One of the things scratched on the napkin Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be taking into lunch today, where a cabal of Republican senators apparently plan on writing their Obamacare repeal bill, is Planned Parenthood defunding. But wait, you say, didn't the Senate Parliamentarian already say they couldn't do that without 60 votes? Yes, she did. Nevertheless, they are persisting. According to Axios, this is the working list they're taking into lunch.
- Individual mandate repeal
- Partial repeal of the employer mandate
- A one-year defunding of Planned Parenthood
- More money for community health centers
- A provision addressing the ACA's 1332 innovation waivers. The Senate replacement bill would have made them much more flexible, allowing ACA regulations like essential health benefits to be waived. It's unclear how much more flexible they'll be under skinny repeal, especially because it remains unclear whether the original expanded waivers complied with budget rules.
They’re going to have to figure out some way to broaden the language around Planned Parenthood so that it isn’t singled out. That means more bad news for the nation’s women, because it means a larger ban on reproductive health care—of course. Either that or they’re all ready to go nuclear and just blow out the Senate parliamentarian’s restraints. It could happen.
What's not on the list is Medicaid expansion and the plans to restructure and destroy it. No one is talking about that because that's where the hardest fight is for McConnell. That's likely going to be fought out during today’s lunch.
It appears that they're getting close though. Here's one big hint: this, a pending "schedule announcement" from House leadership. They were supposed to be heading out for August recess tomorrow, ready to come back in to deal with a conference. It's looking more and more like McConnell has his 50 votes—Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowsi are apparently lost causes—and that whatever they pass tonight, if they can get it through, will go straight to the House floor where Speaker Paul Ryan will force it on his members.
Call. Call now and don't stop calling.
Repealing Obamacare is a nightmare. Millions would lose their health insurance, and the cost of premiums would skyrocket for many people. Call your Republican senator at (202) 224-3121 and give them a very angry piece of your mind. (After you call, please tell us how it went.)
