Balancing Conservatives, Moderates
The normally well-scripted House, which runs on tight rules that lay out the duration of debates on legislation and approximate times for votes, was anything but scripted on Thursday.
The Rules Committee, which is the gatekeeper for all legislation heading to the House floor, had not yet set the parameters of the debate, including any amendments that would be allowed. Republicans still did not know exactly what would be in the legislation.
An aide to a senior moderate House Republican told Reuters that negotiations were continuing and that there were particular concerns about how the legislation handles low-income constituents between the ages of 50 and 64.
If certain provisions were added or removed from the bill to please the House Freedom Caucus, the leadership would lose the support of moderates, the aide said.
“With the HFC (House Freedom Caucus) at the White House now, who knows what they’ll do to the bill,” said the aide, who asked not to be identified.
Republican control of the White House, the Senate and the House has given the party a chance to achieve what it has aimed to do for seven years – overturn Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act.
The law aimed to boost the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. Some 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.
The House replacement plan would rescind the taxes created by Obamacare, repeal a penalty against people who do not buy coverage, slash funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled, and modify tax subsidies that help individuals buy plans.
But while conservative Republicans are pushing for more aggressive cuts to Obamacare mandates, some moderates in the party are worried that the legislation would hit some of their core voters by depriving them of insurance.
Changes to the bill to satisfy conservatives would carry the risk of turning moderates against it, and also of complicating the work of their colleagues in the Senate.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated 14 million people would lose medical coverage under the Republican plan by next year. It also said 24 million fewer people would be insured by 2026.
Before Trump’s meeting on Thursday with Freedom Caucus Republicans, the White House sought to convey optimism.
“We are moving full steam ahead,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. “President and his team talking to members letting them know this is the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare and today is the day to get it done.”
