Not Wanting Health Care To Consume Entire Calendar, GOP Leaders Aim For Summer Vote
“I don’t think this gets better over time,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). “So my personal view is we’ve got until now and the Fourth of July to decide if the votes are there or not. And I hope they are.” Meanwhile, the many cooks the Republicans have in the kitchen could be impeding their progress.
The Wall Street Journal:
GOP Leaders To Present Senate Republicans With Proposals To Shape Health-Care Bill
GOP leaders are planning to present to Senate Republicans options for the major policy decisions shaping their health-care bill during a closed-door lunch Tuesday, Senate GOP lawmakers and aides said Monday. The proposals are expected to include a prolonged phaseout of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion. There is also growing interest in possible steps to shore up fragile individual insurance markets, according to people familiar with the discussions. (Armour and Peterson, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Senate GOP Aiming For Vote This Month On Health Legislation
"We've been talking about this for seven years, so now is the time to start coming up with some tangible alternatives and building consensus," GOP Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Monday. (Werner, 6/5)
Politico:
Senate GOP Aims For June Vote On Obamacare Repeal
It’s a gut-check situation for Republicans, who are about to be confronted with tough choices that may result in millions fewer people with insurance coverage as a condition for cutting taxes and lowering some people’s premiums. “I don’t think this gets better over time,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), a member of leadership. “So my personal view is we’ve got until now and the Fourth of July to decide if the votes are there or not. And I hope they are.” (Haberkorn and Everett, 6/5)
The Hill:
Too Many Cooks Threaten GOP Healthcare Bill
Senate Republicans may have too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to healthcare, and it’s complicating efforts to draft an ObamaCare replacement bill. The main Senate group working on crafting healthcare legislation is the task force of 13 men backed by Senate leaders. It won negative attention early on for its lack of women, at which point GOP leaders opened it up to all members. (Weixel, 6/6)
The New York Times:
Obamacare Didn’t Destroy Insurance Markets, But It Also Didn’t Fix Them
Republican lawmakers and President Trump have criticized Obamacare, saying it took away people’s ability to choose their health plans and doctors, pointing to a recent exodus of insurers that could leave areas with a single insurer or none at all. Mr. Trump has insisted the markets are failing. Supporters of the Affordable Care Act hoped the law would spur more competition among insurers across the country. But so far, the law has not delivered on that promise, especially in states that never had much competition, but it didn’t create the lack of choice in those states, according to a Times analysis of insurer participation provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (Abelson and Park, 6/6)