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DONALD TRUMP WARNED Republicans that he is done negotiating and wants a vote today on dismantling Obamacare, setting up a high-stakes showdown with members of the president’s own party over his embattled health care plan.
House leaders were forced to postpone a vote last night on the measure amid a revolt by mainly conservative Republicans, who were complicating the first major legislative test for the new president by signalling it would not pass without key changes.
Trump himself set the stage, dispatching an aide to a closed-door meeting of Republican lawmakers to demand a vote today.
“The message is tomorrow it’s up, it’s down – we expect it to be up – but it’s done tomorrow,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told the lawmakers, according to congressman Chris Collins.
Mulvaney then delivered Trump’s extraordinary ultimatum.
“If it doesn’t pass, we’re moving beyond health care,” Mulvaney said, paraphrased by Collins.
We would be moving on to other parts of his agenda.
The idea that Trump – who campaigned relentlessly on a pledge to bury Barack Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment – would wash his hands of the fight and let Obamacare stand is a startling departure from the party playbook.
But Mulvaney’s blunt take-it-or-leave-it approach could be part of Trump’s hardball strategy to get Republican rebels to fall in line.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a champion of the legislation dubbed the American Health Care Act, put on a brave face despite the bill’s hanging by a thread.
“We have been promising the American people we will repeal and replace this broken law because it’s collapsing and failing families, and tomorrow we’re proceeding,” he told reporters after the conference meeting.
A procedural vote on the bill is set for approximately 10am (2pm Irish time) today, followed by a full floor vote in the afternoon.
The president and his lieutenants had repeatedly voiced optimism about the bill’s prospects, saying they had made progress convincing doubters to join Trump’s camp.
But the votes weren’t there.
“I am still a no at this time. I am desperately trying to get to yes,” said Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members have demanded changes to the plan before giving their blessing.
Although Meadows sought to portray optimism about the process, he revealed the width of the gap between Trump and the plan’s opponents.
“At this point, we are trying to get another 30 to 40 votes that are currently in the ‘no’ category to ‘yes,’” Meadows said after meeting with his caucus.
That did not happen, and Ryan pulled the bill off the floor.
‘Time to vote’
Republicans have spent years railing against the Affordable Care Act, branding it a result of a Democratic push for socialised medicine.
With Democrats opposed to Trump’s plan and his own party’s right flank in revolt over legislation they say falls short, the White House and Republican leaders looked to make the bill palatable to enough conservatives without angering moderates.
Trump spent much of the day lobbying both conservative lawmakers and moderates in a delicate arm-twisting effort.
“Tomorrow it’s time to vote,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer told Fox News.
“At the end of the day, this is the only train leaving the station that’s going to be repealing Obamacare and giving us an alternative to replace it,” he said.
Many conservatives say their party’s plan is still too costly for the government.
They want to repeal “essential health benefits” that all insurance policies must cover under Obamacare – including maternity care, emergency room visits and preventive care like screenings and vaccines – arguing they have driven up costs.
Republican leaders conceded to that demand, introducing an amendment to the bill that repeals those benefit requirements.
Limiting defections
The House Freedom Caucus – some 30 lawmakers who are heirs-apparent to the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement – have dubbed the new bill “Obamacare Lite”, saying it will only reduce, not eliminate, health coverage subsidies by replacing them with refundable tax credits.
At the spectrum’s other end some Republican moderates are worried their constituents would no longer be able to afford health insurance under the new plan.
The amendment also provides a sweetener for moderates: it keeps an Obamacare tax on high-income earners for an additional six years to generate some $15 billion to finance patient benefits.
A nonpartisan congressional budget estimate says the Republican plan would force 14 million Americans to lose their coverage from next year.
An update of that estimate yesterday, accounting for recent changes aimed at lowering premium costs for the elderly, said the plan would reduce the deficit by less than the previous version, while not improving coverage numbers.
The Democratic minority is prepared to vote against the bill as a bloc, so Republican leaders need to limit defections to fewer than 22 of their party’s 237 representatives among the House’s 430 current members.
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Being President seems a bit more difficult than borrowing money from greedy banks in a rising property market. Trump seems as much of a genius as our own horde of overconfident property developers.
@alphanautica: or buying a property in 2004 for $40m and selling it to a dim wit from Russia for $90 just five years later. But was he a dim wit or a donor, that’s the question.
@alphanautica: who knew healthcare was so complicated?
@Gerry Ryan: Maybe he was laundering $50mill for his Russian Mate.
@Tony Canning:Very complicated indeed. People don’t want to pay tax. To be able to fund health care like in Europe has to come from taxes. We also have millions of illegal, undocumented people that are not accounted for, how can they estimate covering health care would be and the price that it would charge each working citizen is almost impossible.
@worldpeace: before the ACA the American government was the second highest spender on healthcare in the developed world. I’m assuming that hasn’t changed, they might be number one now but the real problem there like here is the pricing and administration fees are sucking huge amounts of funding from actually doing the work and getting results. Life expectancy in America is going down FFS
Trump has a petulant quality. There is a real pettiness and pouty quality of self indulgence combined with a low endurance which perfectly reflects the times we live in.
Trump captures and reflects the spirit of the age.
@Tony Daly: Ummmm this is Paul Ryans plan.
” Ummmm this is Paul Ryans plan.” Ummmmm Trumpo is President..Try to keep up..
@Tony Daly: Trump is in his 70s and a multimillionaire by default of his father. How does that reflect society?
@Deborah Behan: He reflects a wish for quick results and cutting through slow bureaucracy
@Rosa Parks: AKA the swamp
@Rosa Parks: and is failing.
@Rosa Parks: How’s that working out for him? If he gets this Bill through he breaks campaign promises and if he moves on with the ACA he also breaks campaign promises. This Bill will kill people. If it passes or not he’s endorsing it.
@Rosa Parks: Ummm Rosa, It was Paul Ryan, Trump and a Select Committee. He boasted about it a cople of months ago
@Tony Daly: Great to see you squirm for the next 8 years.
@The Crant: nothing on topic to add then Val?
Did he say where he was moving to. I was hopeing that he would keep Kenny when he was out visiting last week
Any negatives about the number of jobs/lives that will be lost ?
More dead people = less strain on hospitals. Win/Win!
Problems with Obamacare:
- Forces men to take out plans with maternity benefits. Forces women to take out plans for testicular cancer. Both push up costs which taxpayer must chase with subsidies.
- One third of US counties have only 1 health insurer. Some states like Wyoming have only 1. Because Dems oppose buying across state lines (which Trump wants to introduce in future legislation), this creates monopolies which drive up premiums. There is a danger that some states will soon have no insurers.
Problems with Ryancare:
- While premiums are expected to drop 10% over 10 years because of the removal of minimum coverage, the cost to the poor will increase from $1700 to $17000 if the first bills rules on removing tax credits are the same.
Positives with Ryancare:
- The CBO says it will reduce the US deficit over 10 years by $150 billion. The US national debt is $21 trillion and with Obamacare, another increase in the debt ceiling is inevitable.
@Rosa Parks: However important to point out that poor people would probably be on Medicaid anyway.
@Rosa Parks: More people can afford take out Obama care than Medicaid. I’m in America a number of times a year and talking to my friends & family this is what they said. There are some good points to Obamacare. No medical insurance is perfect but something is better than nothing. If he takes it away he will have to replace it with something.
Rosa> many states allow for cross state insurance sales. The problem is they won’t because of the model US insurance companies use. You don’t go to any doctor or hospital you go to your insurance company’s doctors and hospitals. So in order to do cross state insurance there is huge cost so they don’t do it. Trump making all states do it won’t change the number of insurance companies you can access.
The first thing they need to do is standardise their health procedure codes to reduce all insurance overheads.
@Rosa Parks: I love how obvious you make it that you’re in your own echo chamber. When you make a list of pros and cons you only fill in the side that suits your narrative
@Rosa Parks: No the problem with both Obamacare and the American Care Act is that both legitimise the dogmatic commercialisation of health, with the only winners being the private health insurance companies. The CEO’s of these companies earns millions every year, with one reported as having earned $66 million last year. That’s the real obscenity here, and our own country is heading the same way, inspired by the Mary Harney/Progressive Democrat agenda of introducing “competition” to health, which has been wholeheartedly and slavishly followed by the current government.
@David Knight: David if we had true competition in the Irish health system, we wouldnt have a trolly crisis/
Lads what are ye on about. Are ye actually in favour of Obamacare??? Do you actually know the cost of healthcare in USA because of obamacare. ? Premiums increases by 100 percent in mosr states the last 2 years. People cant afford healthcare so they cant pay for it. Obamacare is a joke.!! Easy for ye to jump on the anti trump bandwagon because you don’t live in the usa. I dont agree with certain policies but at least he’s trying to reduce the cost of healthcare and is pro family.
Is breitbart anti trump? Because they’re against this bill too!!
That is an alternative fact.
@Justin Gabriel: Doesnt sound like you live in the US or have family there. A few stray facts doesnt hide the truth. The likes of VHI have always cost many times more over there, in fact so much its like a second mortgage if you have 2 kids.
Try speaking to people who use it and ask them why rather than read some billionaires reasons as to why it is a bad idea.
@Justin Gabriel: FAKE NEWS. Sad.
@Justin Gabriel: he’s not trying to reduce the cost of healthcare, in fact unless you’re in the top 1% your healthcare is going to cost you more under this plan, much much more..
Obamacare has many faults, but let’s not beat around the bush, there are millions of Americans who have health insurance only coz of Obamacare
@Justin Gabriel: do you by any chance prefer the Affordable Care Act to Obamacare?
“but at least he is trying to reduce the costs of healthcare & is pro family” LOL
How did he get on with the pharmaceutical industry when he met up with them ?Did he cut any deals ?
“pro family” How many millions of families will lose healthcare over this proposal ? How much extra will it cost them ?
Is it true that the conman will benefit to the tune of $50,000 a week if his “Trump’care’” comes to fruition ?
@Justin Gabriel: People can’t afford healthcare in the states because of the dysfunctional health care system. It’s twice the per capita cost to treat US citizens because of the private health care model. The pentagon can negotiate drug and treatment prices for soldiers but the government can’t. What does this tell you?
“They want to repeal “essential health benefits” that all insurance policies must cover under Obamacare – including maternity care, emergency room visits and preventive care like screenings and vaccines – arguing they have driven up costs.”
How is that pro-family?
Watch them all cave and pass the bill. Pathetic.
Cannot see the house freedom caucus bending to allow the bill pass, they will want less obligations on the state. Makes us look positively egalitarian with our own 2 tier health system.
@Zx5vZulB: you know why the government wants to abdicate to the states? Because the states can look someone with a life threatening illness in the eyes and say “we have no more money” and actually be telling the truth. It’s a cowardly move designed to cut down on spending for the terminally ill.
a nice way of admitting our plan is much worse than obamacare so lets leave it be
Donald Trump has brought the Republican party to a position of power they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams. They need to rally round him now and show their true colours.
@Tommy: they ARE showing their true colours…
I don’t think Trump can “lose” here. If the House Republicans capitulate, he “wins”. If they abandon it, Obamacare will almost certainly fall over anyway, with a little help from some extra regulations. Healthcare reform will be back on the agenda soon enough.
The only loser in this scenario is the American public.
@Ben McArthur: Yeah but that way people will see that it was the meddling that caused it to fail. The ACA will not fail unless it is forced to
“They want to repeal “essential health benefits” that all insurance policies must cover under Obamacare – including maternity care, emergency room visits and preventive care like screenings and vaccines – arguing they have driven up costs.”
And it’s easy for them to do it, because most of them are making hundred’s of thousands of dollars a year and won’t be impacted by it.
This from a couple of weeks ago is relevant… https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/03/09/trump-has-a-secret-backup-plan-to-kill-obamacare-its-actually-brilliant/?utm_term=.e80cddf82453
Quote: “Trump has a secret backup plan to kill Obamacare. It’s actually brilliant.”
@Stephen Blott: so the plan is do nothing and allow people to die? Let’s not forget that Trump has already changed Obamacare through executive orders. Orders that benefit nobody but insurance companies I might add
@Dave O Keeffe: Tell us what you like about Obamacare?
@The Crant: tens of millions more people have health insurance
House debating Trumpcare here now. Live stream here http://houselive.gov/
@Rosa Parks: Trumpcare? He has already said he doesn’t want his name on it and you already said it wasn’t his plan
Oh, no light speed?…
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