Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Paul Ryan Rolls Up His Sleeves And Makes 'Hard Pitch' For The American Health Care Act
The Hill: Ryan Brings Out Slideshow To Sell GOP Healthcare Bill
Jacket off and sleeves rolled up, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday ditched the podium and delivered a 25-minute TED Talk-like presentation on why the new GOP health bill represents the best, and perhaps only, chance to repeal ObamaCare. “This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing ObamaCare,” Ryan told reporters at the end of his slideshow presentation. “The time is here; the time is now. This is the moment.”The Speaker typically stands behind a podium and answers questions from reporters during his Thursday news briefings. But on this day, reporters in the room weren’t the intended audience. (Wong, 3/9)
NPR: House Speaker Paul Ryan Sells Health Care Bill As 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Chance
"This is the chance. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said the speaker, roving the stage with a wireless mic, gesturing at both the audience in front of him and the PowerPoint presentation behind him. TED Talk? Late-night infomercial? Nope — it was House Speaker Paul Ryan, making a hard pitch for his health care plan after a week of loud conservative criticism. (Detrow, 3/9)
USA Today: Republican Leaders Warn That Changing Health Care Bill Would Doom It In Senate
House Republican leaders warned their members Thursday that any major changes to the proposed GOP health care bill will prevent its passage in the Senate and kill their best shot at ending Obamacare. Those warnings came as both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee approved the GOP's American Health Care Act on Thursday without significant amendments after marathon debates. (Kelly, 3/9)
Morning Consult: GOP Leaders Say Republicans Won’t Get 2nd Chance On Health Care
Congressional Republican leaders are pushing back against party criticism of their plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. In media appearances on Thursday, House and Senate leaders drove home the message that their plan is Republicans’ best shot to make good on their No. 1 campaign promise. “The time is here, the time is now, this is the moment and this is the closest that will ever happen,” Speaker Paul Ryan said at his weekly press conference. “It really comes down to a binary choice.” (Reid, 3/9)
Politico: Three Misleading Claims From Paul Ryan's Obamacare Lecture
With his jacket off and sleeves rolled up, House Speaker Paul Ryan made the case for the Republican health care law Thursday, walking through a 35-minute PowerPoint presentation to a packed crowd of reporters and millions of viewers watching on the three cable TV networks. It was quintessential Ryan, calmly explaining the details of the American Health Care Act looking more like a college professor than a professional politician. But in making his case, Ryan made a series of misleading statements, both about the current state of Obamacare and the details of the replacement bill. (Vinik, 3/9)
The Wall Street Journal: Ads Push Conservatives To Get On Board With GOP Health Plan
A GOP outside group closely aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) is set to begin airing ads targeted at 30 members of the Freedom Caucus, urging their constituents to call them to vote in favor of Republican leadership’s bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. The ads, paid for by the American Action Network, a nonprofit not required to disclose its donors, mark the first time this year that a major outside group is spending money to keep members of the Republican Party in line. The group is spending $500,000 to air the ads for two weeks, bringing its total spending on the GOP health-care plan to over $8 million since January. (Hackman, 3/9)
The Hill: Ryan Pushes Back Against Critics Panning Health Plan As 'Entitlement'
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Thursday sought to push back against criticism from the right that the GOP leadership’s healthcare bill amounts to another “entitlement” program like ObamaCare. During an interview on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Ryan argued that replacing the 2010 law’s subsidies to help low-income people buy health insurance with tax credits was not the same as directly giving people federal aid. (Marcos, 3/9)
The Hill: Right Targets Ryan — Not Trump — On ObamaCare Plan
President Trump has so far managed to avoid becoming a target for the conservative backlash to Speaker Paul Ryan’s ObamaCare repeal and replace plan, even as the White House vigorously whips support for the bill. Ryan hasn’t been so lucky. Breitbart News, which has long been one of Ryan’s most vocal foes, panned his American Health Care Act as “Speaker Ryan’s ObamaCare 2.0.” (Easley and Wong, 3/10)
Ryan also has other health-related items on his legislative to-do list -
Politico: Ryan Planning More Health Care Votes Alongside Repeal Effort
House Republicans will vote on a second health care bill the week they vote to repeal Obamacare, Speaker Paul Ryan told Sean Hannity on Thursday afternoon. The Wisconsin Republican did not divulge many details about the legislation, though he said it would likely allow people to purchase insurance through association health plans. Such a proposal has always been part of the GOP alternative, Ryan told Hannity, but Senate rules bar leadership from including it in their fast-tracked repeal bill. (Bade, 3/9)
