Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Conservatives Rebel Against GOP Leadership's 'Obamacare Lite' Repeal Plans
The Associated Press: Pressure On GOP To Revamp Health Law Grows, Along With Rifts
President Donald Trump declared Monday that "Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated." Yet the opposite has long been painfully obvious for top congressional Republicans, who face mounting pressure to scrap the law even as problems grow longer and knottier. With the GOP-controlled Congress starting its third month of work on one of its marquee priorities, unresolved difficulties include how their substitute would handle Medicaid, whether millions of voters might lose coverage, how their proposed tax credits would work and how to pay for the costly exercise. (2/27)
Politico: GOP Conservatives Oppose Leaked Obamacare Plan
House and Senate conservatives are rebelling against a leaked draft of an Obamacare replacement bill, potentially stopping the proposal in its tracks before it's even been officially introduced. On Monday, key conservative leaders huddled to discuss how to react to the House GOP's plan, which would roll back much of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion and replace subsidies for Obamacare's insurance exchanges with tax credits. And one after another, they came out in opposition to the plan, culminating in a joint statement from three senators intended to demonstrate the proposed bill cannot pass the Senate. (Everett and Bade, 2/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Disagreement In GOP Over Tax Credits To Replace Obamacare
An influential conservative House Republican said Monday he could not currently support House GOP leaders’ plan for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, highlighting the internal divisions hindering Republicans as they struggle to overhaul the 2010 health-care law. Rep. Mark Walker (R., N.C.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said in a statement Monday night that House Republicans’ plan to repeal the ACA and replace it with a different system of individual tax credits has “serious problems” and that in its current form he could not recommend supporting it to other lawmakers in his group. The RSC had more than 170 members last year. (Peterson and Armour, 2/27)
Bloomberg: GOP Obamacare Plan Suffers Blow With Rejection By Key Republican
“There are serious problems with what appears to be our current path to repeal and replace Obamacare," Walker said in a statement, warning that the emerging GOP plan would appear to create a new, expensive entitlement program. (House, 2/27)
The Hill: Freedom Caucus Chair Says He'd Vote Against Draft ObamaCare Replacement
The caucus has asked leadership to take up a 2015 ObamaCare repeal bill that was vetoed by President Obama. They have said they won't vote for any bill that is "weaker" than the 2015 bill. (Hellmann, 2/27)
The Hill: Top House Conservatives Won't Back Draft ObamaCare Replacement
Two top Republicans bucking the draft shows the struggle the party is facing to coalesce around an ObamaCare repeal and replacement plan. Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.) acknowledged that the disagreements could slow Republicans down and said President Trump should weigh in. "I think there's a lot of these issues along the way where there's legitimate disagreements, and you really have to have the White House weigh in one way or the other," he said. (Hellmann, 2/27)
Roll Call: Top Conservatives Oppose GOP Health Care Plan, Muddying Path to Needed Votes
No Democrats are expected to join Republicans in voting to repeal the 2010 health care law, so GOP leaders need 218 of their members (out of a current roster of 238 Republicans; soon to be 237 if the Senate confirms Rep. Ryan Zinke as Interior Secretary this week, as expected) to vote for whatever legislation they produce. (McPherson, 2/27)
Roll Call: Ryan, Trump Describe Obamacare Replacement As ‘Rescue Mission’
President Donald Trump and top congressional Republicans on Monday described their efforts to replace the 2010 health care law as a pressing matter — even though doing so quickly defies their political interests. Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky emerged from an Oval Office meeting with the president to tell reporters that the law is “collapsing.” McConnell sidestepped a question by reciting former President Bill Clinton’s campaign-season assessment that it is the “craziest thing in the world.” (Bennett, 2/27)
The Washington Post: Amid GOP Discord, Schumer Predicts Health-Care Law ‘Will Not Be Repealed’
The top Democratic senator predicted Monday that Republicans will fail to fulfill their long-stated goal of repealing and replacing the federal health-care law, as he went on the attack against President Trump on the eve of his first address to a joint session of Congress. Speaking at a question-and-answer session at the National Press Club, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), pointed to widespread disagreement among Republicans about how to go about undoing key parts of the law, as well as intense pressure from constituents urging them not to rush ahead with their effort. (Sullivan, 2/27)
