Now That GOP Bill Is Unveiled, Leaders Focus On Drumming Up Support From Reluctant Senators

The New York Times: Senate Leaders Try To Appease Members As Support For Health Bill Slips
Senate Republican leaders scrambled Sunday to rally support for their health care bill as opposition continued to build inside and outside Congress, and as several Republican senators questioned whether it would be approved this week. President Trump expressed confidence that the bill to repeal the guts of the Affordable Care Act would pass. (Pear and Kaplan, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Senate Health-Care Bill Faces Serious Resistance From GOP Moderates
The vast changes the legislation would make to Medicaid, the country’s broadest source of public health insurance, would represent the largest single step the government has ever taken toward conservatives’ long-held goal of reining in federal spending on health-care entitlement programs in favor of a free-market system. That dramatic shift and the bill’s bold redistribution of wealth — the billions of dollars taken from coverage for the poor would help fund tax cuts for the wealthy — is creating substantial anxiety for several Republican moderates whose states have especially benefited from the expansion of Medicaid that the Affordable Care Act has allowed since 2014. (Eilperin and Goldstein, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Senate Republicans Face Key Week As More Lawmakers Waver In Support For Health-Care Bill
The mounting dissatisfaction leaves Senate Republican leaders and the White House in a difficult position. In the coming days, moves to narrow the scope of the overhaul could appeal to moderates but anger conservatives, who believe the legislation does not go far enough to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. A key moment will arrive early this week when the Congressional Budget Office releases an analysis of the bill that estimates how many people could lose coverage under the Republican plan, as well as what impact it might have on insurance premiums and how much money it could save the government. (Parker, Weigel and Costa, 6/25)

The Associated Press: 5 GOP Senators Now Oppose Health Care Bill As Written
Nevada Republican Dean Heller became the fifth GOP senator to declare his opposition to the party's banner legislation to scuttle much of Barack Obama's health care overhaul on Friday, more than enough to sink the measure and deliver a stinging rebuke to President Donald Trump unless some of them can be brought aboard. (6/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Nevada Senator’s Opposition To Health Bill Highlights Political Pressures
“I cannot support legislation that takes away insurance from millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans,” said Mr. Heller, who is seen by analysts on both sides as the most vulnerable Senate Republican in 2018. “Make no mistake, the Affordable Care Act does need fixing. But the bill in front of us today doesn’t make those fixes.” The announcement was in part a recognition that the ACA, a law that Mr. Heller has spent years disparaging, has grown more popular in Nevada. (Hackman, 6/24)

Los Angeles Times: Republican Senators Seek Changes In Obamacare Repeal Bill They Can All Agree On. It Won't Be Easy
After being widely panned by Democrats and Republicans alike for crafting the bill with unprecedented secrecy keeping details even from GOP senators — McConnell may now be eager to convey a sense of open debate and negotiation. But if the process that played out in the House last month is any guide, expect the deal-making to only go so far before Republicans quickly unify — preferring to hold hands and jump off the political cliff together rather than risk losing their best opportunity to fulfill the Republican promise to stop Obamacare. (Mascaro, 6/22)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP Senators Lay Out Demands On Health Bill
Demands for getting on board include adding funds for particular areas, such as opioid treatment. But GOP senators are particularly divided over the bill’s cuts to Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor that covers one in five Americans. In addition, four conservative senators object to the bill’s retention of requirements for insurers to cover patients at the same price regardless of their medical history and with set benefits packages. Those provisions have created new consumer protections but also driven up premiums for younger, healthier people in particular, which the senators have cited as a primary concern. “It’s going to be a challenge,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said Sunday on CBS , about ameliorating centrists’ concerns over the Medicaid changes in the bill. (Radnofsky, 6/26)

Politico: CBO Score Sure To Add To McConnell’s Headaches
The CBO is poised to tell Senate Republicans this week that their health plan will leave millions more uninsured than Obamacare — with the losses estimated from 15 million to 22 million over a decade, according to a half dozen budget analysts polled by POLITICO. (Cancryn and Diamond, 6/26)

Politico: Senate Republicans Skeptical Obamacare Repeal Can Pass This Week
Senate Republicans are casting doubt on their leaders’ plans to vote this week on repealing Obamacare, with lawmakers from all wings of the party so far withholding support from the massive reshaping of the health care law that they campaigned on for seven years. (Schor and Kim, 6/25)

The Associated Press: Trump: Not 'That Far Off' From Passing Health Overhaul
Making a final push, President Donald Trump said he doesn't think congressional Republicans are "that far off" on a health overhaul to replace "the dead carcass of Obamacare." Expressing frustration, he complained about "the level of hostility" in government and wondered why both parties can't work together on the Senate bill as GOP critics expressed doubt over a successful vote this week. It was the latest signs of high-stakes maneuvering over a key campaign promise, and the president signaled a willingness to deal. (6/25)

The Associated Press: Promises, Promises: What Trump Has Pledged On Health Care
President Donald Trump is not known for plunging into the details of complex policy issues, and health care is no exception. Since his campaign days, Trump has addressed health care in broad, aspirational strokes. Nonetheless he made some clear promises along the way. Those promises come under two big headings. First, what Trump would do about the Affordable Care Act, his predecessor's health care law, often called "Obamacare." Second, the kind of health care system that Trump envisions for Americans. (6/26)

The New York Times: How Medicaid Works, And Who It Covers
One of the biggest flash points in the debate over Republican legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act is the future of Medicaid. Here are some basic facts about the 52-year-old program. (Goodnough and Zernike, 6/23)

The Associated Press: Medicaid Is Biggest Consumer Story In 'Obamacare' Rollback
Republicans in full control of government are on the brink of history-making changes to the nation's health care system. The impact for consumers would go well beyond "Obamacare." Former President Barack Obama's signature law is usually associated with subsidized insurance markets like HealthCare.gov. But the Affordable Care Act also expanded Medicaid. (6/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Bill Provision Favors States That Didn’t Expand Medicaid
As health-care companies parse Senate Republicans’ bill to undo the Affordable Care Act, a rift is emerging in the hospital industry over a provision that would award additional funds in states that didn’t expand Medicaid. The split centers around cuts the Affordable Care Act made to Medicaid subsidies known as “disproportionate share” payments, for hospitals that care for a large share of uninsured patients. Hospitals wouldn’t need the subsidies as more Americans gained insurance coverage, ACA policymakers believed. (Evans, 6/25)

Reuters: Conservative Koch Network Criticizes U.S. Senate Healthcare Bill
Officials with the conservative U.S. political network overseen by the Koch brothers say they are unhappy with the healthcare bill that may be voted on by the Senate this week and will lobby for changes to it. At a weekend event with conservative donors, top aides to Charles Koch, the billionaire energy magnate, said the Senate bill does not go far enough to dismantle former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, also known as Obamacare. (Oliphant, 6/25)

The Wall Street Journal: What The Health-Care Vote Means For The Midterm Elections
This week’s expected Senate vote on the GOP health-care bill will showcase a sharp partisan divide on the issue in states where Democrats are poised to play defense in next year’s midterm elections. All Senate Democrats are expected this week to oppose Republican legislation that would dismantle and replace much of the Affordable Care Act. Many of their potential challengers in next year’s elections are House Republicans, who supported a similar bill when it passed their chamber in May. (Peterson, 6/26)

Politico: Obamacare Repeal: Why Democrats Can’t Break Through
Even before Senate Republicans released their Obamacare repeal plan last week, a call went out from liberal activists: Head to the airport and greet departing senators with a furious protest. About five dozen demonstrators showed up at Reagan National Airport, chanting loudly and hoisting signs that read “Don’t Take Away Our Health Care” and “Resist.” Organizers hailed the turnout given the short notice, but the contrast with the thousands of people who flocked to the last airport protests — against President Donald Trump’s travel ban — was inescapable. (Schor, 6/26)

NPR: What The Man Who Ran Obamacare Thinks About The GOP Health Care Plan
Andy Slavitt understands the inner workings of the U.S. health care system better than most. From 2015 to 2017, he ran the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called Obamacare, as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Since leaving that post in January, he's been an outspoken critic of the Republican proposals to dismantle it. Yesterday, shortly after the release of the Senate bill, he tweeted, "It's the ugly step-sibling of the House bill." And this morning his message was, "We must start over. It's too important." (Deahl and Hsu, 6/23)

Los Angeles Times: GOP's Obamacare Repeal Bills Threaten Huge Disruptions Across The Healthcare System
Congressional Republicans, who for years blasted the Affordable Care Act for disrupting Americans’ healthcare, are now pushing changes that threaten to not only strip health coverage from millions, but also upend insurance markets, cripple state budgets and drive medical clinics and hospitals to the breaking point. (Levey, 6/25)