GOP fights to advance health bill
WASHINGTON — In a desperate bid to salvage their Obamacare overhaul, Senate Republicans were closing in on an unorthodox plan early Friday to vote on a slimmed-down repeal bill, but only if they received assurances that what they pass would never become law.
Instead they wanted Senate GOP leaders’ so-called skinny bill — which Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called a “fraud,” “disaster” and “the dumbest thing in history” — to be used only as a vehicle to develop comprehensive legislation later in consultation with House Republicans.
The emerging plan would require 50 of the Senate’s 52 GOP lawmakers to vote for a bill that would leave much of the 2010 law in place and eliminate just a handful of its provisions, includ-
ing its insurance mandates. The strategy arose in recent days as a last-ditch alternative after Senate Republicans were unable to agree on any other legislation to roll back the Affordable Care Act.
But GOP senators first wanted House Republican leaders to pledge not to vote on the Senate’s skinny plan and instead set up a conference committee where House and Senate lawmakers could meld it with the more sweeping repeal legislation passed by the House in May.
“People want to be assured there’s going to be a conference,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
Late Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan offered a somewhat qualified promise to do that. “If moving forward requires a conference committee, that is something the House is willing to do,” he said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether that would be enough for senators, but a vote was expected early Friday morning.
In a press conference Thursday, four senators took turns blasting the skinny plan, even as they signaled they would be willing to vote for it as strategy to move forward.
But the four — Graham of South Carolina, John McCain, R-Ariz., Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Bill Cassidy, R-La. — said they would vote for it if they received a guarantee from Ryan, R-Wis., that the House would not pass the same bill and send it to President Donald Trump. After Ryan’s statement, all but McCain said they were leaning toward supporting it.
After the news conference, Doug Stafford, a strategist for Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called the senators’ position remarkable. “If the House doesn’t promise NOT to pass the bill, we will not vote for it’; strangest position in my time here, & that’s saying something,” he tweeted.
The maneuvering drew criticism from patient advocates and others who work in health care, including insurers who have warned that the skinny plan would dramatically increase Americans’ premiums.
But the ploy seemed to be the only way Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., could prevent the collapse of Republicans’ seven-year campaign to dismantle President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement.
McConnell has been working for days to rally his divided caucus behind the skinny plan. After a lunch Thursday, many senators openly questioned whether the GOP could come up with a plan.
The president pushed Republicans to reach a conclusion.
“Come on Republican Senators, you can do it on Healthcare. After 7 years, this is your chance to shine! Don’t let the American people down!” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.
The administration reportedly threatened to cut off some federal aid to Alaska to punish Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of two Republican senators who voted against opening debate on the current GOP health care effort, according to Alaska Dispatch News.
Democrats have all but given up on the Republicans’ partisan effort and have dug in with procedural tactics to drag out the voting process.
Democrats also reiterated their interest in working together to fix Obamacare as long as Republicans give up their dream of repeal.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he spoke with the chairman of the Health Committee, Sen. Lamar Alexander, RTenn., on Thursday morning and extended the invitation.
“We know Obamacare needs some work. We don’t deny that. Let’s do it in a bipartisan way,” Schumer said.
But the prospects for bipartisanship remain dim.
Republicans are under pressure from conservatives in their base who want Obamacare repealed, but they are facing emotional protests from constituents over the potential loss of insurance coverage for millions of Americans nationwide if one of the GOP plans is approved.