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But many Americans are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on health care reform as premiums and out-of-pocket costs continue to soar — especially when Congress still is set to take its month-long August recess, even if health care reform remains unfinished.

“So what happened to all the talk about staying and getting their work done? Somehow that just went out the window, I guess,” Oskoui  said. “I think the answer’s obvious: They don’t have the votes.”

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“If Republicans cannot come up with a bill, it’s the ACA and the Republicans dithering, and the people will blame their elected representatives,” Oskoui added. “And ultimately the system is going to collapse because it is untenable, and people are going to get really angry in the meantime.”

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If Republicans can’t get their act together and round up enough votes for an effective repeal and replace bill, the GOP most likely will suffer in the 2018 midterm election and the 2020 election, Oskoui predicted.

“Who are the big winners in there? It’s the status quo,” Oskoui said. “The only way to make the base happy is to lower their premiums, lower their out-of-pocket expenses.”

Trump, however, could emerge from the debacle relatively unscathed if he can shift the blame successfully onto congressional Republicans, he said.

“This increasingly appears to be a failure of the congressional Republicans — not Trump,” Oskoui said. “The congressional Republicans who have slow-rolled this process and have largely sabotaged him in what he’s doing now are really going to be — their heads are going to be on a stick for not getting this done. Because remember, they can’t even bring him a bill that they all agree on for him to sign.”[lz_pagination]