Scrap 'Obamacare'? Maybe not all, says Trump administration

WASHINGTON (AP) — Scrap "Obamacare"? Well, maybe not all of it.

The Trump administration is arguing in court that the entire Affordable Care Act should be struck down as unconstitutional. But at the same time, Justice Department lawyers recently suggested that federal judges could salvage its anti-fraud provisions, raising questions about keeping other parts as well.

Serving up more mixed messages, President Donald Trump last week floated to a Democratic lawmaker that he'd like to revive her legislation shoring up the health law's insurance markets. "I was kind of stunned, but I said, look, I am willing to work with anyone," recalled the lawmaker, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington.

Following questions from The Associated Press, the White House released a statement: "Obamacare remains unconstitutional but people deserve relief from all of its empty promises, so the Trump Administration is working within current law to reduce fraud and lower cost for all Americans."

But analyst Timothy Jost says the administration may be undercutting its own legal argument that the 9-year-old statute, President Barack Obama's health care law, is so flawed it must be overturned entirely.

"Somehow they want their cake and to eat it, too," said Jost, a retired law professor who supports the health law's goal of expanding coverage. He called the Justice Department's latest filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a "mashed together combination" seemingly written by different administration factions, one seeking a total rollback and the other anxious to preserve useful provisions.

Case in point: Drawing on language used by conservative Supreme Court justices, administration lawyers likened various health law provisions to "ornaments" that must come down if a Christmas tree falls. But they also suggested the courts might want to...