Senate Republicans are planning to include a provision in their “skinny repeal” healthcare bill that would cut off federal funding from Planned Parenthood for a year, according to a GOP aide.
The bill, which is a watered-down version of changes Republicans have been trying to make to Obamacare, also would eliminate the invidual mandate requiring people to buy health insurance, one of the least popular provisions of the law, but one that the Congressional Budget Office estimates could result in rougly 16 million more people becoming uninsured in 2018. The employer mandate that obligates companies to provide coverage if they have 50 or more employees would be withdrawn for six years, and Congress would have the option to renew it.
The medical device tax, a portion of Obamacare that members of both parties have said they would consider repealing or suspending, would be suspended for six years, when it can be delayed again or put back in place.
Asked why it was not repealed, a Senate GOP aide replied, “couldn’t pay for it.” Community health center funding would be increased after stripping family planing funds from Planned Parenthood. The funding pays for birth control, STD testing and cancer screenings, but would for a year be cut off from facilities that also provide abortions. Under a provision called the Hyde Amendment, federal funds are prohibited from going toward most abortions.
In a statement, Planned Parenthood blasted the move.
“After weeks of posturing, it turns out that Senate Republican leadership’s so-called ‘skinny repeal’ is really just a plan to block millions of patients from accessing cancer screenings and birth control at Planned Parenthood,” Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.
Having failed to arrive at a consensus after months of closed-door negotiations, Senate Republicans have turned their attention to what they are calling the “skinny repeal” option after failing to pass two other pieces of legislation on Obamacare this week. One of the bills would have repealed Obamacare and delayed implementation of a new plan for two years, while the other would have immediately replaced the law with other provisions and made long-term changes to the Medicaid program. Both pieces of legislation failed to gain enough support, even among Republicans.
Republicans are advancing the legislation through reconciliation, which means they can pass a bill with only 50 votes, but have to abide by strict rules and craft legislation that affects only the federal budget, and must meet certain targets in reducing the deficit. They can afford to lose no more than two votes for their healthcare bill.
The Senate can pass the bill and send it to conference, where both chambers of Congress would hash out additional details before sending it to President Trump, or the Senate can send it to the House, which could pass it to send to the president.
“We are operating on the assumption the House will pass the skinny as is tomorrow,” a Senate GOP aide said.
But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of GOP leadership, tweeted Thursday morning that a skinny bill would not be sent to the president and that it would be a vehicle for conference.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters that if the bill passes the bill had no chance of passing the House, and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., has said the same. Graham and other senators are demanding a guarantee that the bill would go to conference if it is passed in their chamber. They have said that trimming around the edges of Obamacare would not be enough to guarantee their support.
“If you passed it as a standalone proposition it would destroy the insurance markets and we would own the failure of Obamacare,” Graham said, referring to how the plan would destabilize the exchanges next year. Still, he said it may allow for the addition of a provision he has been working on with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., which would shift Obamacare funding to states to craft their own plans.
The Graham-Cassidy provision has not been evaluated by the Senate parliamentarian to see whether it abides by Senate rules, and Graham said he was meeting with her later Thursday.
“It will determine whether or not I will vote for the skinny bill … the skinny bill is getting bigger,” he said.
* Susan Ferrechio and Robert King contributed to this report.
