By Steven Rattner

Copyright nytimes

All the political skirmishing around the looming government shutdown has obscured the critical reason for it in the first place: Republicans have essentially stopped saying they want to repeal Obamacare, but quietly, they are doing exactly that.

Over the past nine months, Republicans have gone a long way toward dismantling key Obamacare provisions under the misleading guise of reforming or improving our health care system. As a result, more than 20 million Americans face higher insurance premiums next year. And almost 14 million Americans could lose their health insurance altogether over the next decade — an estimated 3.3 million in 2026 alone.

That’s more than 70 percent of those who gained coverage since Obamacare went into effect.

You may be forgiven for missing this headline. There wasn’t one. In 2016, Donald Trump ran on a promise to abolish the program and kept up his crusade throughout his first term, only to have the effort deep-sixed by Senator John McCain. This time around, Mr. Trump has rarely — if ever — mentioned the Affordable Care Act by name. Nor have his fellow Republicans.

But they never stopped trying. And this year they have made substantial progress. The outcome of the looming shutdown will determine whether Democrats can gain back at least a modicum of ground.