05 August, 2017
Members from deep-red or -blue districts are unlikely to join the effort, as the party bases are deeply split, with those backing Trump determined to see the Obamacare system totally unraveled and those on the far left determined to move toward a "single-payer" health care system.
Given that President Donald Trump would likely sign Republican-backed tax reform and that the Senate has a mechanism to pass tax reform with a simple majority, Toomey said there is no excuse not to successfully pass a bill on tax reform. McConnell is already moving to other business, having scheduled Senate consideration later Monday on a judicial nomination. "He's going to make that decision this week, and that's a decision that only he can make", Conway said. It's really important that the Trump administration drop its efforts to sabotage the health insurance markets, especially as Republicans and Democrats are working together to make improvements. In theory, these payments, officially known as "cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies", encourage insurers to reduce deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income Americans who buy insurance through the exchanges.
Here's what you'd have, then, for liberals and Democrats: Continued individual and employer mandates, continued cost-sharing and premium subsidies on health-care exchanges, and continued Medicaid expansion.
The committee action is the first hint of bipartisan cooperation on health care in Congress.
For seven years, Republicans have promised that once they took power, they would scrap Obama's overhaul and pass a replacement.
Led by the Democratic attorneys general of NY and California, the motion that the court granted is the most recent twist in the gnarled legal and political history of the subsidies.
"Don't give up Republican senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace", Trump said in a tweet.
McCain said he was buoyed by news that the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee and the top committee Democrat agreed to hold bipartisan hearings on a new push.
Two must-do items will dominate the agenda: increasing the government's debt limit to prevent a catastrophic default on US obligations like interest payments and Social Security checks; and passing a temporary spending bill to keep government agencies up and running.
"What I'm going to say to them is the truth", Kennedy said.
"As we prepare for these discussions, I have also urged the president to temporarily continue the cost-sharing reduction payments through September so that Congress can work on a short-term solution for stabilizing the individual market in 2018", Alexander said.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., believes there are two agenda items that Republicans have to get done - health care and tax reform - in order to keep the GOP's major promises to the American people. If Mr. Trump wants to "let Obamacare fail", that would be a prime way to do it.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted: "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!"
Miller said Pennsylvania insurers estimate their rates will climb on average 23 percent if they are not guaranteed payment of the federal subsidies.
And right now, the uncertainty that the Trump administration's threats is causing is driving those prices up for families all across our country.
Sen. Susan Collins of ME, one of the three Republican senators who voted against the GOP health bill on Friday, said she's troubled by Trump's claims that the insurance payments are a "bailout".
The White House declined to comment on matter. But a federal court has blocked the federal reimbursements to insurers, saying the funds have yet to be properly authorized by Congress. Trump and Obama before him have continued the payments temporarily. At the rate we're going, it may not be long until the GOP gets on board with a value-added tax or carbon tax!
"While the speaker appreciates members coming together to promote ideas, he remains focused on repealing and replacing Obamacare", AshLee Strong said.
Conway spoke on "Fox News Sunday", Mulvaney appeared on CNN's "State of the Union" and Collins was on CNN as well as NBC's "Meet the Press".
