‘We Need To Start Voting’: GOP Leaders Press For Progress Even As Divisions Grow Deeper
Senators are back from break after facing angry constituents at home, but they only have three weeks before the upcoming August recess to smooth out disagreements over the proposed health care bill.
Reuters:
Healthcare Disagreements Roil U.S. Senate Republicans
With only three weeks left before a summer recess scheduled to stretch until Sept. 5, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared determined to keep trying to find agreement on a partisan, all-Republican bill. If he cannot, he will be faced with giving up on a seven-year Republican promise to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare - and possibly turning to Democrats for help in fixing problems with U.S. health insurance markets. (Cornwell and Becker, 7/10)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Senate Returns To Work As GOP Searches Again For Health Care Deal
“Too many seem to have forgotten that even more people will be hurt if the Obamacare status quo is allowed to continue,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said as he opened the Senate. “Today it sits on the edge of total meltdown,” McConnell said. “Unless we do something about that, even more Americans are going to get hurt.” (Dupree, 7/10)
The Associated Press:
Senate GOP Leaders Hope For Health Care Vote Next Week
"We need to start voting" on the GOP bill scuttling much of President Barack Obama's health care law, No. 2 Senate GOP leader John Cornyn of Texas told reporters Monday. Some Republicans said a revised version of the bill could be introduced Thursday, and Cornyn said the "goal" was for a vote next week. (Fram and Werner, 7/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Republicans Set Sights On Revised Health Bill
The biggest sticking point in recent days has centered on a provision supported by GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah that would allow insurers that sell plans complying with ACA regulations to also sell health policies that don’t. Health analysts say that would likely lower premiums for younger, healthier people, who would buy more limited policies, while causing premiums to rise for people with pre-existing conditions, who would buy the more comprehensive plans that comply with the ACA.
(Peterson, 7/10)
Politico:
GOP Struggles To Revamp Ailing Obamacare Repeal Bill
New bill text could be unveiled to senators as soon as Thursday, according to sources familiar with the proposal. A Congressional Budget Office score is likely to follow as soon as next Monday. (Everett, Haberkorn and Dawsey, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
Senate Democrats Seek New Allies In Effort To Scuttle Obamacare Overhaul: Republican Governors
Senate Democrats have identified potential new allies in their effort to scuttle the current health-care proposal: Republican governors, particularly those who helped expand Medicaid in their states under the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), who is leading the effort with the support of fellow Democrats, called “a couple dozen” senators and governors from both parties over the recess, he said in an interview, to say “this is a good time for us to hit the pause button in the Senate, and step back and have some good heart-to-heart conversations” about how to revise the 2010 law. (Eilperin, Sullivan and O'Keefe, 7/10)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
McConnell’s Claim That Senate GOP Health Bill Would Not ’Cause Anyone Currently On Medicaid To Come Off It’
A reader asked us to fact-check this claim, reported in an article by the West Kentucky Star about a luncheon speech McConnell delivered in Kentucky during the Fourth of July recess. The impact of the Senate GOP health-care bill on Medicaid enrollees and financing is one of the major points of debate in the Senate. Previously, we awarded Three Pinocchios to President Trump’s claim that the Senate proposal, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), actually increases Medicaid spending. (Lee, 7/11)
The Washington Post:
Obamacare Marketplaces Just Had Their Most Profitable First Quarter Ever
Insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces earned an average of nearly $300 per member in the first quarter of 2017, more than double what they earned in a similar period in the marketplaces’ previous three years, according to new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That figure puts insurers on track to make a profit in the marketplaces after years of losses, according to Cynthia Cox, a researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation who worked on the analysis. (Soffen, 7/10)
Morning Consult:
Senate Democrats Want McConnell To Work With Them On Health Care
Democratic leaders are urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to work with them to bolster the nation’s health insurance marketplaces, as lingering disputes among Senate Republicans threaten to derail the GOP effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act. In a letter sent Monday, as the Senate returned from a weeklong recess, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats highlighted several Democratic bills to improve the exchanges created under Obamacare. (Reid, 7/10)