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President Trump continued to reach out to Republican lawmakers Thursday to take the lead on crafting a health plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, working to hand off the politically sensitive effort ahead of the 2020 elections. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, want the administration to take the lead on developing a plan while they remain on politically safer ground, working on popular voter issues such as lowering drug prices and ending surprise medical bills. (Armour and Peterson, 3/28)

Mitch McConnell has no intention of leading President Donald Trump’s campaign to transform the GOP into the “party of health care.” “I look forward to seeing what the president is proposing and what he can work out with the speaker,” McConnell said in a brief interview Thursday, adding, “I am focusing on stopping the ‘Democrats’ Medicare for none’ scheme.” (Everett, 3/28)

President Trump said Thursday that a group of GOP senators will come up with a "spectacular" plan to replace ObamaCare if the courts strike down the law. Trump told reporters at the White House that lawmakers including Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are working on the plan, at Trump's request. (Sullivan, 3/28)

“They are going to work together, come up with something that’s really spectacular,” Trump said. “Maybe we’ll even get support in the House from Democrats. But it’s going to be far better than Obamacare,” the president added, calling the law a “disaster.” (Epstein, 3/28)

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), one of President Trump’s closest congressional allies, on Thursday said any plan to replace ObamaCare will come from Congress, rather than the administration. “It’s my impression there will be a plan the president and White House endorses, but I think it will be a collaborative effort between House and Senate Republicans,” Meadows told reporters. (Weixel, 3/28)

Republicans face an uphill battle in their bid to fulfill President Trump's prophecy that the GOP will become "the party of health care." The presidential directive, handed down in a tweet on Tuesday, came at an inopportune time for Republicans, less than a day after the Trump administration called for the courts to invalidate the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. (Greenwood, 3/29)

President Trump’s decision to call for ObamaCare’s complete dismantling in court is shining the spotlight on Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff who reportedly pushed for the action. Mulvaney, a former member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, argued in favor of backing a lawsuit to nullify the Affordable Care Act during a White House meeting with other officials, according to two published reports. (Sullivan and Fabian, 3/28)

Days after the Trump administration ramped up its attack on the Affordable Care Act, health officials and lawmakers in Connecticut were still decrying the move and exploring its impacts should a repeal succeed. Co-chairs of the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee called on the president Thursday to reverse himself and leave the health law alone, while detailing the ways Connecticut residents would be impacted if the ACA disappears. (Carlesso, 3/28)

Gov. Mike DeWine has said that if the entire Affordable Care Act is ruled unconstitutional, he guarantees that his administration would seek state-level rules to ensure that Ohioans with pre-existing conditions can’t be denied insurance coverage. But if Obamacare falls, there’s no guarantee that state lawmakers would agree to pass such rules. (Pelzer, 3/28)