Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bipartisanship, Once A Four-Letter Word, More Appealing To GOP After Failure To Pass Bill
The Associated Press: White House Looks To Bounce Back After Health Care Loss
Regrouping after a rocky few weeks, the White House declared Monday that President Donald Trump doesn't consider the health care battle to be over, suggesting he may turn to Democrats to help him overhaul the system after his own party rejected his proposal. (Thomas, 3/27)
Bloomberg: Senate May Push For Health-Care Deal, But Democrats Wary Of GOP
It’s not clear whether Democrats, who largely sat back and let the repeal effort collapse on its own, have much incentive to negotiate yet. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said his party is willing to discuss improvements to the law, but only if Republicans drop their seven-year-long dream of repealing it. He urged Trump to immediately cease all efforts to undermine the law. "People’s lives are at stake," he said on the Senate floor Monday. "The president should not hope that the health-care system for tens of millions explodes." (Dennis, 3/27)
Roll Call: The Search For Intelligent Bipartisanship On Health Care
With Republican leaders pausing their quest to overturn the 2010 health care law, rank-and-file lawmakers see an opportunity for outreach behind the scenes on the divisive issue. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine will keep talking to senators and stakeholders about their bill, the Patient Freedom Act, which they believe is a rare avenue for bipartisan cooperation. “I like to think the Cassidy-Collins bill is well-positioned as a path forward,” Cassidy said Monday. (Bowman, 3/28)
Morning Consult: GOP Moderates Push Compromise After Death Of Obamacare Repeal
“I urge my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, to take a look at the legislation Senator Bill Cassidy and I have introduced, which would expand access to affordable health care in a way that provides more choices and helps to restrain costs,” Collins said Friday in a statement after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pulled the GOP repeal bill from the House floor. (Reid, 3/27)
The Washington Post: Paul Ryan: House Republicans Will Continue Their Push For Health-Care Reform This Year
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan told Republican donors Monday that he intends to continue pushing for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system by working “on two tracks” as he also pursues other elements of President Trump’s agenda. "We are going to keep getting at this thing,” Ryan said three days after intraparty opposition forced him to pull the American Health Care Act after it became clear it did not have enough Republican votes to pass. (DeBonis, 3/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: White House: Trump Not Giving Up On Overhaul Of Obama Health Law
For many GOP lawmakers, the idea of giving up after just 18 days of work on health care changes, was not an option. “We cannot walk away now, without even a vote,” said Rep. Luke Messer (R-IN), a junior member of the House GOP leadership, said on the House floor. (Dupree, 3/27)
The Hill: Trump: Dems ‘Will Make A Deal’ On Healthcare
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that Trump is sincere about working with Democrats on healthcare reform. “Starting Friday afternoon through late yesterday, [Trump] has received a number of calls, as well as other members of the senior staff that have been working on healthcare, from members of both sides saying that they would like to work together, offer up ideas and have suggestions about how to come to a resolution on this and get a House vote on this,” he said during his daily briefing. (Hensch, 3/27)
WBUR: After GOP Abandons Effort, What's Next For Health Care?
After more than seven years of railing against the Affordable Care Act, Republicans were unable to reach consensus on a plan to repeal and replace it. House Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the bill Friday afternoon and said the party was moving on to other issues. So what happens now? (Young, 3/27)
The Associated Press: GOP Divided Over New Course After House Health Care Debacle
Still reeling from last week’s House health care debacle, Republicans are pivoting to tax cuts and other issues but remain riven into factions and all over the map about how and when to return to their marquee pledge to eviscerate former President Barack Obama’s 2010 overhaul. House Republicans are gathering Tuesday to discuss their agenda, their first meeting since House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., suddenly abandoned plans last Friday for a vote on the GOP legislation. The retreat on the party’s top legislative priority so far this year was a jarring defeat for President Donald Trump and Republican leaders and raised questions about whether the GOP could muster the unity it will need on other issues. (Fram, 3/28)
The Hill: Can Trump Rebound After Failure On Healthcare Bill?
The failure to repeal and replace ObamaCare has cast a shadow over President Trump’s agenda for the rest of the year. Republicans say efforts to reform the tax code and pass a major infrastructure package will be just as difficult and warn their control of the House could be in jeopardy if the conservative House Freedom Caucus refuses to cooperate in the months ahead. (Bolton, 3/28)
WBUR: The Trump Presidency, After The American Health Care Act
After months of promising so much winning people would tire of winning, President Donald Trump straight up lost last week on one of the biggest promises of his campaign. Lost starkly, plainly, publicly on replacing Obamacare – and at the hands of his own party. So now what? (Ashbrook, 3/27)
California Healthline: Repeal And Replace Hits A Roadblock. What’s Next For California?
California embraced the Affordable Care Act and in many ways became a national model for how it could work — driving uninsured rates down from about 17 percent to 7 percent since the law rolled out. The state added 3.7 million people to the rolls under its Medicaid expansion, and 1.5 million joined its state-run marketplace, Covered California. Compared to other states, the exchange’s premium increases have remained low, though they have risen substantially this year. (3/28)
The Baltimore Sun: Rep. Andy Harris Says Health Care Fight Not Over
Rep. Andy Harris, part of the conservative Freedom Caucus that helped tank President Donald Trump's health care legislation, said Monday that Republicans only needed a little more time to reach an agreement and that the House should return to the issue later this year. The 30-plus-member bloc of deficit hawks has found itself under fire from some in the GOP as congressional leaders and the White House assess what went wrong with their plan to repeal the Obamacare health insurance law — and begin to assign blame. That soul-searching could have implications for the rest of Trump's legislative agenda, including tax reform, infrastructure investment and spending cuts. (Fritze, 3/27)
