text: President Obama will hold a meeting with Democrats on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to discuss how to protect the Affordable Care Act 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 . 
   
   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 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. ||||| The meeting is at 9 a.m. in the Congressional Visitors Center auditorium. | Getty Obama to huddle with Hill Democrats on saving Obamacare 
   
   President Barack Obama will head to Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with congressional Democrats about how to shield Obamacare from Republican efforts to dismantle it, a Capitol Hill source told POLITICO. 
   
   The meeting is at 9 a.m. in the Congressional Visitors Center auditorium and is for both House and Senate Democrats, according to a notice sent to members Friday morning. 
   
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   With Republican vowing to begin repealing Obamacare almost immediately when the 115th Congress convenes next week, Democratic lawmakers are immersed in strategy sessions on how to protect the nearly seven-year-old health care law. 
   
   Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has promised to stand firm against repeal efforts and subsequently, Republican efforts to replace the Affordable Care Act with a more conservative framework. And a conference call convened by House Democrats earlier this week focused largely on emphasizing the benefits of Obamacare, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) noting that she sees parallels between the current situation and the 2005 effort by then-President George W. Bush to privatize Social Security, according to an aide on the call. 
   
   “The Affordable Care Act has been successful in meeting its goals of reducing cost, increasing access and improving quality of care,” Pelosi wrote to members in a “Dear Colleague” letter this week. 
   
   Democrats are also launching a broader health care offensive against Republicans that focuses not only on their push to repeal Obamacare but any prospective efforts from the GOP to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid. To that end, Democrats, led by Schumer, Pelosi and liberal firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — will host a so-called “day of action” on Jan. 15 that is meant to rev up grass roots support for shielding social safety net programs. 
   
   “Beginning in January, it is likely that Republican leaders in Congress will follow through on their threats to ram through a budget bill that will severely undermine the health care needs of the American people,” the three lawmakers wrote in a "Dear Colleague" letter circulated earlier this week. 
   
   Though most legislation generally needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, Republicans can do away with significant portions of Obamacare with a simple majority by using a parliamentary move called “reconciliation,” which undercuts a filibuster. The GOP is also mulling a lengthy transition period for Obamacare repeal, meaning that the law would not actually be abolished for years — buying Republicans time to craft a replacement. 
   
   Still, if the pillars of Obamacare are successfully dismantled, moderate Democrats — particularly those senators up for reelection in 2018 — could come under considerable pressure to help Republicans replace the law and are already openly entertaining that option. 
   
   Incoming House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley of New York said the meeting will likely include discussion of other policy matters in addition to Obamacare — such as the Dodd-Frank financial law and environmental issues. 
   
   “There are a myriad of issues he could address," Crowley said in an interview Friday. "As he retires from public office, we’re left to defend the advancements he’s made. Not only as a party, but as a people.” 
   
   Darren Samuelsohn contributed to this report. 
   
  
target: – President Obama looks genuinely worried about the fate of ObamaCare: He will meet Wednesday morning with House and Senate Democrats to plot strategy on how to prevent Republicans from killing it, reports Politico. The problem for Democrats is that there may not be much they can do in the near future. As both Politico and the Hill point out, Republicans can pass a repeal measure without any Democratic support through a legislative maneuver known as a reconciliation vote. The procedure requires only a simple majority, not 60 votes, and the GOP has promised to move on it immediately in the new year. The caveat is that, assuming repeal passes, Republicans are expected to delay the actual dismantling of the law for quite a while to give them time to craft a replacement. That delay could be as long as three years, reports Time. So what can Democrats do? For one thing, raise political pressure. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and his House counterpart, Nancy Pelosi, plan rallies next month, and ObamaCare advocates promise to flood the airwaves with ads in states such as Arizona and Nevada, where they think GOP senators might be swayed. The idea is not only to try to block repeal itself but to keep as much of the law in place as possible if repeal passes. President-elect Trump, for example, has said he would like to keep parts of ObamaCare intact, notably protections for those with pre-existing conditions. The White House said this month that 6.4 million people had signed up for ObamaCare before a Dec. 19 deadline, up 400,000 from the previous year.