With No Room For Error, McConnell Delays Health Vote While McCain Recovers From Surgery

The Associated Press: McConnell Delays Vote On Health Care After McCain Surgery
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday he will delay consideration of health care legislation in the Senate, after Sen. John McCain's announced absence following surgery left Republicans short of votes on their marquee legislation. (Yen and Werner, 7/15)

The Associated Press: More Hurdles As Senate Again Delays Vote On GOP Health Bill
Adding to the uncertainty, the Congressional Budget Office also indicated on Sunday it no longer expected to release its analysis on Monday on the estimated cost and scope of insurance coverage under the latest GOP bill, which has the support of President Donald Trump. (Yen and Werner, 7/16)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP Push To Pass Health-Care Law Faces New Setback
The delay prolongs the uncertainty over the bill’s prospects. GOP leaders have pursued a fast-paced timeline, as health-policy changes are often controversial. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of Senate GOP leadership, told reporters last month that passing the bill is “not going to get any easier” with time. Another GOP senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said the bill “is not like fine wine; it doesn’t get better with age.” (Tau, Radnofsky and Peterson, 7/16)

Reuters: Eight To 10 Republicans Have Concerns On Healthcare Bill: Collins
Eight to 10 Republican U.S. senators have serious concerns about Republican healthcare legislation to roll back Obamacare, moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins, who opposes the bill, said on Sunday. (7/16)

Politico: Meet Obamacare Repeal’s Top Salesman
Senate Republicans are in a grumpy mood these days. Then there’s John Cornyn, who’s almost unfailingly optimistic about the GOP’s chances of passing its Obamacare repeal bill despite the increasingly long odds. “I mean, if you’re going to be in a leadership role, you don’t have the luxury of public hand-wringing,” Cornyn, the Senate majority whip, said in a recent interview in his Capitol office. (Kim and Everett, 7/16)

Politico: How The White House And Republicans Underestimated Obamacare Repeal
The longer Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare flounder, the clearer it becomes that President Donald Trump’s team and many in Congress dramatically underestimated the challenge of rolling back former President Barack Obama’s signature achievement. The Trump transition team and other Republican leaders presumed that Congress would scrap Obamacare by President’s Day weekend in late February, according to three former Republican congressional aides and two current ones familiar with the administration’s efforts. (Cook and Everett, 7/17)

The New York Times: Governors Give Chilly Reception To Health Bill Push
A handful of Republican governors rebuffed on Saturday an attempt by their Democratic counterparts to issue a joint statement from the nation’s governors expressing opposition or even concern about the Senate health care bill. But a smaller, bipartisan group of influential governors still may release a statement of their own in the coming days, a move that would greatly imperil passage of a measure that is already listing. While Republican governors stopped well short of declaring common cause with Democrats on health care, state executives from both parties gave a brusque reception to Trump administration officials who trekked to Rhode Island to lobby governors for their support. (Martin and Burns, 7/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: White House Tries To Sell Health Bill To Wary Governors
The conference’s host, Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo, said she didn’t think anyone’s mind was changed. (O'Brien, 7/15)

The New York Times: In Clash Over Health Bill, A Growing Fear Of ‘Junk Insurance’
Julie Arkison remembers what it was like to buy health insurance before the Affordable Care Act created standards for coverage. The policy she had was from the same insurer that covers her now, but it did not pay for doctor visits, except for a yearly checkup and gynecological exam. “I couldn’t even go to my regular doctor when was I sick,” said Ms. Arkison, 53, a self-employed horseback-riding teacher in Saline, Mich. (Abelson, 7/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Law Taxes Divide The GOP, Signaling A Shift
Republican efforts to pass a health-care bill have revealed a party fissure on tax policy with potentially far-reaching repercussions. In his latest attempt to rewrite President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) retained a 3.8% investment-income tax and a 0.9% payroll tax that apply to individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples earning more than $250,000. (Rubin, 7/17)

The Associated Press: Trump's No 'Dying In The Streets' Pledge Faces Reality Check
President Donald Trump has often said he doesn't want people "dying in the streets" for lack of health care. But in the United States, where chronic conditions are the major diseases, people decline slowly. Preventive care and routine screening can make a big difference for those at risk for things such as heart problems and cancer, especially over time. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/15)

The Washington Post: In An Arid, Lonely Stretch Out West, The Health Coverage That Bloomed Is Now At Risk
In this speck of high desert, along a stretch of highway that Life magazine once called the loneliest road in America, the only doctor in town comes just one day a week. In the past few years, though, health insurance has arrived in force. The county that includes Silver Springs now has more than 3,500 additional residents on Medicaid, because Nevada’s governor was the first Republican in the country to expand the program through the Affordable Care Act. Nearly 1,400 others have private plans through the law and the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange. (Goldstein, 7/16)