Republicans have been looking to to repeal the Affordable Care Act(ACA) since it was first made a law. They even changed the name of it from ACA to Obamacare. Now, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, congressional Republicans and President Trump are having trouble coming up with a ObamaCare strategy.
McConnell says they need to get in sync but are not their yet. “The goal is for the administration, the House and the Senate to be in the same place. We’re not there yet,” he told reporters.
He did add that “the status quo is not sustainable,” and Republicans are looking to continue to have discussions about their plan for Obamacare
But the GOP is facing new hurdles this week when it comes to their push to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Top House Republicans were working on a draft bill that would have eliminated government grants for people to obtain medical coverage and also phase out federal funds for states to expand Medicaid in 2020.
Although both Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, both shot down the plan this week.
“[It’s] no longer even a viable draft that we’re working off of,” Scalise told reporters on Tuesday.
On the other side of things Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah)are demanding “full repeal” of the healthcare law and that the 2015 repeal bill is a “bare minimum.”
“2 yrs ago, the GOP Congress voted to repeal Obamacare. That 2015 repeal language should be the floor, the bare minimum,” they each tweeted Monday night along with the hashtag “full repeal.”
If Cruz, Paul and Lee vote together, they have the leverage to sink any repeal bill they oppose, which adds an extra hurdle to repealing the healthcare law. But using the 2015 bill to keep their votes could draw pushback from some moderate Senate Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
As a result of the recent disagreements in the Republican party McConnell has called for a Senate GOP caucus meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss their ObamaCare strategy.
