Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Top GOP Lawmakers Try To Chip Away At ACA With Alternative Plan To Bipartisan Health Bill
The Associated Press: GOP Lawmakers Propose New Conditions On Health Bill
Two top Republicans announced a bill Tuesday restoring federal subsidies to insurers while including tough conditions sought by the White House. Senate Democrats have enough votes to kill it, but the measure underscores the changes the Trump administration and congressional conservatives say they want in exchange for resuming the payments. The proposal seeks changes in President Barack Obama's health care law that go far further than provisions in bipartisan legislation that is stuck in the Senate. That compromise has stalled as President Donald Trump has flashed contradictory signals about whether he supports it and conservatives — especially in the House — have complained it doesn't revamp Obama's statute strongly enough. (Fram, 10/24)
The Hill: Bipartisan Health Plan Faces New Challenge From Conservatives
The new bill, introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), would fund ObamaCare insurer subsidies that Democrats and some Republicans have been asking for. In that respect, it’s similar to the deal that Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) negotiated with Democrats. (Hellmann, 10/24)
CQ: Hatch, Brady Propose Alternative To Bipartisan Health Bill
The proposal, by Senate Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch of Utah and House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas, would fund the cost-sharing payments through 2019 with "pro-life restrictions" and expand the maximum contribution limits to health savings accounts. The new proposal also would provide relief from the mandate that most individuals get health coverage from 2017 through 2021 and exempt employers from penalties if they didn’t provide insurance as required between 2015 and 2017. The pair said legislative text would be forthcoming. (McIntire, 10/24)
Bloomberg: Republicans Push New Proposal To Shore Up Obamacare
“If Congress is going to appropriate funds for CSRs, we must include meaningful structural reforms that provide Americans relief from Obamacare,” Hatch, a Utah Republican who heads the Senate Finance Committee, said in the statement. “This agreement addresses some of the most egregious aspects of Obamacare.” (Tracer, 10/24)
Roll Call: Hatch Moves To Reclaim Health Care Turf
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch is trying to reclaim his committee’s ownership over health care issues. The Utah Republican — who chairs the Senate Finance Committee — on Tuesday announced joint legislation with House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas aimed at stabilizing the individual health insurance market created by the 2010 health law. ... The bill — for which legislative text is not yet available — would appear to meet a number of key conservative and White House demands. (Williams, 10/24)
The Hill: Conservatives Scoff At Bipartisan Health Bill
The Senate's bipartisan health bill is a "nonstarter" in the House without significant changes, conservative lawmakers said Tuesday. "A compromise would be subsidies to stabilize the markets but somehow injecting competition in such a way that prices and premiums could come down," said Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. (Hellmann, 10/24)
Roll Call: Alexander-Murray A ‘Nonstarter’ Say House Conservatives
House conservatives appear united in opposition to the health care stabilization proposal crafted by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray. “Right now it’s a nonstarter,” House Freedom Caucus member Dave Brat said Tuesday during a Conversations with Conservatives press event. Brat, Freedom Caucus members Jim Jordan and Scott Perry, Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker and Rep. Matt Gaetz all spoke to their opposition to the bipartisan accord. (McPherson, 10/24)
Meanwhile, some are seeing the same problems in tax reform efforts as they saw in the health care ones —
Bloomberg: Secrecy, Division, Complaints: GOP Tax Rollout Echoes Obamacare Repeal
Congress is trying to ram through a bill that would reshape the U.S. economy in just a few short weeks, but its leaders have kept the plan shrouded in secrecy and released not a word of legislative text. Sound familiar? The GOP is handling its tax-overhaul rollout in almost the exact way it did Obamacare and hoping for a different result. The Republicans’ seven-year quest to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act imploded as they tried to bypass Democrats but failed to rally their own forces amid unresolved policy disputes. (Kapur, 10/25)
