Free Republic

The budget reconciliation process, with its arcane rules and potential for political chicanery, is not suited to healthcare reform, according to the Senate's former parliamentarian. Reconciliation is enormously appealing to Democratic lawmakers and the White House because it would let them finish up healthcare reform by a simple majority in the upper chamber, where passing major bills usually requires 60 votes. Indeed, since Senate Democrats hold 59 seats and no Senate Republican appears eager to help the governing party pass its legislation, reconciliation could be the only way to advance the bill, which has been a year in the making...

President-elect Donald Trump said in a weekend interview that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of “insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in Medicare and Medicaid. Trump declined to reveal specifics in the telephone interview late Saturday with The Washington Post, but any proposals from the incoming president would almost certainly dominate the Republican effort to overhaul federal health policy as he prepares to work with his party’s congressional majorities. Trump’s plan is likely to face questions...