GOP Congressmen: Obamacare Repeal Not Perfect, but Best Possible

A pair of Republican congressman — one in leadership and one from the conservative House Freedom Caucus — insisted Friday the Obamacare repeal bill passed Thursday would improve the nation’s health care system and was the best possible legislation Congress could pass.

In separate appearances on “The Laura Ingraham Show,” Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said the bill does not accomplish everything they wanted. Jordan, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he preferred a “clean” repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But he added that compromise was necessary to pass it.

“This bill’s not perfect. And as you know, we conservatives engaged in a 10-week debate here to make this bill better. We think we have done that.”

“This bill’s not perfect,” he said. “And as you know, we conservatives engaged in a 10-week debate here to make this bill better. We think we have done that.”

Jordan argued that conservative engagement improved the bill from March, when House leaders had to pull it after it became obvious that it lacked enough votes to pass.

Jordan noted that every tax increase imposed by Obamacare would be repealed under the bill. He also praised the work requirement attached to able-bodied Medicaid recipients and the creation of a high-risk pool modeled on a program that existed in Maine before Obamacare.

Perhaps most important, Jordan said, it keeps a central promise that Republican lawmakers have made for years.

“I’m afraid of not doing what we told the American people we were going to do,” he said. “I’m afraid of having Obamacare stick around.”

Scalise, who as House majority whip is responsible for keeping track of how Republicans plan to vote on major legislation, welcomed efforts by the Senate to improve the bill when it heads to the upper chamber. But he suggested senators will have a hard time.

“I wish the Senate well, and you know, I think they’ll find out what we found out, and that is writing a conservative health care bill that guts Obamacare is going to be complicated and tough,” he said. “But, you know, the important thing is the main focus needs to be putting people back in their health care decisions, in charge of their health care decisions, getting Washington bureaucrats out.”

Anyone who doubts whether the American Health Care Act makes significant changes to Obamacare should look at the reaction among Democrats, Scalise said.

“The fact that liberals are going nuts, people who love Obamacare are going nuts, shows you what we’re doing to Obamacare,” he said.

Scalise said Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has authority to make positive changes under 1,400 sections of the current health law. He said Price already has begun examining those regulations.

In addition, Scalise said, the House already has taken up reform on aspects of Obamacare that could not be included in the American Health Care Act — and still avoid the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. He said the House has passed a bill letting small businesses and other organizations pool their resources to have stronger insurance-buying power. The House also voted to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which gives insurers a limited exemption from antitrust laws.

Soon, Scalise said, the House will take up a bill to let insurance companies sell policies across state lines — a priority of President Donald Trump — which the congressman said would foster more competition and drive down prices.

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All of those bills, because they are not tied to the budget, would need 60 votes in the Senate.

“Let those Democrats in those Trump states have that tough vote,” he said.

Jordan said it would have been better to simply repeal the regulations under Obamacare that make health insurance expensive. But he said the compromise gives states latitude to loosen those rules.

“If states get the waiver, we think they can get out from underneath those regulations, which we know — and not just Congress but health care policy experts know — are driving up the cost of insurance,” he said.