Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Health Plan Becomes Senate's Dilemma Now -- Where The Margin For Error Is Much More Narrow
The New York Times: The Next Step For The Republican Health Care Law: A Skeptical Senate
As House Republicans on Thursday shoved their health care bill across the finish line, stuffing it with amendments and extra dollars to secure a hard-won majority, the lawmakers who will inherit the legislation delivered their own message from across the Capitol: That’s cute. (Flegenheimer, 5/4)
Kaiser Health News: A Squeaker In The House Becomes Headache For The Senate: 5 Things To Watch
Democrats who lost the battle are still convinced they may win the political war. As the Republicans reached a majority for the bill, Democrats on the House floor began chanting, “Na, na, na, na … Hey, hey, hey … Goodbye.” They claim Republicans could lose their seats for supporting a bill that could cause so much disruption in voters’ health care. Now the bill — and the multitude of questions surrounding it — moves across the Capitol to the Senate. And the job doesn’t get any easier. With only a two-vote Republican majority and no likely Democratic support, it would take only three GOP “no” votes to sink the bill. (Rovner, 5/4)
CNN: House Bill Would Face Daunting Challenges In Senate
The Obamacare repeal bill that passed the House Thursday moves next to the Senate where it faces daunting challenges because of the same ideological splits between conservative and moderate Republicans that nearly killed it in the House. GOP leaders have set up a working group of senators across the ideological spectrum to try search for compromises that could unite enough Republicans to get the 51 votes needed for it to clear the chamber. (Barrett, 5/4)
Vox: The Many Obstacles Awaiting The Republican Health Care Bill In The Senate
Now House Republicans really have managed to pass the American Health Care Act, the bill to replace Obamacare, this afternoon, the action shifts to the Senate — where you can expect the same dramas from the House’s months-long slog to pass their bill to play out again.Except in the Senate, the margin for error is smaller. (Scott, 5/4)
Modern Healthcare: House Passes AHCA, Now Fate Of Obamacare Is In The Senate
There's a lot of fury around the country over the conservative healthcare reform bill, which has been expressed at Congress members' town halls and in protests. A number of Republican senators whose votes are needed for a replacement bill have said that the House version will not survive in their chamber. First, there are procedural issues on whether the state-waiver plan can be included and still qualify for a 51-vote majority. A number of Republican senators also have ideas of how to improve the bill. (Lee, 5/4)
The Hill: No. 2 Senate Republican: 'No Timeline' On ObamaCare Replacement Bill
Senate Republicans are signaling they are in no hurry to move legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare after it passed the House Thursday. “There is no timeline,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said when he was asked about a schedule for when the Senate could move a bill. (Carney, 5/4)
