are united against attempts to repeal it. Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has promised to try and block Republicans’ repeal efforts next year, as well as a conservative replacement. “They have nothing to put in its place,” Schumer said earlier this month. “To our Republican friends across the aisle, bring it on.” More than 20 million people have insurance as a result of the legislation, including people under the age of 26 who are allowed to stay on their parents’ plans and people with preexisting conditions. Obama has credited the law for slowing the growth in the rise of health care costs. The law’s critics have taken aim at rising premiums in certain states. President-Elect [Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/ "undefined") has promised to keep in place some of the more popular aspects of the law, including prohibiting insurance from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions. Health policy experts widely consider such cherry-picking to be unworkable, since the popular elements of the law are paid for by more unpopular elements like the mandate that people have insurance or pay a fine. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/"},"headline":"President Obama Wants to Help Democrats Save Obamacare From Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-12-30T17:29:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:30:16.842Z","description":"A Capitol Hill meeting is set for shortly after New Year's Day","url":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/","keywords":["Health Care","Obamacare","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e1915e08c4416d8/6988b433bc6cfc30c53dface/gettyimages-504725244.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2e1915e08c4416d8/6988b433bc6cfc30c53dface/gettyimages-504725244.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Delivers His Last State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress","caption":"President Obama Delivers His Last State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/health-care/","name":"Health Care"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/","name":"President Obama Wants to Help Democrats Save Obamacare From Donald Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Donald Trump Says He’s Willing to Preserve Parts of Obamacare","description":"President-elect Donald Trump, who had repeatedly campaigned on a promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said Friday that he would consider keeping certain parts of the health care law after meeting with President Obama at the White House.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ecntrDtE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-11-12T20:39:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ecntrDtE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4619873/barack-obama-obamacare-repeal-donald-trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```