Dismissing Concerns Voiced At Town Hall Meetings, Conservatives Push GOP Lawmakers To Quickly Repeal The Health Law
But others point out the dangers of proceeding without clear cut methods to ensure the process doesn't harm people who gained coverage.
Roll Call:
Conservatives Want Obamacare Repeal, And They Want It Now
Conservatives rallying here are calling for their congressional brethren to keep the faith and quickly gut the 2010 health care law, dismissing concerns about lost health coverage and motivated voters at town halls. Reported remarks by former Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, far away from the conservatives gathered at the convention hotel provided the latest cause for alarm. Boehner had said that repeal and replace was “not going to happen,” according to Politico. “The last I checked, Boehner doesn’t have a vote anymore,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told Roll Call. (Lesniewski and McPherson, 2/23)
In other national health care news —
Politico:
The Left Rallies To Save Obamacare With Passion But Little Cash
Obamacare is blowing up congressional town hall meetings from California to Virginia. But high-rollers aren't stepping up to write checks to defend the law and possibly turn voter outrage over losing coverage into a sustainable movement. Though many Republicans charge the town hall sessions are stoked by moneyed interests and professional protesters, health care groups and foundations that have been crucial to the ACA cause have remained on the sidelines. Without cash, the smaller progressive organizations left could be hard-pressed to fight a long battle as conservatives spend heavily to pressure lawmakers to finish off the law and, possibly, revamp Medicaid. (Pradhan, 2/24)
The Washington Post:
VP Pence: ‘America’s Obamacare Nightmare Is About To End’
Vice President Pence forcefully defended on Thursday night the Trump administration's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, saying the law known as Obamacare is a “nightmare” and that the administration is committed to “an orderly transition” to a new health-care system. Addressing a gathering of conservative activists in the Washington area, Pence sought to minimize the voices of the hundreds of people who have demonstrated against changes to the law at congressional town hall meetings across the country. (Rucker, 2/23)
The Associated Press:
Former House Speaker Predicts 'Obamacare' Won't Be Repealed
Former House Speaker John Boehner predicted on Thursday that a full repeal and replacement of "Obamacare" is "not going to happen." The Ohio Republican, who was forced out by conservatives in 2015, said he started laughing when he heard President Donald Trump and Republicans promise swift action on undoing and replacing the health law. "Republicans never ever agree on health care," Boehner said. (2/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Republican-Led States Push To Reshape Their Medicaid Programs
A growing number of Republican state leaders, not content to wait as Congress struggles to repeal the Affordable Care Act and overhaul Medicaid, are mobilizing in an effort to reshape how health care is delivered in their states. Encouraged by a Trump administration that appears receptive to such moves, more than a half-dozen states are seeking federal permission to impose coverage restrictions on many Medicaid beneficiaries, including drug testing and lifetime enrollment caps, some of which would be unprecedented. (Armour, Levitz and Hackman, 2/23)
The Washington Post:
Cancer Patients, Survivors Fear GOP Efforts To Dismantle The Affordable Care Act
Ashley Walton was 25 when a mole on her back turned out to be melanoma. She had it removed, but three years later she discovered a lump in her abdomen. She was then unemployed and uninsured, and so she put off going to a doctor. She tried to buy health insurance. Every company rejected her. By the time Walton finally sought medical help, the melanoma had spread to her brain, lungs and elsewhere. And she eventually became eligible for California’s Medicaid program, which had been expanded under the Affordable Care Act. Two major surgeries, radiation and immunotherapy did not cure the cancer — but did beat it back. (McGinley, 2/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. House Committee Presses Drug Czar On Fentanyl
U.S. House lawmakers are pressing the nation’s drug czar for more data on the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl, including how it is trafficked and how many people it has killed, in the latest effort to thwart a spiraling drug crisis. The four-page letter from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, signed by bipartisan committee leaders and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, calls the fentanyl crisis a top oversight priority. Addressed to Kemp Chester, acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and sent Thursday, the letter includes 15 questions such as how much fentanyl comes into the U.S. through the mail and how many counterfeit fentanyl pills authorities have seized. (Kamp and Campo-Flores, 2/23)
The New York Times:
One In Every 137 Teenagers Would Identify As Transgender, Report Says
Nearly 150,000 American teenagers from 13 to 17 years old — or one out of every 137 — would identify as transgender if survey takers asked, according to an analysis of state and federal data that offers an answer to a question that has long eluded researchers. The figure stands to inform the fierce debate over the rights of transgender youth, reignited on Wednesday by President Trump’s decision to rescind an Obama administration policy that protected the rights of students to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. (Chokshi, 2/23)