Ryan Confident Amid Blowback: ‘I Have No Doubt We’ll Pass This’

Facing a revolt on his Right flank, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told reporters Wednesday that the Obamacare repeal bill is a “conservative wishlist” and vowed that it would pass the chamber.

“I have no doubt we’ll pass this, because we’re going to keep our promise,” he said. “I think every Republican in Congress, including the president of the United States, made a promise to the American people.”

“I think every Republican in Congress, including the president of the United States, made a promise to the American people.”

Conservative opponents of the House health care bill have dubbed it “Obamacare 2.0,” and declared it dead on arrival. Four senators have said they will not vote for it. Critics accuse House leaders of rebranding the subsidies in the Affordable Care Act as tax credits while keeping an expensive entitlement program.

“Well, it’s not a Republican repeal and replace,” Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) told CNN Wednesday. “It’s a repackaging of Obamacare … The bill is a reframing of Obamacare. It operates the same way. It doesn’t address health care costs.”

Moderate Republican also have expressed concerns.

But Ryan and other House leaders presented a united front. The speaker said the bill repeals $1 trillion in taxes that were part of Obamacare, ends the requirement that people buy insurance, and eliminates the mandates on insurance companies that Republicans say have driven up the cost of health care. It also ends federal funding for Planned Parenthood, redirecting the money to community health centers, and converts the Medicaid program for the poor into a block grant that would allow states to experiment.

In addition, Ryan noted, the legislation would nearly double the amount of money that could be deposited into a health savings account.

“This is a good day,” he said. “The American people, the people we serve, they need relief from Obamacare now more than ever. You know why? Because this law is rapidly collapsing. Let’s not forget that.”

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) held a copy of the thick Affordable Care Act bill.

“Back in 2009 when Obamacare started moving through Congress, we predicted that this law would fail because of all of the provisions in the bill that destroyed what was good in health care,” he said.

Those predictions realized, Scalise said, the House now will begin marking up the bill that would replace it.

“What’s really exciting is today, I get to go into that same room in energy and commerce where Obamacare passed back in 2009 to start the work of repealing and replacing Obamacare with actual laws that would put patients back in charge of their health care,” he said.

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) said 160,000 residents of his state have chosen to pay a tax penalty rather than buying insurance.

“We’re gong to keep our word and repeal this flawed law so that patients can get control, back in charge of health care decisions,” he said.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) noted that Humana’s pullout of the Tennessee market will leave 16 of its counties without a single insurance provider on the government’s health care exchange. Across the country, a third of counties have just one provider, and 18 of 23 nonprofit cooperatives — after receiving $2 billion in taxpayer support — have gone out of business.

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“We cannot ignore this problem any longer,” he said.

Ryan ignored growing signs of opposition within his own party.

“This returns power from Washington back to doctors and patients, back to states,” he said. “This is what good, conservative health care reform looks like.”