Senate GOP sees path to ObamaCare repeal
By Peter Sullivan - 06/11/17 06:33 PM EDT A path is emerging for Senate Republicans to pass their ObamaCare repeal bill, even though there are major obstacles ahead.
Critically, Senate moderates are indicating that they can agree to ending the additional federal funds for ObamaCare's expansion of Medicaid, albeit on a slower timetable than other Republicans want.
A compromise on Medicaid funding would remove one of the biggest obstacles for the bill.
The moderates want the phase-out of the Medicaid funding to take seven years, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed three years on Tuesday.
“Mitch is listening to everybody's concerns and there's a back and forth. I think we're slowly getting closer,” Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) said Thursday. “It's moving in the right direction.”
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who made headlines over the Memorial Day recess by saying it was “unlikely” that the Senate could pass an ObamaCare repeal bill, declined to repeat that assessment this week. “It’s hard for me to handicap,” he said.
McConnell is speeding toward a vote, with the goal of passing a healthcare bill the last week of June, before the Fourth of July recess.
Republicans have said there will be no committee hearings or markups for the bill, a major departure from the standard Senate process. Instead, the bill will go straight to the floor for a vote.
Democrats fear the legislation will be kept secret until just a couple of days before the vote, to minimize time for opposition to build.
“13 Republican men are meeting in secret to make a healthcare plan,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote on Twitter on Friday. “Their plan is to do it so fast we can't stop them. Stop them.”
While more moderate Republican senators have spoken more favorably of the bill in the past week, objections from conservatives remain a sticking point.
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http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/337199-senate-gop-sees-path-to-obamacare-repeal
