All Eyes Turn Toward Moderates As Conservatives Give Approval To Revived GOP Health Plan
It's unclear whether the compromises made to woo the Freedom Caucus cost them moderate votes, but some lawmakers say they're hopeful it will pass. The vote could come possibly as early as Friday, although some members suggest it will take longer for lawmakers to make their decisions.
The New York Times:
Hard-Line Republican Caucus Backs Revised Bill To Repeal Obamacare
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of hard-line conservatives who were instrumental in blocking President Trump’s plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act last month, gave its approval Wednesday to a new, more conservative version, breathing new life into Republican efforts to replace President Barack Obama’s health law. (Steinhauer and Pear, 4/26)
The Associated Press:
Conservatives Back Revised Health Bill, GOP Moderates Balk
The changes would let states escape a requirement under President Barack Obama's health care law that insurers charge healthy and seriously ill customers the same rates. They could also be exempted from Obama's mandate that insurers cover a list of services like maternity care, and from its bar against charging older customers more than triple their rates for younger ones. (Fram, 4/26)
The New York Times:
What Changed In The Health Repeal Plan To Win Over The Freedom Caucus
A month after pulling their health care overhaul bill from the floor, House Republicans are growing increasingly confident that they may have found a way to pass it. An amendment drafted by Tom MacArthur, a New Jersey congressman, would keep much of the American Health Care Act in place. But it would set up a waiver program that would allow states to apply to eliminate three major insurance regulations established by Obamacare. (Sanger-Katz, 4/26)
Politico:
GOP Senators Not So Keen On House's Obamacare Repeal
The House may finally be on its way to scrapping Obamacare, but don’t expect the Senate to go along: Any plan sent over will undergo major surgery — and survival is far from assured. The hurdles in the upper chamber were on vivid display Wednesday as House Republicans celebrated their breakthrough on the stalled repeal effort. The compromise cut with House Freedom Caucus members won over the right flank, but the changes will almost surely make it harder to pick up votes in the more moderate-minded Senate. (Kim and Everett, 4/27)
Politico:
Ryan Moves To Ax Lawmaker Exemption In Obamacare Repeal Bill
House GOP leaders are moving quickly behind the scenes to iron out a wrinkle in their latest Obamacare repeal legislation: a controversial provision that preserves Obamacare coverage protections for members of Congress and their staffs while allowing states to opt out of them. Late Wednesday night, the House Rules Committee posted the text of a one-page bill that strikes the exemption for lawmakers that caused such a ruckus for Republicans on Wednesday morning. Discovery of the loophole, first reported by Vox, had triggered charges of hypocrisy from Democrats the entire day. (Bade and Bresnahan, 4/27)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration To Continue Key Funding For Health Law
President Donald Trump’s administration said Wednesday he would maintain critical funding for health plans, a pledge that reduced the chances of a government shutdown but left uncertainty in the already fragile insurance markets. White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) Wednesday afternoon that the administration would keep making “cost-sharing reduction” payments to insurers despite the lack of a formal appropriation for them in the April spending bill, a Pelosi aide said. (Radnofsky, Peterson and Wilde Mathews, 4/26)
Los Angeles Times:
White House Will Continue Obamacare Payments, Defusing A Potential Obstacle In Talks To Avert Shutdown
The funding, totaling about $7 billion this year, soon became a bargaining chip in the current talks over a must-pass spending bill to prevent a government shutdown before a midnight Friday deadline. Democrats seized on Trump's threat to end the payments as a way to negotiate with Republicans who wanted extra funding for military programs or the border wall with Mexico. (Mascaro and Levey, 4/26)