Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner details this week’s plans for addressing health care reform on Capitol Hill.
House Republicans this week will begin debating a series of healthcare reform proposals aimed at winning over GOP lawmakers who are reluctant to support the main GOP proposal to start whittling away at Obamacare.
The proposals would reform lawsuits for medical malpractice, allow health insurance purchases across state lines and eliminate the insurance industry’s antitrust protections in order to improve competition.
The measures, Republicans believe, would help lower the cost of health insurance much more than the 10 percent reduction over the next decade under the main GOP bill that is anticipated by the Congressional Budget Office.
“We have always acknowledged that we must move separate legislation to fully repeal and replace Obamacare with a patient-centered, free-market system,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “In the weeks to come, we will consider several bills to increase patient choice and market competition and prevent abusive medical lawsuits. These bills are just the beginning of phase three of our continued efforts to reform our healthcare system so it works for the American people.”
By moving the legislation alongside the Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, Republicans hope to make the main bill attractive enough to cobble together a House majority.
It’s not clear, however, if the two-pronged approach will work in the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority and can afford to lose only two GOP votes.
