Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Vote-A-Rama Looming, Dems Are Fed Up: 'This Is A Joke, And We鈥檙e Not Going To Participate Anymore'
Democrats are walking a fine line as they try to keep their caucus unified ahead of a showdown on repealing and replacing ObamaCare. The Senate is expected to start up an hours-long marathon session, known as a vote-a-rama, as soon as Thursday, giving both parties a chance to try to force the other side of the aisle to take politically tough votes. The free-wheeling floor drama could give Republicans a shot at putting the spotlight on Democrats. As GOP senators have been beset by months of outside ads and waves of angry constituents, Democrats have been largely unified despite having 10 senators up for reelection in states won by President Trump. (Carney, 7/26)
Senate Democrats are taking their ball and going home in the looming health care vote-a-rama 鈥 until Republicans finally cough up their actual Obamacare repeal plan. Fed up with the GOP鈥檚 constant vacillations over how to dismantle Obamacare, Democrats say they will hold back on offering any more amendments in the health care floor fight until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) shows what plan the GOP will ultimately coalesce around. (Kim, 7/26)
Democrats are seizing on GOP Sen. John McCain鈥檚 call for a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to health care reform, with committee hearings and input from both parties if the GOP bill fails. The Arizona Republican鈥檚 message 鈥 delivered Tuesday during his dramatic return to the Senate after revealing he has brain cancer 鈥 bolstered Democrats鈥 long-running complaints about being cut out of the process. (Guadiano, 7/26)
A spokesman for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday night that he and other members of the Democratic caucus would reject an amendment to the Republican health-care bill designed to smoke out support for single-payer health care. The amendment proposed by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), said a Sanders spokesman, was a 鈥渟ham鈥 that could be ignored. (Weigel, 7/26)
Several former Obama administration officials were on their regular Wednesday morning conference call this week, plotting against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, when Tom Price, the secretary of health and human services, said on CNBC that his party should shoot for 鈥渢he lowest common denominator鈥 on health care. (Shear and Pear, 7/27)
