Democrats plan fight against GOP proposal

With Republicans gearing up to begin efforts to repeal President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care reforms, three of Pennsylvania’s leading Democrats joined in a pre-emptive strike on the bill in a press call Tuesday.

Sen. Bob Casey, for one, told reporters the bill was “an ideological obsession” and a “fraudulent scheme” that would lead to “a bad piece of legislation for virtually everyone we can think of.”

It is unclear what legislation Republicans intend to bring forward. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved ahead with a motion to proceed. That procedural vote allows the Senate to begin debate on the repeal effort over the coming days.

But numerous versions of repealing legislation have been bandied about by the GOP, and it’s unclear how or whether some provisions under discussion will be brought into accord with Senate rules.

Whatever legislation Republicans offer this week, Mr. Casey will be against it.

“I’m going to vote against the motion to proceed, and I’m going to vote against any version of this bill that they come up with,” he pledged Tuesday.

Mr.Casey cited a number of concerns, including tax breaks for wealthy earners that are feature of many proposals, and the fact that the Senate was poised to vote on legislation for which there had not been a single hearing.

But Democrats’ principal objections related to Republican plans to scale back Medicaid, which Mr. Obama’s reforms expanded to cover more low-income people in Pennsylvania and other states that chose to do so.

In Pennsylvania, expansion has given coverage to more than 700,000 people. Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who also joined the call, warned that scaling back Medicaid would be disastrous for the state.

Because of term limits, Mr. Wolf said, “I will not be governor in 2030 ... but whoever is governor would be left with the clean-up of the devastation that would be caused by these bills.”

“Republicans in Washington are simply not listening, and too many are focusing on an ideological and political victory,” Mr. Wolf said. That was causing a “disconnect” between Republicans and governors in both parties, as well as with beneficiaries of the reforms.

“Talk to John Kasich,” he added, citing the Republican governor of Ohio. “There are practical problems that we’re all facing right here with the way the president is behaving, the uncertainty that this is creating in insurance markets.”

The Trump administration has scaled back efforts to encourage participation in Obamacare, and insurers are wary of the White House’s commitment to provisions that defray their costs.

Mr. Trump appeared at a rally in Youngstown Tuesday, and Ohio’s Republican Senator Rob Portman was considered a potentially key swing vote, even as a divided Senate voted Tuesday afternoon to open debate on legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. The final tally was 51-50, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie.

Pennsylvania’s other senator, Republican Pat Toomey, was all but certain to vote yes on the motion to proceed, having been part of a select group of Republicans to work on repeal proposals. “We’re not going to persuade each other” on Medicaid payments, said Mr. Casey.

Also unclear: what will happen if the Senate does pass a bill. If the measure differs from a House bill passed in the early summer, as seems likely, the House will either have to vote on the Senate bill or Republicans would seek to draft a compromise that both chambers would have to vote on again.

Mr. Shapiro said even that might not be the end of it. “I have demonstrated a willingness to take on this administration when they take action that undermines the rights or the standing of the people of Pennsylvania,” he said, citing legal efforts to ensure that states continued to receive payments pledged under the 2010 health care law. “We’re not afraid to step in again if need be.”

Mr. Shapiro said his special concern was how repeal might complicate efforts to address addiction to opioids.

Some 175,000 Pennsylvanians receive treatment for addictionunder the auspices of Obamacare, and while Republicans are pledging a fund to help offset those costs, Mr. Shapiro said the payments were “neither guaranteed nor sufficient to meet the needs of the people ofPennsylvania.”

“It makes all of our jobs in law enforcement harder if Republicans have their way,” he said.