First Glimmer Of Bipartisanship Seen On Hill As McConnell Admits GOP Can’t Fix Health Care Themselves
Getting both parties to the table seems like it may be the only way forward.
Politico:
Senate Democrats Open To Bipartisan Health Talks — After Repeal Fails
Senate Democrats are still hanging tight on the same message as the GOP’s seven-year push to repeal Obamacare careens off course: Drop the one-party approach and work with us to fix the health care law. Even the five Democratic senators facing re-election battles next year in states President Donald Trump turned bright red are showing no interest in making deals before Republicans abandon their attempt to push through repeal with a bare majority. (Schor and Kim, 7/18)
The Hill:
Dem Leaders Amp Up Calls For Bipartisan ObamaCare Fixes
Fueled by the Senate Republicans’ failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are ramping up their calls for GOP leaders to reach across the aisle in search of bipartisan fixes to former President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. “It's time to move on. It’s time to start over,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning on the chamber floor. (Lillis, 7/18)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Will Health Bill’s Collapse Force GOP To Work With Democrats?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat and chief architect of the Affordable Care Act, offered Democratic help. Acknowledging that the law, commonly referred to as Obamacare, needs to be “updated,” she urged the Trump administration and the GOP Congress to stop threatening to withhold vital payments to insurers to cover high-cost patients and other actions that have destabilized some insurance markets. “We would have been working with them from day one,” Pelosi said in an interview Tuesday. “Call it something else, name the provision something else, save face, get yourself a victory, but protect the American people.” (Lochhead, 7/18)
The Hill:
Warren: I’m Not Doing ‘Touchdown Dance’ After GOP Healthcare Collapse
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday she isn't declaring victory over the collapse of the Senate Republican healthcare bill, pointing to the GOP's long history of working to repeal key provisions of ObamaCare. "I’m not doing a touchdown dance over health care today. This zombie bill has come back from the dead over [and] over again," Warren wrote on Twitter. (Beavers, 7/18)
The Hill:
Moderate Republicans, Dems Huddle On Healthcare
Centrist House Republicans and Democrats huddled on Tuesday and discussed healthcare in the wake of the collapse of Senate GOP efforts to repeal ObamaCare, multiple sources told The Hill. Members of the GOP’s Tuesday Group and the New Democrat Coalition met in the Capitol, part of a periodic gathering of the two moderate groups. But healthcare dominated the meeting, participants said. (Wong and Lillis, 7/18)
CQ Roll Call:
McConnell Looks For New Path For Health Care Legislation
“We will have demonstrated that Republicans by themselves are not prepared at this particular point to do a replacement and that doesn’t mean the problems all go away," McConnell said. "You’ll have to look at our committee chairmen and their ranking members." (McIntire, 7/18)
The Hill:
Manchin Organizing Bipartisan Healthcare Meeting Tuesday Night
Centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is organizing a bipartisan group of senators who are former governors to discuss possible bipartisan action on healthcare, with a meeting planned for Tuesday night. The meeting comes as talk of bipartisan action to stabilize ObamaCare markets is picking up in the wake of the collapse of the Republican healthcare bill. (Sullivan, 7/18)
Los Angeles Times:
Collapse Of Obamacare Repeal Campaign Ups Pressure On Republicans To Work With Democrats
Tuesday afternoon, Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) indicated he would convene hearings soon to explore ways to develop more-limited healthcare legislation. (Levey and Mascaro, 7/18)
Nashville Tennessean:
Alexander To Call For Hearings After Obamacare Repeal Collapses
With the GOP’s plan to repeal Obamacare near collapse, the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee announced Tuesday he will convene hearings to look for ways to stabilize the individual insurance market. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said the hearings are needed to help millions of Americans who will be unable to buy insurance unless Congress acts. (Collins, 7/18)
