GOP Health Plan Will Undergo ‘Necessary Improvements,’ Ryan Promises Wary Lawmakers
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tries to salvage support for his plan, as both the right wing and the moderates in his party revolt. What to do with Medicaid is a major issue being worked through.
The Associated Press:
GOP Leaders Acknowledge Health Bill Changes, May Delay Vote
Their health care overhaul imperiled from all sides, the White House and top House Republicans acknowledged Wednesday they would make changes to the legislation in hopes of nailing down votes and pushing the party's showpiece legislation through the chamber soon. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., declined to commit to bringing the measure to the House floor next week, a fresh indication of uncertainty. (Fram and Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/15)
The Washington Post:
Ryan: Health Care Plan Must Change To Pass The House
Speaking after a private meeting of GOP lawmakers, Ryan said that leaders would “incorporate feedback” from the rank-and-file in response to the CBO findings. He did not repeat his previous comments calling support for the bill a “binary choice” for Republican lawmakers. “Now that we have our score we can make some necessary improvements and refinements to the bill,” he said, referring to the CBO’s estimate of the effect on the number of those covered by health insurance and what the GOP proposal would cost. (DeBonis, 3/15)
Morning Consult:
Ryan Open To Changing Health Bill As GOP Struggles To Reach Agreement
[Ryan's] comments mark a change in tone from the Wisconsin Republican, who last week presented the bill in a PowerPoint presentation as a “binary choice” between repealing Obamacare and keeping it. He did not describe what types of changes were being considered. Vice President Mike Pence spent much of Wednesday afternoon meeting with House members, including the conservative Republican Study Committee and moderate Tuesday Group. Members said Pence indicated the administration was open to changes, but has not specifically backed certain policies. (McIntire, 3/15)
WBUR:
Paul Ryan Says Health Care Bill On Track, Despite Increasing GOP Opposition
"This is the plan we ran on all of last year. This is the plan that we've been working — House, Senate, White House — together on," House Speaker Paul Ryan told FOX Business News. "Now as we get closer to finish, going through the committee process, you inevitably make those refinements and improvements as you go through that process. That's exactly where we are right now." (Davis, 3/15)
Politico:
Ryan, Pence Race To Salvage Obamacare Repeal Amid GOP Dissent
Meanwhile, members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus declared that they believed they had enough commitments from their own allies to kill any attempt by Republican leaders to ram through the current bill without significant changes. They said that they intend to present to leadership an amendment on Friday that they say could unite conservatives and moderates. “It’s up for us, moderates and conservatives, to come together,” said Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows coming out of a Wednesday evening meeting. (Bade, Cheney and Haberkorn, 3/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
Republicans Explore Changes To Health-Care Plan
In conversations with House leaders and administration officials, lawmakers focused on proposed changes to Medicaid, with conservative House Republicans pressing for work requirements and an earlier phaseout of the expansion started under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Some Senate Republicans also sought to boost the value of tax credits to give more aid to low-income and older people who buy insurance. Others wanted to strike a provision that calls for insurers to charge higher premiums to consumers who let their coverage lapse, a measure intended to encourage people to buy insurance. (Armour, Peterson and Radnofsky, 3/16)
CQ Roll Call:
Moderate Republicans Oppose Earlier Medicaid Freeze Date
Moderate Republicans are rejecting changes to the health care bill that would more quickly end enrollment in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion program, calling the idea a "nonstarter." The two co-chairmen of the moderate Tuesday Group, Reps. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., and Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., both used that phrase when describing the suggested change. Conservatives, especially in the conservative Republican Study Committee, said earlier on Wednesday they wanted to freeze new enrollment in Medicaid expansion states by 2018, rather than by 2020 as the current package states. (Mershon, 3/15)
The Hill:
Conservative RSC Says It's Close To Backing ObamaCare Repeal Bill
The conservative Republican Study Committee (RSC) says it is very close to supporting the House GOP's healthcare plan if changes are made to its Medicaid provisions. Vice President Pence met with members of the Republican Study Committee Wednesday and indicated that the White House is open to accepting some changes to the bill. The 172-member RSC wants to freeze the expansion of Medicaid earlier, in 2018, and put in place work requirements for able-bodied, childless adults. (Hellmann, Sullivan and Wong, 3/15)
Morning Consult:
Medicaid Work Requirements In Focus For GOP Health Bill
A group of conservative House Republicans are pushing for an amendment to the Republican health care bill that would institute work or education requirements for Medicaid, hoping the change would get more conservatives on board and help the legislation move closer to becoming law. (McIntire, 3/15)
The Hill:
Medicaid Work Requirements Could Be Added To ObamaCare Bill
House Republican lawmakers from different factions of the caucus say they are open to adding Medicaid work requirements to their ObamaCare replacement bill, a measure that could help bring conservatives on board without alienating moderates. Medicaid work requirements were one of the main additions that the conservative Republican Study Committee asked for in a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday as leadership looks at changes to the bill to help win more votes. (Sullivan and Wong, 3/15)
Bloomberg:
Republicans Mull Dropping Surcharge For Uninsured In Bill
Republican leaders in Congress may scrap a provision in the House GOP’s Obamacare replacement bill that would require insurers to charge a 30 percent penalty to customers who go without coverage for at least 63 days. ... John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican senator, confirmed that scrapping the 30 percent surcharge is “being discussed,” but added, “I’m not aware of any decisions.” The Texan said the goal is to craft a bill that can pass the House and Senate. (Kapur and House, 3/15)
Des Moines Register:
Senate Republicans Demand Changes To House Health Care Bill, Grassley Says
“They aren’t thinking only in terms of getting 218 votes in the House,” Grassley said of the officials who came attended the meeting. “How do you get 51 votes in the United States Senate? That’s what they’re looking at.” (Noble, 3/15)
McClatchy:
Republican Health Plan To Repeal Obamacare Losing GOP Support
McClatchy surveyed House Republicans and interpreted public statements to see where they stand. The result: Most still don’t support the GOP plan. We'll keep updating this chart. If just 21 vote no, the bill fails. (Daugherty, Walker, Linch and Magness, 3/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Can Republicans Compromise With Each Other To Pass ACA Repeal Bill?
It's make-or-break time for Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. And right now it's looking more like break. Congressional GOP leaders are scrambling to come up with a compromise between conservatives who want to scale back premium subsidies and Medicaid coverage in the already-lean American Health Care Act, and more moderate members and governors who want to see more generous benefits. (Meyer, 3/15)
Wall Street Journal:
Q&A: What Are The ‘Three Prongs’ In GOP’s Obamacare Repeal-And-Replace Effort?
Republican leaders have been talking about a three-part approach to reworking the U.S. health-care system in recent days. What does that mean and why are they doing it? On Tuesday afternoon alone, White House press secretary Sean Spicer repeatedly described “three prongs” and Vice President Mike Pence talked about a “multi-step process” within minutes of each other. (Radnofsky, 3/15)
The Hill:
Nervous GOP Senators Rooting For Ryan To Fail
A growing number of GOP senators are hoping the House fails to pass its bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare so they won’t be blamed for killing it in the upper chamber. Support for the House legislation has “disintegrated” in the Senate, according one Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss internal conference politics. It will require substantial revisions to win the support of moderate Republicans in the upper chamber — something that will likely make it unacceptable to conservatives. (Bolton, 3/16)
The Hill:
Ryan: Rand Paul 'Insulting' Trump By Suggesting GOP Is Misleading Him
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) accused Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) of "insulting" President Trump, citing the Kentucky senator's recent assertion that Ryan is misleading Trump on the GOP's health care plan. The Wednesday comments on CNN came in response to remarks from Paul on the same network, in which he argued that Ryan is "selling [Trump] a bill of goods that he didn't explain to the president.” (Kamisar, 3/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Here's Why The GOP Is Struggling To Come Up With A New Healthcare Plan: That Wasn't The Goal
The tribulations now facing Republicans are not hard to understand: The party never set out to revamp the nation’s healthcare system. That was always a Democratic pursuit. Republicans simply wanted to repeal Obamacare, which they saw as a costly government intrusion. Only after they took the White House and it became apparent that millions of Americans would lose their health coverage under a straightforward repeal did Republicans begin to take seriously the “replace” part of their campaign promise. (Mascaro, 3/15)
Politico:
Rep. Joe Kennedy On Fighting For The ACA — Even If It Takes All Night
For four years, Rep. Joe Kennedy III has sought a deliberately low profile as a relatively young member of Congress with a famous last name. But after an epic 27-hour markup last week — and tens of millions of views on social media later — Kennedy has quickly emerged as a national face of resistance to Republicans' health bill and a rising Democrat to watch. (Diamond, 3/15)
Politico:
House Conservatives Face Robocalls Urging Support For Obamacare Replacement
American Action Network, the nonprofit aligned with House GOP leadership, is launching a pressure campaign aimed at conservative House members lawmakers who have been reluctant to support the leadership-backed plan to replace Obamacare. (Cheney, 3/16)
Chicago Tribune:
State Congress Members Weigh ACA Repeal, Feedback
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who like his Democratic colleagues is dead-set against the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, says he has been bombarded with constituent calls and emails in recent days. The overwhelming majority of messages — 1,098 as of Wednesday — oppose the health care overhaul proposed by House Republicans, while just 11 support it, according to the first-term lawmaker from Schaumburg. (Skiba, 3/15)
Nashville Tennessean:
State GOP Lawmakers Demand Medicare Investment In ACA Repeal
Eleven state Republican lawmakers are sending a letter to Tennessee's congressional delegation demanding they keep in mind rural community hospitals as they negotiate the repeal of the Affordable Care Act in Washington. Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, is leading the effort and is joined by some of the more conservative members of the legislature who say that rural hospitals might have to pick up $88 billion-worth of care in 2019 as estimates suggest nearly 30 million people could be left uninsured under the plan. (Lowary, 3/15)
Texas Tribune:
After Years Of Insisting On "Repeal," Ted Cruz Walks A Fine Line On Health Care
For possibly the first time since he came to the U.S. Senate, nobody in Washington is angry with Ted Cruz. Nimble and quick, the junior U.S. senator from Texas is performing a political and rhetorical tap dance of assuaging what would seem like mutually exclusive sides of the ongoing health care debate. GOP leaders are insisting that Speaker Paul Ryan's House bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act can be salvaged. That position, however, is not in line with most Tea Party backers who want almost nothing short of a clean repeal of President Obama's 2010 health care law. (Livingston, 3/15)
The Washington Post:
The Long (And Surprisingly Happy) Life Of Nancy Pelosi’s ‘Pass The Bill’ Gaffe
On Tuesday afternoon, Sean Spicer made up a quote from Nancy Pelosi, and nobody complained. In 2010, famously, then-House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.) told the National Association of Counties that the Affordable Care Act would become appreciated when it finally became law. “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy,” she said. Spicer remembered it differently. “Anyone in the country and anyone in the world, could read it,” he said of the GOP's American Health Care Act. “That's a vastly different approach than after it's being done, told, after we pass it you can read it, which is what Speaker Pelosi said.” Nobody corrected him, but why would they? (Weigel, 3/15)
