READ: Can Republicans govern if they can’t keep a promise they’ve made for 7 years?
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It is not clear what political dynamics might have changed since Friday, when a coalition of hard-line conservatives and more moderate Republicans torpedoed legislation to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement.
After the bill collapsed on Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump accused the Democrats of obstruction, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accused the president of incompetence, House Speaker Paul Ryan said health care was done, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi bragged that it was a great day. And no Democrat was going to help.
Freedom Caucus members fiercely opposed the American Health Care Act (AHCA) before Friday’s outcome, demanding a number of changes meant to lower healthcare premium costs.
Neither Trump nor the House leaders gave an indication about when a new health care bill would be ready for action. “If we’re going to get it done through reconciliation, it would be between now and May”. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports.
Developer Donald Trump, right, is joined by, from left: John Dyson, deputy mayor for economic development; New York State Lieut. Even supporters acknowledge fixes to the ACA are badly needed. But Tuesday morning, they exchanged pledges of unity in a closed-door meeting and emerged eager to continue their efforts on health care, although they provided no specific plans or timeline for how they would proceed. Some 12.2 million people signed up for Obamacare this year.
The American Health Care Act would have preserved some aspects of Obamacare, including the provision allowing for children to stay on their parent’s health care plan until the age of twenty-six, and ensuring that those with pre-existing conditions can not be refused coverage.
“Everyone wants to talk about Freedom Caucus, because it’s easy to villainize them within this conference”. And the party now has little or no hope of winning eight Democrats to its side for a bill that would scale back Obamacare. Could that have been the deal maker’s plan all along?
America would then become a country with one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world. And, remember, Trump assured Americans there would be a better plan than Obamacare – not just one that offers the conservative buzz word of “access” to better care.
In an interview, Corker said: “It’s not the kind of thing the leader, speaker of the House should be saying”.
Any celebration by Democrats is “premature”, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise said after a conference meeting Tuesday.
Freedom Caucus members had a chance to repeal the individual mandate and the employer mandate, transform Medicaid, end $1 trillion in Obamacare taxes, expand health savings accounts and defund Planned Parenthood. Except it is Republicans who now own the federal government – the House of Representatives and the Senate and the White House – while they ask the American public to wait yet again for Republicans to come up with something, anything, that they are actually for. “I never said, ‘repeal it and replace it within 64 days'”. Address the ACA problems.
‘The Democrats will make a deal with me on healthcare as soon as ObamaCare folds – not long.
Trump is not bound to conservatism.
Who will be key players in a future vote?
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Actual people with real health needs are depending on our elected officials to work together to make the necessary changes.
