Vice President Mike Pence made clear Tuesday that a House GOP plan is the “framework” for moving ahead with President Trump’s promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“This is the bill. And the president supports the American Health Care Act,” he said after meeting with Senate Republicans at the Capitol.
His comments followed similar endorsements from Mr. Trump and his health secretary, Tom Price, who praised the House effort while leaving room for potential changes by fellow Republicans.
The plan scraps Obamacare’s unpopular mandates and gradually unwinds its vast expansion of Medicaid coverage for the poor, while capping federal funding for the program by 2020.
It replaces Obamacare’s subsidies with age-based, refundable tax credits, though conservatives say that aspect amounts to a new entitlement, or “Obamacare lite.”
Senate GOP leaders can’t afford to lose more than two Republican votes for the plan, which will use arcane budget rules to get around a Democratic filibuster, assuming it makes it out of the House.
Sens. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, and Mike Lee, Utah Republican, have already said the plan falls short.
Democrats, meanwhile, said the plan is a “reckless” attempt to cut taxes for the wealthy while reining in federal assistance for the poor.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said the GOP hasn’t released more details about the proposal’s effects on because they’re “ashamed of this plan.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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