GOP's healthcare problems multiply
By Alexander Bolton - 07/17/17 06:55 PM EDT Sen. John McCain’s unexpected absence from the Senate is just the latest thing to go wrong for the Senate Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare, sapping it of almost all momentum.
GOP leaders hoped to vote on the measure this week, but emergency surgery for the Arizona Republican will keep him away from Congress for at least a week — and possibly longer.
That is giving outside groups more time to spend millions on campaign ads attacking the legislation and pressure swing voters to reconsider.
“Right now there’s no momentum at all to pass this bill,” said Ron Bonjean, who formerly served as a senior Republican leadership aide in the Senate and House.
Bill Hoagland, a former senior Republican Senate aide, said another delay is bad news for the GOP.
“My initial reaction is that it makes it tougher. It gives an opportunity for the opposition, which was pretty strong or growing, to grow even stronger,” he said.
Rank-and-file senators are voicing loud concerns about the bill. Worse, behind-the-scenes efforts by GOP leaders to win over some of their colleagues risk losing support from others.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who last week said he would vote for the motion to proceed to the legislation, lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for hinting to moderates that a future Congress would be likely to unwind Medicaid changes included in the bill.
Johnson described the comments as a “breach of trust,” underlining the difficulty the GOP leader faces in finding 50 Republican votes for the healthcare bill.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who last week announced she would oppose beginning debate on the bill, on Sunday said there are as many as 10 Republican senators with deep reservations.
“There are about eight to 10 Republican senators who have serious concerns about this bill. And so at the end of the day, I don’t know whether it will pass,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The White House is scrambling to help in the effort. On Monday night, President Trump will meet with a group of senators to hear their concerns about the bill.
Yet Trump has not always made McConnell’s job easier.
A political group aligned with Trump ran ads in Nevada slamming Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) for criticizing an earlier version of the bill. The effort angered McConnell, as he can’t afford to lose Heller — who is seen as the most vulnerable Senate Republican up for reelection next year.
More recently, Trump suggested that the Senate should just repeal ObamaCare and worry about a replacement later if the measure stalls, another move seen as unhelpful by GOP leaders.
McConnell never wanted to end up in this position.
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http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/342433-gops-healthcare-problems-multiply
