HEALTHCARE/POLITICS: “Passage of the House’s health-care bill gives the Obamacare repeal effort new life after months of wrangling, but key Republican senators are already pushing it aside to write their own bill with no clear timetable to act.
The narrowly passed House measure can’t get anywhere near the 51 votes needed as is, even though Republican senators insist they’re united on delivering on their seven-year vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Instead, they want to write their own bill.
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who chairs the Senate health committee, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of GOP leadership, described the plan even as the House was celebrating passing its repeal after weeks of back-and-forth.
‘We’ll write our own bill,’ Alexander said in an interview, although he said senators would consider pieces of the House bill. ‘Where they’ve solved problems we agree with, that makes it a lot easier for us.’
The decision will delay the prospect of any repeal bill reaching President Donald Trump’s desk. Before the failure of the House bill in March, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had talked of taking it up and passing it in a week.”
-Steven T. Dennis and Laura Litvan, “Senate Moves Obamacare Repeal to Slow Lane After House Vote,” Bloomberg, May 5, 2017 9:13am