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politics and politicians Title: PAUL RYAN: Obamacare repeal bill will be out in a few weeks House Speaker Paul Ryan said during his weekly press conference Thursday that Republican members of the House were planning to introduce a bill that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law better known as Obamacare. [Boldness Added] "After the House returns following the Presidents Day break, we intend to introduce legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare," Ryan said. Ryan said lawmakers were waiting on analysis from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation before releasing the bill. Next week is scheduled to be a "district work week" as House members return to their states, so the earliest a bill would come is February 27. Ryan went on to repeat a common line that Obamacare is already failing, citing the recent decision by Humana — one of the country's largest health insurers — to pull all of its business from the individual insurance exchanges created by the law. Ryan also cited comments by Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, who said at a conference on Wednesday that the law was in a "death spiral." Ryan also said the bill would address concern from some Republican senators and governors from states that have expanded Medicaid. Many of these Republicans have had success in controlling costs and expanding coverage with Medicaid expansion and are wary of a repeal bill that would include taking away that funding. Other Republicans are concerned that the expansion of Medicaid has put undue stress on the federal budget and should be rolled back. "We're going to have to find a solution that accommodates each of these two concerns," Ryan said. "I've asked Greg Walden, who is the chairman of our commerce committee, and he along with Orrin Hatch are working with governors to come up with a solution so that whether a state chose to take the money [for Medicaid expansion] or didn't, that going forward ... that we do it in a way that doesn't disadvantage either of the two sides of that coin." The details of the proposed legislation were not immediately clear, but a policy brief sent to Republicans on Thursday looks incredibly similar to Ryan's "Better Way" plan. While a significant part of the document reiterates why the GOP needs to replace Obamacare, it does law out some elements of a replacement such as tax credits to buy insurance and expand health savings accounts. Republicans have been working toward a repeal and replacement of Obamacare for years, and they have promised swift action since President Donald Trump was elected. The plan, however, hit some speed bumps as moderate and conservative Republicans disagreed on the timing of the repeal and what to include in a replacement bill. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread |
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