Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said on Fox News Sunday he “feels very good” about the American Health Care Act’s progress in the House on Thursday.
The controversial health care overhaul is “exactly where we want to be. And the reason I feel so good about this is because the president has been a great closer,” Ryan told host Chris Wallace Sunday morning.
That they will “most likely” pass the necessary threshold of 216 votes by Thursday, Ryan said, is thanks in large part to President Trump’s dealmaking. “The president is bringing people to his table, and I’m very impressed with how the president is helping us close this bill, making the improvements we’ve been making.”
And, asked whether investigation into President Trump’s claims that the Obama administration wiretapped Trump Tower posed “a distraction,” Ryan told Wallace: “I want to get on with passing our agenda. And we are.”
The AHCA is currently under review by four House committees, with changes and amendments requested by the rules and budget committees.
The abilities of states to oversee the management of Medicaid grants and to make gainful employment a prerequisite for receiving Medicaid count among these improvements—as does a higher tax credit for low-income and elderly Americans.
While Ryan expressed optimism, joining Fox News Sunday from his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin to discuss the bill’s expected progress in the House this week, Secretary Tom Price of the Department of Health and Human Services took a broader look at the bill’s prospects in the Senate.
Asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos whether “everything you do to get votes in the House is going to cost you votes in the Senate,” Price acknowledged the challenges. “Well, it’s a fine needle that needs to be thread,” he said, “there’s no doubt about it.”
