Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Failing To Whip Up Support, House Leaders Pull Replacement Bill From Floor
The Washington Post: GOP Health-Care Bill: House Republican Leaders Abruptly Pull Their Rewrite Of The Nation’s Health-Care Law
House Republican leaders abruptly pulled a Republican rewrite of the nation’s health-care system from consideration on Friday, a dramatic acknowledgment that they are so far unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “We just pulled it,” President Trump told the Washington Post in a telephone interview. The decision came a day after Trump delivered an ultimatum to lawmakers — and represented multiple failures for the new president and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). (DeBonis, Costa and O'Keefe, 3/24)
Politico: Ryan: 'Obamacare Is The Law Of The Land' For Foreseeable Future
After withdrawing his health care bill from the House floor in an embarrassing defeat, Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday that “Obamacare is the law of the land” and will remain so “for the foreseeable future.” “I don't know what else to say other than Obamacare is the law of the land,” Ryan told reporters shortly after House Republicans canceled a planned afternoon vote on their alternative to Barack Obama’s 2010 health care reform law. (Conway, 3/24)
The New York Times: Trump's First Legislative Effort Fails As GOP Pulls Bill To Repeal Obamacare
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan conceded, “We’re going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future.” (Pear, Hirschfeld Davis and Steinhauer, 3/24)
Modern Healthcare: House Pulls ACA Repeal Bill
Ryan visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday before returning to the House floor for debate on the bill, telling the president they did not have the 216 votes necessary to pass the legislation. Trump issued an ultimatum on Thursday, telling the GOP they needed to pass the AHCA or Obamacare would live on. “He's left everything on the field when it comes to this bill,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a press briefing Friday of Trump's efforts to spur support for the AHCA. "You can't force someone to vote a certain way." (Teichert, 3/24)
Politico: Republicans Yank Obamacare Repeal Bill
The decision is a staggering defeat for Ryan and President Donald Trump in their first attempt to partner on major legislation and fulfill a seven-year Republican promise to repeal Obamacare. It comes a day after Trump issued an ultimatum to House Republicans to vote for the bill or live with Obamacare. (Cheney, Bresnahan and Bade, 3/24)
Bloomberg: GOP Cancels Health-Care Vote As House GOP Balks At Bill
“We came really close today, but we came up short,” Ryan told reporters. “I will not sugarcoat this: This is disappointing day for us.” “But it is not the end of the story,” he added, saying the party would need some time to regroup. Lawmakers sounded ready to move on to other issues. (House and Dennis, 3/24)
ABC News: Ryan Pulls GOP Health Care Bill Following Call From Trump
Ryan said they pulled the bill because they couldn't get enough "yes" votes for the bill to succeed on the floor. He said "I'm really proud of the bill we produced," but later in his speech called it a "fundamentally flawed" piece of legislation. Trump blamed the failure on the Democrats, according to the New York Times and said they will be ready to make a deal when when Obamacare "explodes." (Fishel, Phelps, Parks, Vega)
Boston Globe: Amid Revolt, GOP Pulls Health Care Bill
Rather than force a vote, as [President Donald] Trump had demanded earlier in the week, and lose, [Speaker Paul] Ryan — with Trump’s acquiescence — decided to hit the pause button. “Moving from an opposition party to a governing party comes with growing pains, and well we’re feeling those growing pains today,’’ Ryan told reporters late Friday afternoon. “This is a disappointing day for us. Doing big things is hard.’’ (McGrane, 3/24)
CNN: House Republicans Pull Health Care Bill
There are signs of frustration in the White House at the Freedom Caucus, which has won a series of concession but is still holding out against the bill. "We've emboldened them," one White House aide said. Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, was mum about his plans. "I'm not making any comment," he said. (Collinson, Bash, Mattingly, Walsh, Fox and Lee, 3/24)
The Associated Press: Trump, GOP Leaders Pull Health Care Bill In Humiliating Loss
The development came on the afternoon of a day when the bill, which had been delayed a day earlier, was supposed to come to a vote, come what may. But instead of picking up support as Friday wore on, the bill went the other direction, with some key lawmakers coming out in opposition. (Fram and Alonso-Zaldivar)
NBC News: Republicans Pull Health Care Bill From House Floor
The pressure began in earnest earlier in the week when the president traveled to Capitol Hill for the big sell and warned Republicans that they would lose their seats — and the House majority — if they failed to follow through with their campaign promise. Trump and Ryan continued to meet with Republicans undecided or against the measure throughout the week and twice changed the bill to accommodate members. (Caldwell and Rafferty, 3/24)
Roll Call: Republicans Cancel Vote On Health Care Bill
The bill, which was brought to the House floor after several last-minute changes with no independent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, faced opposition from all sides of the GOP party. Moderates were concerned about a prior report from the nonpartisan CBO which estimated that the bill could result in 24 million more uninsured individuals than current law. Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus said it did not do enough to lower insurance costs. The group demanded several major policy changes in the last week, including a repeal of the law’s so-called essential health benefits. (3/24)
The Atlantic: The Republicans Fold On Health Care
To a man and woman, nearly every one of the 237 Republicans elected to the House last November made the same promise to voters: Give us control of Congress and the White House, and we will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. On Friday, those lawmakers decided to leave the Republican Party’s core campaign pledge of the last seven years unfulfilled. The president called The Washington Post’s Robert Costa. “We just pulled it,” Trump told him, adding, “I don’t blame Paul [Ryan].” (Russell Berman, 3/24)
The Washington Post: ‘Hello, Bob’: President Trump Called My Cellphone To Say That The Health-Care Bill Was Dead
President Trump called me on my cellphone on Friday afternoon at 3:31 p.m. At first I thought it was a reader with a complaint since it was a blocked number. Instead, it was the president calling from the Oval Office. His voice was even, his tone muted. He did not bury the lede. “Hello, Bob,” Trump began. “So, we just pulled it.” (Costa, 3/24)
