Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
McConnell May Be Leading Conservatives Out On A Limb With Repeal-Only Vote
The Washington Post: What Mitch McConnell Is Doing Next On Health Care, Explained
For Mitch McConnell, Monday night was as embarrassing a blow as they come for a Senate majority leader. Two more Republican senators came out against his bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, effectively dooming the latest version. That forced the Kentucky Republican to confront a difficult question with no good options: What now? (Sullivan, 7/18)
CQ Roll Call: McConnell To Push Obamacare Repeal After Replacement Falters
“Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful," the Kentucky Republican said. (Williams and Lesniewski, 7/17)
USA Today: Senate To Take Up Bill To Repeal Obamacare Without Replacement Plan
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced late Monday that the Senate will give up on its bill to replace Obamacare and vote instead on legislation to repeal the law within two years. (Singer, 7/17)
The Hill: McConnell: Senate Will Try To Repeal ObamaCare With Delayed Replacement
"In the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up the House bill with the first amendment in order being what a majority of the Senate has already supported in 2015 and that was vetoed by then-President Obama: a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period," McConnell said in a statement. The move means Senate Republicans will try to repeal ObamaCare now, while kicking a replacement until after the 2018 mid-term election. (Carney, 7/17)
Politico: GOP Health Care Bill Collapses
McConnell added that the repeal-only bill is "what a majority of the Senate has already supported in 2015," but GOP lawmakers have voiced severe doubts that such a plan can win the 50 votes necessary this year given the uncertainty it would throw onto insurance markets. The 2015 vote was viewed as mostly symbolic at the time given Obama’s certain veto. (Everett and Haberkorn, 7/17)
Politico: 5 Reasons Why The Republicans Can't Pass A Repeal Bill
Senate Republicans' bid to dismantle and rewrite Obamacare is officially dead. Any effort to pick up the pieces and move ahead requires staring down monumental challenges, starting with healing deep divisions among Republicans deflated by failure to deliver on a defining promise. But with Obamacare’s popularity rising and repeal's popularity diminishing, they’ve got little room to maneuver to get 50 out of 52 Republican senators on board. (Cancryn and Pradhan, 7/18)
The Hill: Graham: ‘Time For A New Approach’ On ObamaCare Repeal
With the news Monday night that two more GOP senators won’t support taking up a bill repealing and replacing ObamaCare, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said it’s “time for a new approach.” "Getting money/power out of Washington & returning it to the states is the antidote to 1-SIZE FITS ALL approach embraced in Obamacare,” he tweeted, before touting his plan with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) for an ObamaCare repeal and replace measure. (Master, 7/17)
The Hill: McCain Calls For 'Return To Regular Order' On ObamaCare Repeal
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday night Congress should “return to regular order” to craft a replacement for ObamaCare. “One of the major problems with Obamacare was that it was written on a strict party-line basis and driven through Congress without a single Republican vote. As this law continues to crumble in Arizona and states across the country, we must not repeat the original mistakes that led to Obamacare’s failure,” he said in a statement from Arizona, where he is recovering from surgery. (Master, 7/17)
NPR: McCain's Brain Surgery Could Keep Him Away From The Senate For Weeks
The initial report of Sen. John McCain's surgery sounded simple: the removal of a blood clot above his left eye. But it was actually brain surgery, and the clot was almost 2 inches long. (Columbus, 7/17)
Meanwhile, looking forward beyond health care legislation —
Bloomberg: House Conservatives Fear Health-Care Deja Vu On Secret Tax Plan
House conservative leaders worry they’ll be forced to vote to advance a vehicle for a tax-code rewrite without knowing details of the plan, setting up a repeat of Congress’s troubled efforts on health-care legislation. With a committee markup of a key budget resolution scheduled for Wednesday, leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have demanded details about the tax package and about welfare-spending cuts that GOP leaders have agreed to in principle. But they’ve received no guarantees, and the prospects for seeing specifics ahead of a budget vote appear to be diminishing. (Kapur, 7/17)
The Associated Press: House Budget Blueprint Boosts Military, Cuts Benefits
House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a 10-year budget blueprint that would dramatically increase military spending while putting the GOP on record favoring Medicare cuts opposed by President Donald Trump. (Taylor, 7/18)
