Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
McConnell: Senate To Vote On Repeal This Week, Replace Plan Will 'Rapidly' Follow
Top Republicans said Sunday they鈥檒l move quickly to enact a new health care law, but they won鈥檛 say how long that might take or what might replace President Barack Obama鈥檚 version. Questions surrounding the future GOP plan have unnerved key parts of the health care industry, including hospitals and insurers that have warned Congress against uncertainty. (1/8)
The U.S. Senate will take its first steps toward repealing President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform act by the end of the week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," McConnell said: "There ought not to be a great gap" between repealing the act and replacing it and that Republicans would be "replacing it rapidly after repealing it." (Clarke, 1/8)
Congress will quickly devise a new health-insurance system after moving to repeal the Obama administration鈥檚 signature health-care law in coming days, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday, despite growing questions within the Republican Party over the GOP鈥檚 strategy. (Talley, 1/8)
As ObamaCare repeal moves along, the debate is only getting more intense. The Senate is expected to take a long string of votes on Wednesday, known as a "vote-a-rama," on a budget resolution that is the first step to repealing ObamaCare. That series of votes gives Democrats an opportunity to offer a series of provisions designed to make things uncomfortable for Republicans and put them on record about popular aspects of ObamaCare. (Sullivan, 1/9)
The Republican-controlled Senate, brushing aside concerns from Democrats and a government-ethics watchdog, is moving quickly this week to help President-elect Donald Trump staff his administration, scheduling multiple confirmation hearings on a single day on which the chamber also could vote on a step toward repealing much of the Affordable Care Act. (Hughes, Andrews and Peterson, 1/8)
Kellyanne Conway and Reince Priebus, top advisers to Donald Trump, said Sunday that the president-elect is still considering his options when it comes to the speed of replacing Obamacare. Republican leaders in Congress have been discussing a repeal of Obamacare that would take effect two years or more after the vote to repeal to give them time to craft a replacement plan so that millions of Americans would not suddenly lose coverage. But some conservatives, including Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, have said Congress should pass a replacement plan immediately. Other senators have suggested delaying repeal until a replacement plan is ready. (Robillard, 1/8)
Incoming White House counselor Kellyanne Conway refused to say President-elect Donald Trump will replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the same day Republicans in Congress repeal the law, also known as ObamaCare. "Well, it really depends [on] what the piece of legislation is. What does it look like?" she said Sunday on聽CNN鈥檚 鈥淪tate of the Union鈥 when asked if Trump agrees with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that a replacement is needed the same day the ACA is repealed. "I can confirm that he is committed to replacing ObamaCare with something that actually is affordable and accessible and allows you to buy health insurance over state lines," she added. (Shelbourne, 1/8)
A Republican senator who challenged Donald Trump for the White House nomination says the president-elect "fully supports" repealing President Barack Obama's health law only when there's a viable alternative to replace it. Republican leaders in the GOP-controlled Congress are moving toward a vote on repeal legislation in coming weeks, but they anticipate a transition period of months or years to a replacement. Some Republican lawmakers are expressing reservations about scrapping the law, which now covers 20 million people, without a near-term replacement. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who clashed with Trump during the GOP primary, said in a tweet late Friday that the two had a conversation and that Trump agreed with Paul's approach. (Colvin and Fram, 1/7)
Changes are coming to the nation鈥檚 health care system. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to repeal President Obama鈥檚 signature health care law, and having a Republican-led Congress boosts the odds he can make good on that promise. Republicans have yet to detail what new plan they want to implement in place of the Affordable Care Act. Here鈥檚 what we know about what鈥檚 happening to the national health care law and what it means for Massachusetts. (McCluskey, 1/9)
Don't miss: Today marks the launch of , a KHN feature that tracks the efforts of the Trump administration and Congress to revamp the U.S. health care system.