Overnight Healthcare: House held back ObamaCare bill for potential second vote | Lobby groups to watch in health fight | Dems seek meeting with Ivanka Trump on women’s health

House Republicans have not yet sent their ObamaCare replacement bill to the Senate due to the possibility that the House could have to vote on it again if it fails to meet certain budget rules.

The House, despite passing the repeal bill two weeks ago, is waiting to send the legislation to the Senate until the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office produces its analysis of the bill.

There is at least some possibility that the new CBO score of the revised bill would find that the measure no longer reduces the deficit, meaning that it does not meet Senate rules governing the reconciliation process, which Republicans are using to avoid a Democratic filibuster. The House would then have to change its bill and vote again.

{mosads}”The bill is just being held until CBO issues its final score,” said AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

The bill being held back in the House was first reported by Bloomberg.

House Republicans say they are confident the bill will hit the deficit reduction target, but are holding it out of an “abundance of caution.”

Click here to read more: http://bit.ly/2rk0RRW

 

Lobby groups to watch in Senate healthcare fight

Lobbying groups opposed to the House’s healthcare reform bill are pinning their hopes on the Senate for big changes.

Industry groups felt largely cut out of the House’s drafting and passage of the American Health Care Act and now are clamoring for action to fix what they view as serious defects in the legislation.

Major hospital and doctor associations, for example, want people with health insurance to stay covered and are pushing to ensure adequate funding for the Medicaid program.

Click here for The Hill’s breakdown of the lobbying groups and industries to watch as senators write their healthcare bill: http://bit.ly/2qVFwhG

 

Dem AGs look to protect ObamaCare payments in court

A group of Democratic attorneys general on Thursday filed a motion in federal court to intervene to defend key ObamaCare payments.

Officials from 15 states and Washington, D.C., argued that the Trump administration is not adequately defending the payments in court, pointing to statements from President Trump threatening to cancel the payments to “explode” the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

At issue are ObamaCare payments known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), which reimburse insurers for giving discounted deductibles to low-income enrollees in the health law. House Republicans sued over the payments, arguing they are being made unconstitutionally without an appropriation.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2qyokxX

 

Dems ask to meet Ivanka Trump on women’s health issues

Female Democratic lawmakers are asking to meet with Ivanka Trump this month to talk about women’s health issues, such as access to contraception and maternity care.

Trump, who works on women’s issues in her father’s administration, has been silent during the passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which President Trump supports, the lawmakers said in a letter Thursday.

“Given your stated passion about women’s issues and empowerment, we found your silence during the House passage of (the AHCA) surprising,” California Reps. Judy Chu, Barbara Lee, Jackie Speier and Reps. Diana DeGette (Colo.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) and Suzan DelBene (Wash.) wrote in a letter.

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2qytKZZ

 

Study: House health bill cuts $43B in children’s Medicaid funds

The House GOP’s ObamaCare replacement bill would result in a cut of $43 billion over 10 years in funding for Medicaid coverage of children, according to a new study.

The study from the consulting firm Avalere finds that the cuts to coverage for non-disabled children would come as a result of a new cap on Medicaid payments that the bill would impose, known as a per capita cap.

“Over time, per capita caps could significantly reduce the amount of funding that goes towards Medicaid coverage for children,” Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere, said in a statement. “While local control and more efficient operation of Medicaid programs are laudable goals, coverage and access for low income children are ultimately dictated by federal funding, and reductions of this magnitude could disrupt access.”

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2qwRgqe

 

What we’re reading:

Republicans lock onto insurance troubles in push to topple health law (The Wall Street Journal)

Health insurers and state officials say Trump is undermining ObamaCare, pushing up rates (Los Angeles Times)

Fearing deportation, parents worry about undocumented kids in Medicaid program (Kaiser Health News)

 

State by state:

Secret sauce in Maine’s successful high-risk pool: enough money (Kaiser Health News)

Planned Parenthood to close four Iowa clinics after legislative defunding (Des Moines Register)

Narcotic-affected newborns nearly double in California, but ‘it’s not the mom you expect’ (The Sacramento Bee)

 

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