05 August, 2017
By the narrowest of margins, the US Senate failed to adopt a bill that would have begun the process of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), President Barack Obama's signature overhaul of the health care system.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway says the president is not accepting that it is "time to move on" after last week's defeat.
Asked who would relay the message to the Trump administration, Hatch laughed and said, "I'm going to be one who does that", adding that he expected Republican leaders of the House and Senate, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, would do so, too.
The Senate faces a backlog of executive and judicial nominations. "It should include funding for the cost-sharing reductions, but it also should also include greater flexibility for states in approving health insurance policies".
The effort comes from Republican and Democratic lawmakers representing the most competitive districts across the country.
Along those lines, Senate GOP health committee chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee discussed health care Tuesday at a private meeting with the panel's top Democrat, Patty Murray of Washington. One of the GOP defectors, Sen John McCain, has since returned to Arizona for treatment for brain cancer.
Bipartisan groups of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are looking for ways to fix problematic parts of the US health care law, even as President Donald Trump says he wants to let it collapse.
The House narrowly passed a bill that would repeal and replace some parts of the Affordable Care Act, but it didn't have enough support in the Senate.
More specifically, McConnell said "no action" was not an option.
"They need to stay, they need to work, they need to pass something". A district court judge agreed past year and ruled that the subsidies were illegal, but Obama officials appealed. There is little change in Trump's detailed job approval, where he enjoys the most support for his handling of the United States economy (43%), employment and jobs (44%) and dealing with ISIS/ISIL (46%).
In a recent pair of tweets, Trump threatened to end "bailouts" for insurance companies and members of Congress unless legislators can pass a new health care bill. They total $7 billion this year and are helping around 7 million people afford insurance deductibles and co-payments.
The Obama administration used its rule-making authority to set direct payments to insurers to help offset these costs.
Under Obamacare, if lawmakers want insurance through their employer - the federal government - they are required to buy policies through the ACA exchanges.
Like Collins, the idea of more hearings, and a deeper explanation of what's involved on health care also resonated with another of the Republican "No" votes as well.
"I think it can have a happy ending", he said Monday.
"If the president refuses to make the cost sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans", Schumer said Saturday in a written statement.
