- GOP Leaders Plan Tuesday Health Vote, It's An Uphill Climb Associated Press by Alan Fram — Republican leaders pushed toward a Senate vote next Tuesday on resurrecting their nearly flat-lined health care bill. Their uphill drive was further complicated by ailing GOP Sen. John McCain's potential absence and a dreary report envisioning that the number of uninsured Americans would soar. The White House and GOP leaders fished Thursday for ways to win over recalcitrant senators, including an administration proposal to let states use Medicaid funds to help people buy their own private health insurance. But there were no indications they'd ensured the votes needed to even start debating the party's legislative keystone, a bill scuttling and supplanting President Barack Obama's health care law.
- Senate Leaders Press for Health Care Vote, but on Which Bill? New York Times by Thomas Kaplan and Robert Pear — Senate Republicans ended a demoralizing week on Thursday with their leaders determined to press ahead with a vote to begin debating health care next week, but with little progress on securing the votes and no agreement even on which bill to take up. With President Trump urging them to move forward on their seven-year quest to erase the Affordable Care Act, Republican senators on Thursday still had not decided whether to revive a proposal to replace former President Barack Obama's health care law with one of their own, or to simply repeal it and work on a replacement later. The choice is unpalatable.
- These Americans Hated the Health Law. Until the Idea of Repeal Sank in New York Times by Kate Zernike and Abby Goodnough — When President Trump was elected, his party's long-cherished goal of dismantling the Affordable Care Act seemed all but assured. But eight months later, Republicans seem to have done what the Democrats who passed the law never could: make it popular among a majority of Americans. Support for the Affordable Care Act has risen since the election — in some polls, sharply — with more people now viewing the law favorably than unfavorably. Voters have besieged their representatives with emotional telephone calls and rallies, urging them not to repeal, one big reason Republicans have had surprising trouble in fulfilling their promise despite controlling both Congress and the White House.
- Senate Republicans Still at Impasse After Late-Night Health Care Meeting Politico by Burgess Everett , Seung Min Kim, and Jennifer Haberkorn — A key group of Senate Republicans met late into the night Wednesday to try to salvage their health care bill but emerged without any breakthroughs and still appeared far from finding the votes to repeal Obamacare. Still, as senators left the nearly three-hour meeting at the Capitol, they professed optimism. At least 20 Republicans, including leadership allies, moderates and conservatives, worked through the party's myriad disagreements over Medicaid, coverage numbers, lowering premiums and cutting regulations.
- 'Repeal Now, Replace Later' Has Immediate Consumer Impact Associated Press by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar — Consumers would feel the impact immediately if Republicans repeal "Obamacare" with no replacement. Problems could start this fall for customers buying individual health policies, say independent experts, with more insurers likely to exit state markets around the country, and those remaining seeking higher rates. Low-income people who qualified for expanded Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, might be shielded for a year or two. But then federal funding for their coverage would stop and states would have to decide whether to keep those able-bodied adults on the rolls.
- Trump Administration Pulls Health Law Help in 18 Cities Associated Press by Carla K. Johnson — President Donald Trump's administration has ended Affordable Care Act contracts that brought assistance into libraries, businesses, and urban neighborhoods in 18 cities, meaning shoppers on the insurance exchanges will have fewer places to turn for help signing up for coverage. Community groups say the move, announced to them by contractors last week, will make it even more difficult to enroll the uninsured and help people already covered re-enroll or shop for a new policy. That's already a concern because of consumer confusion stemming from the political wrangling in Washington and a shorter enrollment period. "There's a clear pattern of the administration trying to undermine and sabotage the Affordable Care Act," said Elizabeth Hagan, associate director of coverage initiatives for the liberal advocacy group Families USA. "It's not letting the law fail, it's making the law fail."