The leader of a top outside conservative group called for conservatives to embrace reality when it comes to repealing Obamacare, and is pushing for several changes to a Senate healthcare bill.
Heritage Action CEO Mike Needham wrote in an op-ed Thursday that conservatives shouldn’t be dismayed that they are not fully repealing Obamacare, and to work with what they have got.
“No one should be under the illusion this is the best possible bill,” Needham wrote in an op-ed in RealClearPolitics.
Needham was referring to the Better Care Reconciliation Act. The Senate was forced to delay a planned vote this week because it did not have the votes, and a handful of conservative senators argued it doesn’t go far enough in repealing Obamacare.
Needham noted that “restraints imposed by Republicans’ current governing coalition will take years, not weeks to overcome. The long-term work of righting that ship need not and cannot prevent Republicans from governing in the here and now under those constraints.”
Needham then said that conservatives who say that full repeal is possible now or after the 2018 midterms are “not being honest with themselves regarding the long-term nature of this challenge.”
He reminded conservatives that whatever happens on Obamacare repeal, Democrats will “not stop in their quest for a nationalized, single-payer scheme. Conservatives cannot cede the playing field despite justified disappointment with the current process.”
However, he added that the bill can be improved to get conservatives on board.
Needham pointed to a proposal by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that lets insurers sell plans that don’t comply with Obamacare’s insurer mandates, on the condition that they also offer plans that do comply.
The insurer mandates include protections for people with pre-existing conditions, including preventing insurers from charging patients more money if they have a bad health history. Other mandates include the prohibition on lifetime caps and 10 essential health benefits such as maternity care.
Needham also pushed policies such as indemnity insurance, which pays a certain amount per covered service. Indemnity insurance isn’t considered quality medical insurance under Obamacare, therefore a person would still have to pay the individual mandate penalty even if he has an indemnity plan.
The Heritage Action CEO also lauded the bill for some changes that improve upon Obamacare’s status quo, including $770 billion in cuts to Medicaid.
“These are victories that are worth defending against attacks from the left or against alterations proposed by moderate Republicans,” Needham wrote.
It remains unclear where the bill would end up. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been holding one-on-one meetings with holdouts, and some centrists are pushing for a better growth rate for Medicaid and more money to deal with opioids.
