Less than a day after House Republicans released an Obamacare replacement plan that President Trump has endorsed, his own party is in disarray. On the one hand, several Republican senators are raising concerns about undermining the Medicaid expansion, while on the other a host of conservative leaders have said this proposal is dead on arrival. The Club for Growth has even said they will score this vote. Meanwhile Trump’s budget director is evading questions about how many Americans would lose their health care under this plan.
“If this plan were ever signed into law, the consequences for our country could be catastrophic. Republicans should stop jeopardizing healthcare coverage for millions of Americans just to give a few insurance company CEOs a tax cut,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CAN’T SAY HOW MANY AMERICANS WILL LOSE COVERAGE
Washington Examiner, 3/7/2017: “Mulvaney dodges on how many would lose coverage under GOP healthcare plan”
- Congressional Budget Office, 1/17/2017: “The number of people who are uninsured would increase by 18 million in the first new plan year following enactment of the bill. Later, after the elimination of the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility and of subsidies for insurance purchased through the ACA marketplaces, that number would increase to 27 million, and then to 32 million in 2026.”
SEVERAL REPUBLICAN SENATORS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE MEDICAID EXPANSION
New York Times, 3/7/2017: “On Monday, four Republican senators — Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Cory Gardner of Colorado and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — signed a letter saying a House draft that they had reviewed did not adequately protect people in states like theirs that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.”
CONSERVATIVE LEADERS ARE ALREADY OPPOSED
Sen. Rand Paul, 3/7/2017: “Th House leadership plan is Obamacare Lite. It will not pass. Conservarives are not going to take it. #FullRepeal”
Former Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan, 3/7/2017: “This is Obamacare by a different form…They’re still keeping the taxes in place and Medicaid expansion, and they’re starting a new entitlement.”
Rep. Dave Brat, 3/7/2017: “Now [they] are saying we’re going to do repeal and replace but the bill does nothing of the sort…[Speaker] Paul Ryan has always said the entire rationale for this bill is to bend the cost curve down, and so far I have seen no evidence that this bill will bring the cost curve down.”
Tea Party Patriot Jenny Beth Martin, 3/7/2017: “The bill that House Republicans released last night does not fully repeal Obamacare. Congressional Republicans must realize that Obamacare cannot be ‘fixed,’ because it is not fixable.”
Club for Growth President David McIntosh, 3/7/2017: “If this warmed-over substitute for government-run health care remains unchanged, the Club for Growth will key vote against it. Republicans should be offering a full and immediate repeal of Obamacare’s taxes, regulations, and mandates, an end to the Medicaid expansion, and inclusion of free-market reforms, like interstate competition.”
Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips, 3/7/2017: “I think [the Republicans] will have the shortest majority in modern America if they fail to repeal Obamacare.”
Heritage Action CEO Michael A. Needham, 3/7/2017: “Rather than accept the flawed premises of Obamacare, congressional Republicans should fully repeal the failed law and begin a genuine effort to deliver on longstanding campaign promises that create a free market health care system that empowers patients and doctors.”
Michael F. Cannon, Cato Institute, 3/7/2017: “The House GOP Leadership’s Health Care Bill Is ObamaCare-Lite — Or Worse”
Published: Mar 7, 2017