Dive Brief:
- The Ways and Means Committee passed the ACA repeal bill put forward earlier this week by the GOP along party lines a little after 4 a.m. Thursday and the Energy and Commerce Committee also continued its work into the morning.
- Major hospital groups have said they oppose the bill along with several doctors’ organizations, the American Nurses Association and the AARP. Americas Health Insurance Plans and Blue Cross Blue Shield have also found many flaws in the legislation.
- Hardline conservatives met with President Donald Trump on the legislation Wednesday and said he told them he is open to negotiation. But they object to multiple parts of the bill, including the tax credits to help people buy insurance and the delay in ending Medicaid expansion.
Dive Insight:
The House committees worked overnight debating the bill. Democrats in the House committees marking up the bill showed up ready to made dramatic stands against the legislation and delay votes on it as long as they could. They introduced more than 100 amendments that were sure to get voted down.
Passage in the House and Senate remains iffy at best as industry heavy hitters like the American Hospital Association and American Medical Association came out against the bill. It would take only a handful of Republicans not supporting the bill to keep it from passing, and there are more than enough members of the far-right Freedom Caucus raising objections.
Earlier this week, HHS Secretary Tom Price said there are three phases to the GOP's ACA repeal and reform effort. These include both legislative and administrative actions, according to the HHS. The administrative actions planned also include efforts to stabilize the individual insurance market and restrict special enrollment periods.