Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
To Fix Or To Gut? That Is The Question For Senate Republicans
Politico: GOP Split Over Fixing Or Gutting Obamacare As Deadline Looms
Republicans are paralyzed over what to do about health care, caught between a bipartisan effort to shore up Obamacare and the opportunity to take one last swing at their years-long promise to repeal the law. Leaders of both efforts have less than three weeks to gather enough support to persuade Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to either take another partisan shot at the Affordable Care Act or begin bipartisan reforms. Key procedural powers for the GOP to repeal the law expire on Sept. 30, and insurance companies desperate for certainty have until Sept. 27 to decide whether to participate in Obamacare markets next year. (Everett and Haberkorn, 9/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Senate Health Bills Struggle To Win White House Backing
Two Senate bills aimed at shaping the future of the Affordable Care Act are facing uncertainty, as the White House voices tepid support for an ACA repeal effort and opposition to a bipartisan bill to shore up insurance markets. Republican senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Wednesday plan to release the text of a bill letting states largely decide what to do about the 2010 health law known as Obamacare, following the collapse of a Republican bid to undo it. The senators see their proposal as the party’s last hope to fulfill a pledge to strike much of the law and enact conservative proposals in its place. (Radnofsky and Armour, 9/13)
Roll Call: White House Nudge For Long-Shot Repeal Bill
The White House gave a subtle nudge to a long-shot bill from two Republican senators that would overhaul the 2010 health care law as a Sept. 30 deadline to take up the measure quickly approaches. ... “We’ve not had any questions about Sen. Graham and Sen. Cassidy’s efforts … about progress they’re making on an effort to still keep that alive so we can complete that effort before that Sept. 30 window closes,” Marc Short, White House legislative affairs director, told reporters at the Christian Science Monitor breakfast Tuesday morning. (Bennett, 9/12)
The Hill: McConnell On Last Ditch ObamaCare Repeal: Find The Votes
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met on Tuesday afternoon with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to discuss their last-ditch ObamaCare repeal bill. Leaving the meeting in McConnell's Capitol office, Cassidy said the leader's message was that Graham and Cassidy need to find 50 votes for the bill on their own. (Sullivan, 9/12)
