Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Lot Of People Are Talking' But No Discernible Movement Being Made For New Health Vote
House Republicans are considering making another run next week at passing the health-care bill they abruptly pulled from the floor in an embarrassing setback to their efforts to repeal Obamacare. Two Republican lawmakers say that leaders are discussing holding a vote, even staying into the weekend if necessary, but it鈥檚 unclear what changes would be made to the GOP鈥檚 health bill. They described the discussions on condition of anonymity. (House and Kapur, 3/29)
House Republicans insist they aren鈥檛 leaving for dead their effort to repeal ObamaCare. But days after failing to move the American Health Care Act forward, there are no discernible signs of progress in bridging the differences within the Republican conference that led to an embarrassing retreat last week. Some centrist GOP lawmakers are pushing back on reviving the House bill, which GOP leaders and President Trump moved to the right in a bid to win over the conservative House Freedom Caucus. (Sullivan, 3/30)
Leadership has yet to make any concrete decisions on the path forward for health care after pulling a bill last week (HR 1628) that would have partially repealed and replaced the 2010 health care law. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, however, has set up a members-only meeting for Thursday to discuss the path forward for the effort to repeal and replace the law, aides and lobbyists told CQ. (McPherson, 3/29)
Colorado Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck on Wednesday said he wants to see the GOP鈥檚 left-for-dead聽health care overhaul resuscitated聽for a vote within the next month, while a health care consultant warned that the lingering uncertainty around national聽health policy will probably聽scare even more insurers away from the coverage exchanges. The comments are a聽sign that the storm clouds looming above the Affordable Care Act won鈥檛 be blowing over anytime soon, despite the failure of congressional Republicans to move forward last week with their聽national health care plan. (Ingold, 3/29)
The bill's failure was a blow to President Donald Trump's legislative agenda and set off days of finger-pointing, including at conservative Republicans for, as some critics viewed it, doing Democrats a favor by withholding support for聽the bill. The White House and Ryan indicated they hope聽for another shot at the issue. But聽Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber isn't planning to tackle聽it. (Hansen and Nowicki, 3/29)
One of the House Republican rebels, Kentucky Rep. Tom Massie, wasn't just "no" on the GOP health care bill to replace Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act. Massie was "hell no." That won over Mary Broecker, president of the Oldham County Republican Women's Club and a strong proponent of a full-blown repeal of the 2010 law. "When he came out against this bill, I thought, 'I trust him so this must be the right way,'" the 76-year-old retired teacher said of Massie this week as she sat at a coffee shop near her LaGrange home. (Beaumont and Lovan, 3/30)