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Morning Briefing

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Tuesday, Jun 27 2017

Full Issue

Senate Bill Dealt Tough Blow With CBO Score, But Leadership Eyes Side Deals As Possible Path Forward

At least six GOP senators are now opposed to the bill and three have said they would block it on the procedural vote. But Senate leaders were also pleasantly surprised by the amount of savings that can go toward wooing reluctant colleagues.

[The] assessment threw into doubt whether the bill would make it past an initial procedural hurdle as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) is engaged in last-minute negotiations with more than a half-dozen GOP lawmakers wavering in their support of the bill. Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) said she would vote against the bill, citing the CBO report. (Armour, Peterson and Radnofsky, 6/26)

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hoped to start procedural votes by Wednesday, and President Trump called key senators over the weekend as support splintered. It's the same political dynamic that stalled the House Republican bill last month, as conservative and centrist factions wrestle for dominance. Conservatives want a more complete repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which they hope will lower premium costs, while centrists are trying to avoid leaving millions of Americans without health coverage. (Mascaro, 6/26)

The CBO analysis suggested some ammunition GOP leaders could use, saying the Senate bill would cut federal deficits by $202 billion more over the coming decade than the version the House approved in May. Senate leaders could use some of those additional savings to attract moderate votes by making Medicaid and other provisions more generous, though conservatives would rather use that money to reduce red ink. (6/27)

Republicans in the White House and in Congress were pleasantly surprised that the bill included more savings than they expected 鈥 and are trying to figure out if they can dole it out for votes. The Senate has about $188 billion to play with. (Dawsey and Everett, 6/26)

The GOP is well short of the votes needed to bring its bill to the floor, and party leaders and President Donald Trump are kicking into overdrive to save their imperiled health care overhaul. (Everett and Haberkorn, 6/26)

Where individual senators stand聽鈥

President Donald Trump's campaign promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare" is now in the hands of a key group of GOP senators who are opposing 鈥攐r not yet supporting 鈥 legislation Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing to bring to a vote this week. These lawmakers range from moderate to conservative Republicans, and include senators who were just re-elected and a couple facing tough re-election fights. (6/27)

The week begins with a number of questions about the Senate health care bill, chiefly whether it has enough votes to pass this week, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants. (Hobson, 6/26)

When it comes to the Senate health care bill, count Susan Collins out. The Republican US senator from Maine had been on the fence about the GOP bill in recent days, saying she wanted to wait for a Congressional Budget Office evaluation before making her decision. (Reiss, 6/26)

Collins was joined by several other Republicans in publicly saying that without changes, they are not ready to begin debate this week. (Dupree, 6/26)

Even before Collins made her feelings known, the CBO analysis was raising alarm bells for centrist Republicans. 鈥淚t certainly makes me more concerned,鈥 Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said of the analysis on CNN. 鈥淚t makes me want to explore this more.鈥 (Sullivan, 6/26)

In a series of interviews and an op-ed Monday, Senate Republican Ron Johnson of Wisconsin bluntly laid out his objections to the GOP Senate health care bill and to his party鈥檚 hurried push to get it passed this week... The Wisconsin Republican slammed the bill drafted by GOP Senate leaders for retaining some Obamacare mandates, such as the rule requiring insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions 鈥 a rule Johnson blames for driving up premiums. (Gilbert, 6/26)

Sen. Marco Rubio has been bombarded with phone calls, emails and on Monday, protests took place outside his offices in Doral and Palm Beach Gardens. But while the effort is most unlikely to dissuade the Florida Republican from voting for the Obamacare replacement -- if it even comes up for a vote this week -- he remains noncommittal. (Leary, 6/27)

Amid growing doubts about quick Senate passage of the GOP's revised health care "discussion draft," Texas Republican John Cornyn and other Senate leaders on Monday were digesting a new estimate showing that their plan would increase the number of uninsured Americans by 22 million. Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, issued a statement focusing on the part of the new Congressional Budget Office estimate that favors the GOP plan: It would save $321 million over the next decade, more than the version that passed the House last month. (Diaz, 6/26)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Monday evening that she does not have enough information yet to vote in favor of the upper chamber鈥檚 legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare. 鈥淭oday I don鈥檛 have enough information, I don鈥檛 have enough data, in terms of the impact to my state, to be able to vote in the affirmative,鈥 Murkowski, considered a key swing vote on the bill, told CNN鈥檚 Dana Bash. (Shelbourne, 6/26)

鈥淚f you鈥檙e on the fence, if you鈥檙e looking at this as a political vote, this CBO score didn鈥檛 help you,鈥 said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. 鈥淪o I think it鈥檚 going to be harder to get to 50 鈥 not easier.鈥 (McIntire, 6/26)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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