HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/POLITICS: “Two Senate bills aimed at shaping the future of the Affordable Care Act are facing uncertainty, as the White House voices tepid support for an ACA repeal effort and opposition to a bipartisan bill to shore up insurance markets.
Republican senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Wednesday plan to release the text of a bill letting states largely decide what to do about the 2010 health law known as Obamacare, following the collapse of a Republican bid to undo it…
Mr. Graham has said that by turning the ACA into a block-grant program that allows states to fashion their own health-care system, the party could offer a deal palatable to a majority of GOP governors and senators…
Meanwhile, a bill aiming to bring the parties together to shore up insurance markets is in jeopardy, people close to the negotiations said, as Democrats complain that Republicans are trying to use it to eliminate consumer protections.
The effort spearheaded by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.) would guarantee federal funding to insurers to help offset subsidies they give some low-income consumers.
The payments have been subject to a legal battle initiated by House Republicans, who have argued that Congress didn’t specifically authorize the payments. The Trump administration has so far kept up the monthly payments, despite threats to stop them.”
-Louise Radnofsky and Stephanie Armour, “Senate Health Bills Struggle to Win White House Backing,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 13, 2017 05:30am