Overnight Healthcare: Republicans to get Thursday briefing on ObamaCare replacement plan

In case Capitol Hill needed any more fireworks the day Donald Trump visits, there will also be more details of a GOP healthcare plan.

The four GOP chairmen leading the efforts to craft the party’s official ObamaCare replacement are briefing members Thursday. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will be at the meeting, which marks the first time the task force will lay out details of its plan after months of conversations with members.

{mosads}The plan is expected to include numerous standard Republican health policy ideas — including a controversial proposal to cap the employer tax exclusion for health insurance, according to two Republican lobbyists.

Details of the highly anticipated plan have been mostly kept quiet, but Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, told The Hill that other elements include allowing insurers to sell across state lines and “beefing up” health savings accounts.

Pitts also floated a tax credit to help people afford coverage and high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions.

However, the coming plan will not take the form of legislative text but instead will be a “white paper,” Pitts said. That means the plan will not actually be voted on by the House and won’t be as specific as a bill would be, making it harder to assess factors like the cost of the plan or how it will affect the number of people with coverage. Read more here. http://bit.ly/1sezxSd

White House rips GOP over House opioid package The House is moving forward on a range of opioid legislation this week, but there is still some partisan fighting.

The White House on Wednesday blasted a lack of new funding in Republican legislation in the House to address the national opioid addiction crisis.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest did not say whether President Obama would refuse to sign the bills. But he dismissed the measures, saying they lack “substance.”

He noted that Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) office has complained that the series of 18 bills has not received widespread attention because of the raucous Republican presidential primary.

“My observation would be: If there were actually some substance behind this legislative effort, it might get some more deserved attention,” Earnest said. Read more here. http://bit.ly/1Oo8TdD

The House is pushing ahead with its opioids bills The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill to create a national task force on opioid policies, which advocates hope will spur a major overhaul to the government’s approach to addiction.

Lawmakers voted 412 to 4 to support the bill from Rep. Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), one of 18 House bills this week aimed at halting the scourge of drug overdoses over the last decade.

The task force would be led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and would include a voice from nearly every corner of the healthcare sector, from hospital CEOs to patients suffering from chronic pain. Read more here. http://bit.ly/21XVG2S

Zika funding could move in the Senate this week Senate Republicans could move forward with new funding to fight Zika as soon as this week, according to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

Blunt, the chairman of the Appropriations health subcommittee, told Bloomberg News that a $1.1 billion Zika funding amendment could be added to a spending bill on the Senate floor this week.

Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), his Democratic counterpart on the health subcommittee, has been negotiating the funding deal with him.

“Patty Murray and I are prepared to offer our Zika amendment when we get on the bill,” Blunt told Bloomberg News on Wednesday. Read more here. http://bit.ly/1TAmwZ3

ON TAP TOMORROW

The House GOP huddles on an ObamaCare replacement.

WHAT WE’RE READING

Aetna not withdrawing from any ObamaCare exchanges (Wall Street Journal)

David Vitter holding up OPM nomination over ObamaCare ‘fraud’ (Washington Times)

IN THE STATES

Kansas again delays Medicaid cutoff for Planned Parenthood (Associated Press)

On alert for Zika: Orlando pest companies stock up (Orlando Sentinel)

ICYMI FROM THE HILL:

Trump promises to appoint anti-abortion justices

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