House GOP needs Jordan’s group
CONGRESS
WASHINGTON — There’s a math problem involved in House Republicans’ move to repeal and replace Obamacare, and it’s one that might not add up for the GOP.
It goes like this: The House normally has 435 members, but five seats are vacant. A majority of the 430, therefore, would be 216. Assuming that all 193 Democrats oppose the GOP plan to repeal and replace the law, Republicans can’t lose the votes of more than 21 of their party's 237 representatives (237 minus 216).
That’s where Rep. Jim Jordan
and his allies could become an issue.
The Urbana Republican is the founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which is so upset about the GOP plan that the group held a news conference Tuesday to decry it. On Wednesday, Jordan introduced his own plan — a clean repeal bill that doesn’t include the many tax credits in the replacement plan proposed by the House’s GOP leadership. Jordan did so even as House Republicans began moving forward with hearings in two committees — Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce — over strenuous Democratic objections.
Ready for more math? The House Freedom Caucus has just shy of 40 members. However, few have publicly committed to voting against the plan.
Jordan contends that his bill is one that every House Republican voted on 15 months ago: a simple repeal of Obamacare — nothing more, nothing less. He said the plan has always been to repeal the 2010 law with one bill and replace it with a second bill. Jordan calls the Republican leadership’s bill “Obamacare in a different form,” and he said his plan “is consistent with what we told voters we were going to do.”
In particular, he’s concerned about the tax issue. The leadership plan would provide refundable tax credits, but Jordan said that
could become the equivalent of a handout if the recipient owes little or no income tax.
“The real measure should be, does it bring down our health-care costs?” Jordan said. “I don’t see how that bill achieves that.”
Even if the House manages to work out its math problems — House leaders want to push the measure through the committees by week’s end — the calculation begins anew in the Senate. The Associated Press reported that a group of GOP governors that includes Ohio’s John Kasich is trying to get support from senators to put their alternative on the table.
For his part, House Speaker Paul Ryan says he has “no doubt” the House will pass the plan that was unveiled Monday, saying that the GOP majority in Congress promised the American people it would repeal and replace Obamacare. The proposal is “what good, conservative health care reform looks like,” Ryan said.
Jordan’s bill is nearly identical to one that Obama vetoed in 2015. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded in January that the 2015 Republican bill, which would have left the federal exchange in place, would have increased the number of uninsured Americans by 18 million during the first year and increased the cost of individual policies by as much as 25 percent.
The budget office has not evaluated the type of replacement Jordan talked about Tuesday, nor has it evaluated the Republican leadership plan.
But in an interview, Jordan made it clear that among many conservatives, the House plan is a non-starter. The Freedom Caucus met Tuesday night, he said, “and people were fired up about the bill and very concerned.”
The Trump administration is concerned enough about the group that Jordan and other Freedom Caucus leaders were invited to the White House to meet Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence. Jordan and other House conservatives are scheduled to meet with Trump — a fullthroated supporter of the GOP leadership’s bill — at the White House on Tuesday.
Like Democrats, Jordan and the Freedom Caucus are also concerned about the bill’s rapid timetable.
“This legislation is so weak that Republicans are unwilling to have it vetted in the public light until the very last moment,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
But Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, the chairman of the House Ways and Means’ Health Subcommittee, countered that Obamacare was pushed through quickly, too. He said that in a matter of hours back in 2010, a 1,000-page bill became a 2,000-page bill.
According to his office, Congress has held more than 200 hearings on repealing and replacing Obamacare since 2011.
“The fact is, this is a 57-page document we are looking at today,” he said, adding that his 8-year-old daughter can read 20 pages in 30 minutes. Democrats, he argued, “have had ample time to read this 57 pages over the last 48 hours.”
But the American Medical Association, a powerful lobbying group representing the nation’s doctors, announced on Wednesday that it opposes the House Republicans’ legislation, saying it is concerned that the bill “would result in millions of Americans losing coverage and benefits.”
The group, which provided crucial support for Obamacare, also sent a letter to the two House committees responsible for drafting the Republicans’ bill, called the American Health Care Act. The group’s concerns echoed some others raised this week among industry organizations like hospital groups worried about the possible losses of coverage that could result from the proposed legislation.
All of the major
hospital groups, including the American Hospital Association, also came out against the bill. “We are very concerned that the draft legislative proposal being considered by the House committees could lead to tremendous instability for those seeking affordable coverage,” the hospitals said in a letter to Congress. The hospitals also raised concerns about Republicans’ plans to significantly alter Medicaid, which they said could result in a loss of coverage and cuts to health care services.
The doctors’ main concern focused on the Republicans’ replacement of the subsidies now available to millions of low-income Americans with a flat tax credit for low- and middle-income people that is adjusted by a person’s age. The AMA emphasized the need for the credits to “be sufficient to enable one to afford quality coverage,” but it also emphasized that the credits should be closely tied to an individual’s income as a way of covering more people and being a better use of taxpayer money.
AARP, the nation’s largest advocacy group for older people, also is hostile to the legislation.
Buttressing Republicans, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is backing the bill.