House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise asserted the American Health Care Act would do more to bring down costs for people with pre-existing conditions than Obamacare Tuesday.
Leadership is still working to garner the votes needed to pass the Obamacare repeal legislation after their initial attempt to pass the bill flopped in March due to a lack of consensus between members. Renewed efforts to strike a deal led to an amendment — brokered by Tuesday Group Co-Chairman Tom MacArthur and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows — allowing states to waive out of a number of the Affordable Care Act’s Title I regulations. While the changes to the legislation swayed a substantial amount of key conservatives, leadership lacks the votes to comfortably bring the bill to the floor, with many arguing people with pre-existing conditions could see a significant rise in their premiums.
Proponents of the bill have repeatedly dismissed accusations it will increase costs, insisting vulnerable Americans won’t lose access to affordable plans.
“I want to talk a little bit about pre-existing conditions because that has come up a lot — our bill protects people with pre-existing conditions, and it actually provides multiple layers of protection for people with pre-existing conditions in ways that Obamacare doesn’t do,” Scalise told reporters after the GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning, adding “continuous coverage” would be the “law of the land.”
He said states will have to prove they have high-risk pools in an attempt to ensure access to reasonably priced insurance is available, arguing deductibles rose under the ACA making care unaffordable due to the hike in out-of-pocket costs.
Ryan echoed Scalise’s sentiments, saying he believes the president has been instrumental in the progress they have made.
“As Mr. Scalise mentioned, there are a few layers of protections for pre-existing conditions in this bill,” he told reporters at the press conference. “What’s important is we want to have a situation where people can afford their health insurance — we want to have a situation where people have a choice of health insurers — that’s not happening in Obamacare.
The loss of Tea Party Republican Rep. Billy Long’s yes vote on the measure due to the latest changes to the measure is the latest signal attempts to revive the ACHA could be on life support.
“I have always stated that one of the few good things about Obamacare is that people with pre-existing conditions would be covered,” Long said in a statement Monday. “The MacArthur amendment strips away any guarantee that pre-existing conditions would be covered and affordable.
Long isn’t the only Republican to speak out against the amendment, with a few of the members of the House Republican whip remaining on the fence.
“Members are still talking with one another, we are working through this to be in a better place,” Tuesday Group Co-Chair Elise Stefanik, who is still undecided, told reporters.
Tuesday Group Co-Chair Charlie Dent, who has been a no since the beginning, has repeatedly suggested the amendment makes the bill worse, arguing concessions to conservatives have made it harder for center-right Republicans to vote for the measure.
House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Dave Brat of Virginia dismissed accusations conservatives are responsible for the shortage of votes, noting the changes led to a sizable amount of lawmakers flipping from noes to yeses.
“The speaker said we moved the ball down the field and it’s good policy, and so I don’t care if people are perturbed, I don’t care about emotions, I care about good policy for the country,” he told reporters.
MacArthur defended his amendment, telling reporters he worked in insurance for 30 years and dealt with high-risk pools in 35 to 40 states.
“I know this is difficult and I know people are worried, but the reality is we have to do two things here — we have to bring costs down for the bulk of the American people and we have to take care of the most vulnerable,” he said.
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