Senate GOP Ready To Wash Its Hands Of House O’Care Repeal Bill

Senate Republicans couldn’t say much about their plans for repealing Obamacare, but on their first day back in Washington following the House’s narrow passage of their own repeal bill, they stressed that the upper chamber’s effort would be an improvement over the House version.

“We specifically decided to write a Senate bill so we don’t have to worry about the House bill until we get to conference,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Monday night.

Senators were able to speak in broad strokes what they’d like to see changed from the the House health care legislation, the American Health Care Act. That bill would gut Medicaid, offerer a less generous version of the Affordable Care Act’s tax credit scheme, and make optional the law’s insurer mandates on essential health benefits and cost controls for people with pre-existing conditions. The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of an initial version of the House bill predicted that it would result in 24 million Americans losing coverage.

“We’re writing a Senate bill. We will read and review the House bill. They’ve done some good work there. Where we see good ideas, we’ll borrow them,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who chairs the committee with some jurisdiction over health care.

Last Thursday, after the House bill passed, Senate leaders signaled they would be moving forward with their own bill, which will later be reconciled with the House version. A working group of 13 senators, including some members of the GOP leadership team, has reportedly been gathered to work on a plan, though prominent moderates were notably left out and rival working groups have formed.

“This is  — how many of us are there — 52 of us trying to figure out the best way, not just for our state, but to improve what’s been done in the House, which I believe needs improvement,” said Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), who stressed her concerns about the House bill’s abrupt phase-out of the Medicaid expansion.

“I wouldn’t say there’s one specific group,” added Capito, who reportedly has joined Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) in an alternative health care faction.

The GOP rank-and-file in the Senate, for the most part, said they didn’t want to get too far ahead of the ongoing talks, which they noted could last for months. But they did hint at what aspects of the controversial House bill they thought needed an overhaul.

“I’m not trying to negotiate in the press, but I’ve been pretty consistent about talking about some of the big rural states like mine,” Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) told TPM, adding that the House bill “needs more work” on the “structural” issues facing rural states like his.

While House efforts were plagued by infighting over protections for pre-existing conditions and advance able tax credits, the Senate GOP faces perhaps even a steeper climb, given they can only afford to lose two votes in the upper chamber.

“We’re just going to begin the conversation about finding a bill that can pass,” Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), who is among the 13-senator working group, said.

At least one senator had kind words for the House bill. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a member of the leadership-ordained working group, praised the far-right House Freedom Caucus for moving “the bill in a positive direction.”

“They improved the bill significantly, but there is still a lot more work to be done in the Senate,” he said.

But most suggested that they’d prefer to be voting on a Senate-crafted product.

“I guess the good news is that we get to change everything we want to change,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-NC), who later was asked if he would’ve voted for the House’s version of the legislation.

“I won’t have to answer that question because ultimately we’ll come up with our own bill and see how the House responds to ours,” he said.