The Hill 3/14/2017 By Jordain Carney
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tuesday that the White House plan to pass additional healthcare reforms after lawmakers repeal and replace ObamaCare won't work in the Senate.
"Anything placed in so-called bucket three will never pass," Cruz told reporters. "If we want to pass real reforms we have to do it now on budget reconciliation."
The White House has outlined a three-part plan for repealing and replacing ObamaCare: Using a budget process called reconciliation to repeal and replace large chunks of the law; allowing Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to issue regulations to bring down costs; and Congress passing a bill that would include additional reforms like selling insurance across state lines.
While Republicans are using reconciliation to gut core provisions of ObamaCare with a simple majority, they wouldn't be able to use that rule for any legislation that would fall under the so-called "third prong" of the White House plan.
That means to pass additional healthcare reform legislation separate from the current repeal and replace bill, Senate Republicans will need the support of at least eight Senate Democrats to meet a 60-vote threshold.
But Cruz stressed that "absent a significant change" from Senate Democrats, he didn't believe that wasn't likely to happen.
[Excerpted]
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/323998-cruz-white-house-plan-for-extra-healthcare-legislation-wont-pass
