Senate readies scalpels

Health-bill hurdles

It passed the House, but now the Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare is headed to the Senate — where many of the same issues that stalled it in the lower chamber will be debated all over again.

And the process could take even longer because senators won’t debate the new American Health Care Act until the Congressional Budget Office issues its analysis, or “score,” of the bill’s potential cost and impact on coverage.

“Like y’all, I’m still waiting to see if it’s a boy or a girl,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said after the bill passed the House Thursday.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the CBO head under George W. Bush, said he didn’t expect the new score to differ much from that given to the original bill, which was pulled ahead of a vote.

“CBO put out the score on the base bill a couple weeks ago, and these three amendments don’t really change that. They’re really tiny tweaks in my view. So I don’t think there’s any real big mystery here,” he told The Atlantic.

The CBO estimated that under the first bill, 24 million more Americans would be uninsured by 2026, while premiums for individual plans would jump 15 to 20 percent over two years.

A CBO official said the new score could be completed in one to two weeks.

A number of GOP senators said Medicaid cuts, doubts about coverage for pre-existing conditions and the possibility that older people could be charged more than younger ones were major concerns.

“I’ve already made clear that I don’t support the House bill as currently constructed,” Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said, citing Medicaid cuts, including a loss of money for treating opioid addiction, as problematic.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch (RUtah) warned that his colleagues needed to be realistic if they hoped to move a bill in a chamber where the GOP holds a thin 52-48 margin.

“We must manage expectations and remain focused on the art of the doable as we move forward,” he said.

Sen. Susan Collins (RMaine) said there should be “no barrier for coverage” for people with preexisting conditions, and she called for high subsidies to reflect regional differences in health costs.

President Trump, meanwhile, took to social media Friday night to criticize the media’s coverage of the bill’s passage while condemning ObamaCare.

“Far better than [ObamaCare]!” Trump tweeted about the new legislation. “Why is it that the Fake News rarely reports Ocare is on its last legs and that insurance companies are fleeing for their lives? It’s dead!”