GOP facing pressure as health repeal fails
Officials, polls, Dems call for bipartisanship
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans, their campaign to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act in shambles, face mounting pressure to work with Democrats to make fixes to the 2010 health care law rather than roll it back.
But it remains unclear if the White House and GOP leaders are prepared to reach across the aisle to stabilize insurance markets and shield Americans from rising health care costs, especially if that also means being seen as betraying their yearslong promise to repeal the law known as Obamacare.
President Donald Trump continued to attack Democrats after the collapse of the GOP health care overhaul bill was followed the next morning by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s failure to rally Republicans around a lastditch bid to repeal most of the current law without a replacement.
“We’re not going to own it. I’m not going to own it. I can tell you
the Republicans are not going to own it. We’ll let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us,” the president said Tuesday.
With Trump appearing increasingly isolated, however, and support evaporating for the GOP effort against the current law, Republicans in Congress may have little choice but to reset their strategy.
“Congress should go back to the drawing board and work in partnership with patient groups like the March of Dimes and other stakeholders to craft a bipartisan plan that seeks to provide affordable, quality health coverage to all Americans,” said March of Dimes President Stacey Stewart.
The March of Dimes was among the scores of patient advocates, physician groups, hospitals and others who have vehemently opposed the repeal campaign.
Tuesday afternoon, Senate health committee chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., indicated he would convene hearings soon to explore ways to develop more limited health care legislation.
A growing number of GOP senators — including Arizona Sen. John McCain, who called for “input from members of both parties” — are also urging a new process that would bring in Democrats.
Polls show most Americans would support a bipartisan approach, with 71 percent of respondents in a recent national survey saying they want congressional Republicans to work with Democrats to make improvements to the current law rather than repeal it.
By contrast, less than a quarter of the public wants Republicans to continue working on their own plan to repeal and replace the law, according to a poll by the nonprofit Kaiser family Foundation.
Congressional Democrats renewed their calls for bipartisanship Tuesday, urging Republicans to drop their repeal campaign and work with them on fixes to the current law.
“It’s time to start over,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said on the Senate floor. “Rather than repeating the same failed, partisan process yet again, Republicans should work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long term stability to the markets and improves our health care system.”
Such fixes wouldn’t be hard, according to insurance industry officials and state regulators.
There is widespread agreement, for example, that the federal government must continue funding assistance to low-income consumers to help offset their co-pays and deductibles, known as cost-sharing reduction payments.
And the Trump administration must commit to enforcing the mandate on Americans to get insurance, and to aggressively market to younger, healthier consumers to get them to sign up for coverage.
Thus far, Trump administration officials have shown little interest in taking such steps, with the president repeatedly threatening to cut off payments to low-income consumers.
Meanwhile, many GOP officials appear in no mood to compromise.
In addition to Trump’s attacks on Democrats on Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence fired off his own criticism at lawmakers during a speech to a business group.
“Congress needs to step up. Congress needs to do their job. And Congress needs to do their job now,” Pence said.
Many were blindsided late Monday when Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., jointly announced they would oppose McConnell’s bid to advance legislation repealing and replacing major parts of the current law.
That was followed Tuesday by a revolt among three Republican senators — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito — against McConnell’s backup plan to bring up a bill to repeal the ACA, but delay implementation for two years to provide Congress a window to develop an alternative.