GOP TRIES AGAIN ON HEALTH CARE
Latest attempt to replace “Obamacare” meets with resistance.
WASHINGTON — Republican leaders unveiled a new health care bill Thursday in their increasingly desperate effort to deliver on seven years of promises to repeal and replace “Obamacare.” They immediately lost two key GOP votes, leaving none to spare as the party’s own divisions put its top campaign pledge in serious jeopardy.
President Donald Trump declared a day earlier that failure would make him “very angry” and that he would blame Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
But talking with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to France, Trump also acknowledged the challenges lawmakers face.
“I’d say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is health care,” Trump said. “But I think we’re going to have something that’s really good and that people are going to like.”
The reworked bill McConnell presented to fellow Republicans aims to win conservatives’ support by letting insurers sell lowcost, skimpy policies. At the same time, he seeks to placate hesitant moderates by adding billions to combat opioid abuse and help consumers with skyrocketing insurance costs.
But it was not clear whether the Republican leader has achieved the delicate balance he needs after an embarrassing setback last month when he abruptly canceled a vote in the face of widespread opposition to a bill he crafted largely in secret.
Moderate Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told reporters she had informed McConnell she would be voting against beginning debate on the bill, citing in part cuts in the Medicaid health program for the poor and disabled. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has repeatedly complained that McConnell’s efforts don’t amount to a full-blown repeal of Obamacare, also announced he was a “no.”
That means McConnell cannot lose any other Republican senators. With Democrats unanimously opposed in a Senate split 52-48 in favor of the GOP, he needs 50 votes to get past a procedural hurdle and begin debate on the bill.
The showdown vote is set for next week, though McConnell could cancel again. He and other GOP leaders are urging senators to at least vote in favor of opening debate, which would open the measure up to amendments. And GOP leaders expressed optimism that they are getting closer to a version that could pass the Senate.
“It’s in the best shape it’s been in so far,” said Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri. “Now that members actually have paper in their hand they can look at what is likely to be very close to the final bill we’ll be voting on and move forward.”