Republicans plan to pass an Obamacare repeal measure later this year that will also include provisions to replace the law, GOP leaders said Tuesday, after several days of pressure from conservatives who say “repeal” and “replace” must happen as closely together as possible.
“It’s our goal to bring it all together concurrently,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said following a closed-door meeting with rank-and-file lawmakers.
The move is likely aimed at complying with the desires of the incoming Trump administration and nervous GOP lawmakers who fear nullifying the law will be a politically disastrous move that leaves constituents without coverage.
GOP lawmakers have been escalating demands over the past few weeks for the reconciliation legislation to include a replacement. The calls have also come from Republicans in the Senate, where the GOP’s thin majority leaves almost no room for internal opposition to a repeal bill.
“The message today was ‘calm down,'” one GOP lawmakers said after the meeting with Ryan.
The announcement signals a shift from the GOP leadership, who until recently seemed prepared to repeal the law first and replace it in steps over a longer period of time.
Now, Ryan said lawmakers plan to replace as much of the law as they can in the repeal measure.
Trump’s influence likely loomed large over the strategy.
“I just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and he fully supports my plan to replace Obamacare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., tweeted last week.
An expansion of tax-exempt health savings accounts is among the replacement provisions that would be included, lawmakers said following a closed-door meeting with GOP leaders.
The House is planning a Friday vote on a measure now under debate in the Senate that will serve as a legislative vehicle for repealing the health care law. If it passes both chambers, lawmakers will get to work on a final repeal bill that they hope to pass in the coming weeks.
“Without delay, we are taking action,” Ryan said Tuesday. “We are putting in place the tools necessary to keep our promise on this law.”
Ryan called the House repeal effort “a rescue mission” for people hurt by the troubled law and said House lawmakers “have made it clear” how they will replace Obamacare with a “patient-centered system.”
Republican lawmakers over the past few weeks have increased calls for a replacement for the law to be included in the legislation that repeals it. Including replacement provisions in the repeal bill will also ensure those changes become law because the legislation requires only 51 votes for passage, which will bypass a Democratic filibuster.
Ryan also told lawmakers today that incoming Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price will be able to repeal parts of Obamacare that were created administratively, including the list of essential health benefits.
“We are going to use every tool at our disposal, through legislation and regulations, to bring replacement concurrently with repeal so we can save people from this mess,” Ryan said.
How much “replace” can be included in the final repeal legislation will depend upon the Senate parliamentarian, who will be the ultimate judge on whether certain provision are allowed under the budgetary process the GOP plans to use to escape a Democratic filibuster.
Longtime Republican lawmakers said the process of replacing the law could go well beyond the repeal bill.
“The aim is to do as much ‘replace’ with the repeal as we can, knowing we can’t do it all,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told the Washington Examiner.
