Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Obamacare's Essential Health Benefits May Fall Prey To Legislative Horse Trading
The New York Times: Leaders Struggle To Unite House Republicans Behind Health Bill
The House bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act faced an uncertain fate on Wednesday as conservative Republicans pushed to eliminate federal requirements that health insurance plans provide certain benefits to consumers. House Republican leaders met with members of their party late into the night on Wednesday as they struggled to muster support for the bill, scheduled for a vote on the House floor on Thursday. (Pear and Kaplan, 3/23)
The Associated Press: GOP Health Bill On The Brink Hours From House Showdown Vote
The stakes could hardly be higher for a party that gained monopoly control of Washington largely on promises to get rid of former President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement and replace it with something better. Now Republicans are staring at the possibility of failure at the very moment of truth, an outcome that would be a crushing political defeat for Trump and Hill GOP leaders and would throw prospects for other legislative achievements into extreme uncertainty. (Werner and Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)
The Wall Street Journal: GOP Lawmakers Struggle To Unite On Health Bill
The GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, backed by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, remained in jeopardy Wednesday after a day of intense negotiations among Republicans showed signs of rallying conservatives behind the bill while driving away more centrist lawmakers. Ahead of a planned vote by the House on Thursday, Mr. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, as well as other senior administration officials, huddled with lawmakers through the day on proposed changes to the bill. (Peterson, Hughes and Andrews, 3/22)
The Associated Press: Obama Health Law's 'Essential Benefits' May Be In Jeopardy
Scrambling to nail down votes for the health care overhaul legislation, Republicans are considering ways to ease federal requirements that insurers cover such basic services as prescription drugs, maternity care and substance abuse treatment. Lawmakers emerging from a meeting late Wednesday of the conservative Freedom Caucus said "essential health benefits" are in play as party leaders and the White House explore ways to advance the bill. But undermining the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) benefits is likely to trigger a backlash from patient groups and doctors. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)
The Washington Post: GOP Health-Care Plan Hangs In Balance As Conservatives Demand Changes
The Republican health-care overhaul spearheaded by House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) and backed by President Trump hung in the balance Wednesday, as the White House signaled at the 11th hour a willingness to rework the measure to mollify conservatives. After insisting for weeks that the changes sought by hard-right members would render the bill unable to pass the Senate, White House officials and GOP House leaders appeared to shift their thinking — and opponents agreed to keep working on a deal with the goal of holding a floor vote in the House by Thursday night. (DeBonis, Eilperin, Weigel, 3/23)
The Hill: Freedom Caucus, Trump Reach 'Agreement In Principle' On ObamaCare Repeal Bill
Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Wednesday night he and President Trump have come to an “agreement in principle” on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, just one day before a historic House vote on the bill. “The president and I came to an agreement in principle,” Meadows said during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, adding that he was still ironing out a few final details with the White House. (Sullivan and Wong, 3/22)
Stat: This Unheralded Part Of Obamacare Just Shot To The Center Of The Health Care Debate
As Republicans frantically scramble to find votes to pass their health care bill, the most important debate may be about one issue: essential health benefits. That is the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that health insurance plans sold to individuals and small groups cover 10 types of services, from prescription drugs to substance abuse treatment to maternity care. That requirement was never as widely discussed or debated as Obamacare’s individual mandate or Medicaid expansion. But it is now central to understanding the debate in Congress. (Scott, 3/22)
Modern Healthcare: GOP Eyes Eliminating Benefit Mandates In Late Scramble To Pass ACA Repeal
The White House and U.S. House of Representatives' ultra-conservatives reportedly were negotiating Wednesday night to repeal the Affordable Care Act's insurance benefit rules in a last-minute effort to salvage House Republicans' ACA replacement bill. The provision being discussed would erase the ACA's minimum essential benefits requirement for fully insured plans in the individual and group markets. That requires all plans to cover benefits in 10 categories, with benefits determined by the states but comparable to the most common small-group plans. (Meyer, 3/22)
McClatchy: Trump Pledges Support For Retired Miners Fund
President Donald Trump pledged his support Wednesday for the rescue of a health-care fund for thousands of retired coal miners and their families, an issue that almost triggered a government shutdown in December. Rep. David McKinley, R-West Virginia, raised the issue at a meeting of about 18 House Republicans Wednesday morning, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., at the White House, a meeting called to discuss the Republican bill to replace Obamacare. (Tate, 3/22)
