Senate GOP vows big changes for ObamaCare bill

[Mileage Psycho]

The House  

Quote

 

Senate GOP vows big changes for ObamaCare bill

The Hill

Alexander Bolton

Senate Republicans plan to dramatically overhaul the House ObamaCare repeal bill that passed Thursday and are warning the process could take weeks.

The House bill, the American Health Care Act, has raised an array of concerns among Senate Republicans, chiefly among lawmakers from swing states who are opposed to the cap on ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion that would take effect in 2020.

GOP senators are also troubled by analyses that the legislation would significantly cut federal subsidies for people between the ages of 50 and 65, especially in rural areas such as Maine, Montana, Nebraska and North Carolina.

Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced Thursday that there would no "arbitrary deadlines" for the healthcare legislation, setting up an open-ended process.

"We're going through the issues methodically," he said. "The House passing the bill gives us a little bit more of a sense of urgency but it's going to take a while."

Senate Republicans say the bill in its current form cannot pass, and some of them privately question whether it will ever get a floor vote. There's also skepticism in the conference that they will be able to cobble together 51 votes behind any plan.

"I think it needs a lot of improvement," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who is concerned about the Medicaid provisions, said about the House bill.

West Virginia has been one of the biggest beneficiaries under ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion, with 175,000 new people signing up under the law's more generous guidelines as of 2015.

Capito said she is also worried about the reductions in subsidies for older, less affluent people under the House plan.

For example, a person who is 60 years old earning $30,000 a year in Kanawha County, W.Va., would see a subsidy reduction of nearly $9,000 a year under the House proposal.

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), two Republicans who have sounded the alarm about the potential Medicaid rollback, issued statements Thursday afternoon opposing the House bill.

Portman said he doesn't support the measure "because I continue to have concerns that this bill does not do enough to protect Ohio's Medicaid expansion population."

Portman said on Wednesday that he would like to see "a longer runway" for reforming Medicaid instead of abruptly capping the program two and a half years in the future.

Heller said "the current bill falls short" and said  "we cannot pull the rug out from under states like Nevada that expanded Medicaid."

The House bill could also face resistance from some of the Senate's most conservative members.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that while changes to the legislation insisted on by members of the House Freedom Caucus improved the legislation, he's still not satisfied.

"I really frankly am not too excited about subsidizing the profit of insurance companies," Paul told Fox News in an interview Thursday.

"There's about $300 or $400 billion in this bill for insurance company profit," he added. "It boggles my mind how that became a Republican idea."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) cautioned Tuesday that getting a healthcare bill through the Senate would be "a real big challenge."

He has convened a working group that includes members of his leadership team, moderates who are worried about the Medicaid rollback, conservatives and two key committee chairman - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) - to work out a compromise.

The group met Tuesday and again on Thursday.

"The majority leader has pulled together a working group of people that represent different approaches, trying to get consensus there, and we're going through the issues methodically," Cornyn later told reporters.

Alexander has been working for weeks on a healthcare reform bill that could pass the Senate with only Republican votes.

He has begun working closely with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), a conservative who earlier this year voiced misgivings about the House healthcare reform bill, but could emerge as the key to getting a deal.

McConnell initially hoped to pass the House healthcare reform bill through the Senate quickly.

He first eyed the last week of March for the job, but the political calculations changed after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) failed to muster enough votes for the legislation on March 24 and pulled it from the floor.

As it's become increasingly clear how much opposition there is within the Senate to the bill, McConnell has opted for a less ambitious timeline.

Twenty House GOP lawmakers voted against the legislation Thursday, and some of them criticized it in harsh terms.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said the bill "has the potential to severely harm the health and lives of people in South Florida."

McConnell initially planned to bring the House bill directly to the floor but now he wants to vet it through the working group he has assembled to make sure it can get 51 votes.

Senate Republicans control 52 seats and can afford only two defections, as Vice President Mike Pence could break a 50-50 tie.

The expected plan is to use the working group instead of the primary committees of jurisdiction, the Finance and Health panels, to negotiate the bill.

"I think what you're going to see is more of a working group approach, which has already started to meet," Cornyn said.

But not all Republicans are thrilled about bypassing the committees.

"My hope that we treat the bill seriously, that we have hearings, that we have witnesses," said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). "I want the regular order to work."

Not a single House Democrat voted for the ObamaCare repeal legislation in the House, and Democratic leaders said Thursday that it would not get any support from their caucus in the Senate.

"The proposal that is coming from the House doesn't have a pulse in terms of Senate Democrats," said Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the senior Democrat on the Finance Committee.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-gop-vows-big-changes-for-obamacare-bill/ar-BBALDN0

 

 

[Mainecat]

Make it better not fuckin worse

[Highmark]

Like I said its dead in the water.   Senate is more liberal to begin with.   The D's will filibuster it no matter what.   Even it the Senate passes something the house must re-pass it.   Never happening.   Obamacare is here to stay. 

[Angry ginger]

2 hours ago, Mainecat said:

Make it better not fuckin worse

yup,  only a right wing hack could think this bills good in any way

[Momorider]

3 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

yup,  only a right wing hack could think this bills good in any way

You think its worse than the current one?????? serious fucking question???? 

[Angry ginger]

3 minutes ago, Momorider said:

You think its worse than the current one?????? serious fucking question???? 

yes,  eliminating pre-existing conditions for many people alone makes it worse. And the plan to help those people is vague as hell.   Obamacare and Trumpcare both fail to actually address the real issue with healthcare in this country which is cost.  We subsidize the rest of the worlds healthcare including yours in Canada. theres a reason we have so many people who go and buy drugs at retail in canada.  the same drugs that they are raped on here. 

[Momorider]

5 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

yes,  eliminating pre-existing conditions for many people alone makes it worse. And the plan to help those people is vague as hell.   Obamacare and Trumpcare both fail to actually address the real issue with healthcare in this country which is cost.  We subsidize the rest of the worlds healthcare including yours in Canada. theres a reason we have so many people who go and buy drugs at retail in canada.  the same drugs that they are raped on here. 

Fuck, I knew you were are moron this just reinforces that get a fucking clue sometime

[Jimmy Snacks]

6 minutes ago, Momorider said:

Fuck, I knew you were are moron this just reinforces that get a fucking clue sometime

He is right and you're a shit eating degenerate.

[Momorider]

Just now, Biggie Smails said:

He is right and you're a shit eating degenerate.

You are gullible leftard clowns who are buying the leftard talking points like the faggots you are read the bill for yourselves and a get a fucking reality check you fucking imbecile  

[Jimmy Snacks]

1 minute ago, Momorider said:

You are gullible leftard clowns who are buying the leftard talking points like the faggots you are read the bill for yourselves and a get a fucking reality check you fucking imbecile  

So the Republicans in The Senate that oppose the house bill are leftards....good lord you are one simple son of a bitch.

[oleroule]

20 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

yes,  eliminating pre-existing conditions for many people alone makes it worse. And the plan to help those people is vague as hell.   Obamacare and Trumpcare both fail to actually address the real issue with healthcare in this country which is cost.  We subsidize the rest of the worlds healthcare including yours in Canada. theres a reason we have so many people who go and buy drugs at retail in canada.  the same drugs that they are raped on here. 

at the federal level.

states can do what they want.

what's wrong with that?

[Momorider]

12 minutes ago, Biggie Smails said:

So the Republicans in The Senate that oppose the house bill are leftards....good lord you are one simple son of a bitch.

Who are these no one has said shit you clown this is all just media hysteria that you are buying into like the weathervane gullible fucking hack you are

[Momorider]

12 minutes ago, oleroule said:

at the federal level.

states can do what they want.

what's wrong with that?

Only a leftard hack would think that is a bad thing, those clown are Barry ball lickers always were

Edited May 5, 2017 by Momorider

[Angry ginger]

1 minute ago, Momorider said:

Only a leftard hack would think that is a bad thing, those clown are Barry ball lickers always were

sure i thought barry was the greatest thing since slicd bread  

[Momorider]

2 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

sure i thought barry was the greatest thing since slicd bread  

Whole Wheat or Dark Rye?

[Angry ginger]

13 minutes ago, oleroule said:

at the federal level.

states can do what they want.

what's wrong with that?

with what money,  this is a countrywide issue and should be addressed on that basis.  If the middle class thinks that this is good for them they are either assetless so a med bankruptcy is meaningless,  stupid or have a cushy deal with their current employer and better hope that continues because I've been there. Back when i paid a couple hundred and had a $1000 deductible i didn't think this was a major issue,  but for many households med insurance is second only to their mortgage in monthly bills

 

 

[Momorider]

2 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

with what money,  this is a countrywide issue and should be addressed on that basis.  If the middle class thinks that this is good for them they are either assetless so a med bankruptcy is meaningless,  stupid or have a cushy deal with their current employer and better hope that continues because I've been there. Back when i paid a couple hundred and had a $1000 deductible i didn't think this was a major issue,  but for many households med insurance is second only to their mortgage in monthly bills

 

 

$1,000 deductible   try $10,000 under Obama Care

[oleroule]

22 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

with what money,  this is a countrywide issue and should be addressed on that basis.  If the middle class thinks that this is good for them they are either assetless so a med bankruptcy is meaningless,  stupid or have a cushy deal with their current employer and better hope that continues because I've been there. Back when i paid a couple hundred and had a $1000 deductible i didn't think this was a major issue,  but for many households med insurance is second only to their mortgage in monthly bills

 

 

that's up to each state to decide.

why the hate for federalism?

[Mainecat]

The senate by law has to consider the CBO

[Momorider]

9 minutes ago, Mainecat said:

The senate by law has to consider the CBO

I'm sure saving $180 Billion a year will play very favourably you fucking hack  

[ActionfigureJoe]

1 hour ago, Biggie Smails said:

He is right and you're a shit eating degenerate.

he eats human shit at church. 

[Momorider]

20 minutes ago, ActionfigureJoe said:

he eats human shit at church. 

@ckf dupe faggot trolls, what's the story I though these fucking clowns weren't allowed?  

[Angry ginger]

1 hour ago, oleroule said:

that's up to each state to decide.

why the hate for federalism?

healthcare is a national issue,  when something effects a majority of the electorate you deal with it at the correct level.  

[oleroule]

17 minutes ago, Angry ginger said:

healthcare is a national issue,  when something effects a majority of the electorate you deal with it at the correct level.  

the aca/ahca has nothing to do with healthcare.

it's all about wealth redistribution.

Edited May 5, 2017 by oleroule

[Angry ginger]

31 minutes ago, oleroule said:

the aca/ahca has nothing to do with healthcare.

it's all about wealth redistribution.

right-   or it's about making sure people have coverage in the event of medical issues.  Anyone without health insurance is either an idiot or poor enough that their assets are protected/have none.  Maybe at some point hospitals will be able to just turn away patients then that point will be realized when there are uncovered people dying, that would be awesome IMO and a true showing that personal responsibility is important in this country.

But on a more serious note there's plenty wrong with Obamacare including limiting choice,  esp not allowing real high deductible plans for those willing to take the risk and requiring they cover basic maint which i believe no insurance should cover as it should be there really for the big costs not the $150 doc visit.   Personally if i didn't have kids and a  wife i'd carry a 20k deductible if my plan cost was reasonable,  in 25 years of being on my own insurance I've used it 4 times and one might have cost me 5 grand the rest were pretty minimal.  

But end of the day Obamacare is a mandate to buy insurance with penalties when you don't as those costs indirectly fall back to the feds anyways.  Everyone should have insurance if as a society we decide we are not willing to turn them away at the hospital doors.