Senate Republicans hope to make slight changes to Obamacare as they endeavor to pass a healthcare bill before the end of June.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will press for an ambitious rollout of their healthcare reform bill, even though the Senate continues to draft the bill.
The Senate hopes to send the bill to the Congressional Budget Office to analyze the bill’s effects, a move that might curtail some criticism that the House-passed American Health Care Act (AHCA) received during its drafting in the lower chamber.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) remains concerned that the Senate leadership’s secrecy might stifle meaningful debate about the bill’s effects on health insurance coverage and lowering premiums.
“My primary concern is writing a bill and not having enough time to analyze it,” Johnson said.
McConnell has to balance competing forces in the Senate, moderate Republicans who want a slower rollback of Obamacare’s Medicaid as well as more generous tax credits, on the one hand, and conservatives who want to slow the growth of Medicaid, on the other. Moderates such as Rob Portman (R-OH) and conservatives such as Pat Toomey (R-PA) have often clashed on Medicaid behind closed doors.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of Senate leadership, admitted the upper chamber may have to balance a more generous bill by retaining some of Obamacare’s taxes.
Cornyn said, “There’s going to be trade-offs. We’re trying to do this in a careful, thoughtful sort of way.”
Sen. Rand Paul criticized the key planks of the Senate Republican’s bill, denouncing the “new entitlements” that the bill creates. Paul argues that the bill’s tax credits help Americans purchase health insurance and a “stabilization fund” helps lower premiums amounts to new entitlements.
“I think we shouldn’t have new entitlements that will go on forever in a Republican plan to fix healthcare,” Paul told reporters. “We can’t pay for what we already have: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.”
The Kentucky senator remained ambivalent about whether he would vote “no” on the bill; however, he said he will keep his mind open to a partial repeal of Obamacare.
Paul explained, “What I’m telling them is if they get to an impasse, come talk to me, because I’m more than willing to vote for a partial repeal if I can’t get complete repeal, but I’m not willing to vote for new Republican entitlement programs.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) could become another conservative to vote against the Senate bill. Lee explained this week that he has “grave concerns” about the bill.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a member of the Senate healthcare working group, has taken a more conciliatory approach towards the bill.
Cruz said, “There are many issues being debated in the group. We have a very narrow majority in the Senate, 52 Republicans.”
Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, explained to Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that the Senate healthcare bill, which will have to be approved by the House, is a “non-starter” for him. He said:
I met with a few of my Senate colleagues on health care to not only understand where they are at but also to understand where they are going. To suggest that they are going to allow the taxes to stay in place and to not lower premiums in a significant way is a non-starter for me, it is critically important that the number one objective we have is to lower premiums. But that does not necessarily mean we can turn a blind eye to the health care cost of that. I’m optimistic that the hard work over the last several months we did will provide real fruit and the ultimate product that comes out of the Senate.
There’s an understanding that you have to have 51 Senators and 218 in the House when it comes back and some of the things they are discussing in the Senate would need meet neither one of those vote thresholds. Based upon my conversations with my Senate colleagues, I do think there is a path forward that is different from what we sent over in the House and it would satisfy the needs of those with pre-existing conditions and those who want lower premiums.
After the Senate passes its healthcare bill, the House and the Senate will have to reconcile their respective bills in conference. According to Meadows, the Senate bill does not have enough support to pass through the Senate or the House.
However, Meadows does believe that the Senate is making progress. “Those conversations with some of my Senate colleagues give me a great sense of optimism that we will have something in the next few weeks,” Meadows said.