All-male panel on US health bill leans right
THE top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has a reputation as a shrewd tactician and a wily strategist – far more than his younger counterpart in the House, Speaker Paul Ryan.
So the Senate majority leader’s decision to create a 13-man working group on health care, including staunch conservatives and ardent foes of the Affordable Care Act – but no women – has been widely seen on Capitol Hill as a move to pla- cate the right as Congress decides the fate of President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement.
But McConnell, with only two votes to spare, could find that in the Senate, unlike the House, the more moderate voices will not be so easily assuaged when a repeal bill finally reaches a vote. Republican senators like Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana may prove less amenable to appeals for party unity and legislative success when the lives and health of their constitu- ents are on the line.
And certain issues, like efforts to reverse the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, are sure to receive more attention in the Senate than they got in the House.
The prospect of higher premiums for older Americans living in rural areas will also loom larger in a legislative chamber where Republicans from sparsely populated states hold outsized power.
“This process will not be quick or simple or easy,” McConnell said.
Senator Michael Rounds, a Republican, suggested the Senate will spend at least two months on the legislation.
The Senate Republican working group on health care includes the party’s top leaders, as well as three committee chairmen and two of the most conservative senators, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.
McConnell’s decision to include himself and his top three lieutenants speaks volumes about his direction and has raised eyebrows.