Ryan Hints At Health Care Bill To Come: ‘We’re At The Conceptual Stage’

Amid struggles within his own party, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., discusses the Republican agenda as he faces reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 30, 2017.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Amid struggles within his own party, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., discusses the Republican agenda as he faces reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 30, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Tuesday that House Republicans were working on reaching a consensus on a bill to replace Obamacare. But he emphasized that it was in its “conceptual stage.”

“Right now we’re just at that conceptual stage about how to move forward in a way that can get everybody to 216,” he said at his weekly press conference Tuesday. He refused to answer specific questions about the eventual bill’s content.

“It’s important that we don’t just win the votes of one caucus, or one group, but that we get the votes and the consensus of 216 of our members,” he continued. “It’s premature to say where we are or what we’re on because we’re at the conceptual stage right now.”

While President Donald Trump has attacked members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus for their opposition to the failed American Health Care Act, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer has spoken openly about trying to earn Democratic votes on an eventual health care bill, Ryan focused on his Republican conference.

“We don’t have bill text or an agreement yet,” he said, but: “Those productive conversations are happening right now.”

He added later: “We want to make sure that when we go, we have the votes to pass this bill; that we’ve got the consensus that we’ve long been looking for.”

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Notable Replies

  1. At the conceptual stage. And we can expect a miscarriage soon.

  2. My guess is that they’ll remain at this “conceptual” stage for at least the next two to three centuries. We’ll hear about a few meetings to discuss “concepts” and then everything about healthcare reform will be forgotten and never spoken of again.

  3. Trump: I will build upon this concept when I run in 2020, if I decide to have elections.

  4. 7 years. They’ve had 7 fucking years to think of something.

    This is about getting trump his public “win” so Ryan can get his cherished tax cuts. Fuck them both with a rusty chainsaw.

    That ship has sailed. Even republicans now think they have a right to health care. The GOP is fucked.

  5. “Right now we’re just at that conceptual stage about how to move forward in a way that can get everybody to 216,”

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