What happens now on health care reform?
Now what? Smoke is still rising from the smoldering rubble of the Republican American Health Care Plan in the nation’s capital.
The bill was first delayed Thursday when it became apparent Republicans didn’t have the votes in their own party to get it passed in the House. After a week of subtle – and not so subtle – arm-twisting, President Trump then issued an ultimatum to his GOP brethren Thursday night. He wanted a yes or no vote Friday morning, one way or the other.
You can almost hear Republicans, many of whom had been voting to overturn the Affordable Care Act for seven years, shaking in their boots, ironically on the seventh anniversary of Obamacare becoming the law of the land.
That’s because for every one of those votes, Republicans knew full well it was a paper tiger, a toothless, largely ceremonial act. They voted to ax the program comfortable in the notion that President Obama was waiting with his veto pen to nullify their efforts to overturn his signature legislation.
But with Donald Trump now calling the shots, albeit with House Speaker Paul Ryan riding herd on the Republican pack, there was no escaping each and every Republican vote being placed in the spotlight.
That proved a fairly uncomfortable spot for many moderate members of the Republican House, including U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, of Chadds Ford, and Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6, of Chester County.
Both had voted in favor of the bill in moving it out of their respective committees – Meehan from Ways and Means; Costello from Energy and Commerce.
Meehan explained it was merely a way to keep the legislation moving forward.
But both he and Costello were getting an earful from constituents who wanted to keep their ACA benefits. Protests became a weekly occurrence at their district offices here in the region.
Suddenly, Meehan started talking about “rescue and repair,” as opposed to “repair and replace.”
Now there was no place to hide. As late as Wednesday afternoon, Meehan was still hedging his bets, unwilling to show his cards and divulge how he planned to vote, although he did say in an interview yesterday he had made up his mind to oppose the legislation. Instead he said merely that he was reviewing the bill and still talking to constituents.
No doubt a few more beads of sweat appeared on the congressman’s brow after Trump issued his ultimatum Thursday night. Meehan, as he usually does, had mapped out the politically expedient courts. He was not going to divulge how he planned to vote until he absolutely had to.
Luckily for him, Ryan rode to the rescue, falling on his sword and going to the White House Friday morning to tell the president the Republicans still did not have the votes. Trump pulled the bill and both he and Ryan spent the day trying to wipe the egg of their faces.
As for Meehan and Costello, they both issued statements after the bill was pulled. Costello indicated he would have voted against the current version of the bill. Meehan again said Obamacare needed to be fixed, but agreed the American Health Care Act was a seriously flawed piece of legislation.
“I also expressed serious concerns about just what this bill would have meant for Pennsylvania,” Meehan said. “I had hoped that as the bill worked its way through the House, we’d be able to improve it and ensure we’re lowering costs for patients.
“This legislation didn’t go far enough to bring down the cost of care or make essential coverage more affordable. Ultimately, this bill was not a satisfactory repeal of Obamacare, nor an adequate replacement.”
So now what? Well, for starters there is plenty of fingerpointing.
One Pennsylvania Republican who publicly bucked his party and announced before hand that he would oppose the bill has already been called on the carpet. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., of Northeastern Pennsylvania is reported to have received a tongue-lashing for bucking the party.
Meehan and Costello will have to wear the albatross that they voted for this bill in committee.
What no one seems to be talking about now is what happens next.
That seems especially true of President Trump, who before he started going after members of his own party was looking to dump the blame on Democrats for not offering a single vote. He said Obamacare is in the process of imploding and it will be on the Democrats’ heads.
That does not exactly exude leadership.
Meehan was right when he said Obamacare still needs to be fixed.
“This issue isn’t going away,” Meehan said. “With more time and more feedback from members and their constituents, I hope we’ll be able to continue the repeal-and-replace process, both through regulatory reforms by the administration and through legislation that reflects the priorities we’ve set. It’s more important we get this done right than get it done fast.”
Good luck with that.