Free Republic

Paul Ryan got what he wanted from the House Budget Committee — but also got a warning shot across the bow as well. The American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed on a narrow vote, but not before Republican conservatives offered some resistance to it. The final vote may have been a managed outcome. Kasie Hunt explains that they expected more debate today in the committee and had counted four Republicans on the panel as against the AHCA or leaning toward a no. Four Republican defections would have resulted in a tie, but a plea from the chair may have made...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) could not say on Wednesday where he got the information that "thousands will die" if Obamacare is repealed. Sanders made the claim while speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper but could not provide any specific sources that backed his assertion, instead referring to "studies that have been done.

Noah Wall, the national director of campaigns for FreedomWorks, joined Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Alex Marlow on Tuesday to discuss the FreedomWorks Day of Action rally scheduled for Wednesday in opposition to the Republican Obamacare replacement plan. Concerning a full repeal of Obamacare, Wall said, “We’ve been promised this in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, and these were not lighthearted promises. These were very powerful promises from members of Congress and the U.S. Senate across the political spectrum of Republicans.” “Lo and behold,” added Wall, “the voters give Republicans Congress, they give them the Senate, and they give them...

Sen. Tom Cotton said Tuesday that it's vital for Republicans to get legislation repealing Obamacare right on the first try because he doesn't believe there are going to be three steps to the process, as proponents have outlined. "There is no three-step plan. That is just political talk," Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, told radio host Hugh Hewitt. Republicans say there's only so much legislation they can get through the first time around under agreed-to budget rules. Step two would then involve regulatory changes, followed by more legislation. Mr. Cotton said step two could be subject to court challenges and that...

Republicans in the House and Senate wanted to see a score from the Congressional Budget Office on the American Health Care Act before casting a vote either way. The CBO obliged today, giving AHCA backers good news for budget hawks, but potentially bad news on the political front. Despite assurances that the effort would not leave Americans behind, CBO estimates that fourteen million Americans would be added to the rolls of the uninsured, while the AHCA saves the federal government $337 billion in deficit spending over the next decade: CBO and JCT estimate that enacting the legislation would reduce...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fourteen million Americans would lose coverage next year under House Republican legislation remaking the nation's health care system, and that figure would grow to 24 million by 2026, Congress' nonpartisan budget analysts projected Monday. The figures dealt a blow to a GOP drive already under fire from both parties and large segments of the medical industry.

Ignore the grandstanding on Capitol Hill and the noise coming from town-hall protests around the nation. The Republican bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare will boost your chances of getting a job and cut your tax bill, not to mention your insurance costs. The repeal bill — called the American Health Care Act — also will stave off a tidal wave of future Medicaid spending that threatens to drown the states and Uncle Sam in red ink. Here’s how. No more penalties. If you’re among the 8 million people getting whacked with a tax penalty for not enrolling in an...

The only way I'd be happy with a non repeal of Obamacare is if the president and the secretary can snip the unconstitutional monopolistic strings that prohibit free enterprise from providing competing solutions. Someone suggested leaving Obamacare basically intact for those who choose to provide or subscribe to it, but allow new free market solutions to rise up and compete. That's not a bad idea to break the stalemate. My understanding is the Obamacare law leaves many decisions for the president and the HHS secretary to make. During the rollout and throughout the remaining years of Obama's term, the president...

President Donald Trump has more than the Democratic opposition to worry about with his proposed American Health Care Act. Conservatives are pushing hard against it, too, despite AHCA proponents' attempts to persuade members of the House Freedom Caucus with an ad campaign and some schmoozing in Washington. "Right now, I think there is a charm offensive going on," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told CBS host John Dickerson on Sunday's "Face the Nation." "Everybody is being nice to everybody, because they want us to vote for this, but we are not going to vote for it." Conservatives will fight President Trump's...

A whole lot of congressional swamp dwellers and citizens alike are entirely missing the point regarding a complete and final repeal of Obamacare. How soon they forget the outrage of we the people when Obamacare was forced down our throats and then a redoubling of that outrage when Chief Justice Roberts failed to uphold the constitution and toss it out. Have they forgotten why the tea party sprang up and why we drove out packs of rats and herds of RINOs in the last several election cycles? We the self-sufficient free citizens of America do not want a federal takeover...

Congressman Louie Gohmert (98% CR) (Badass constitutional conservative – TX), appearing on Fox & Friends Saturday morning, reminded America that the House and Senate with Republican majorities, already passed a full of repeal of Obamacare and sent it to Obama’s desk in 2015, and that bill met the requirements of the so-called “Byrd rule,” which allowed for its passage through the budget reconciliation process — meaning that a full repeal of Obamacare could again pass the Senate with only 51 votes and be sent to President Trump’s desk (Obama, of course, repealed the 2015 bill). “We did a more complete...

"Is Obamacare Republicans’ Waterloo?" That was the question a reporter posed a couple weeks ago. It’s the narrative increasingly being pushed by the media, and starting to become conventional wisdom in Washington. My response? What the press doesn’t understand is that Obamacare, in practice, has proven to be a disaster, and it’s hurting millions of people. We’ve had three elections that focused on Obamacare repeal, 2010, 2014 and 2016. All three were massive victories for Republicans. If that’s Waterloo, we could use a few more of them. So, how do we go forward? Here are two overarching principles, three concrete...

The CEO of Anthem, one of the nation’s largest insurers, has sent a letter to the GOP chairman of two committees in which he backs major elements of a GOP plan to replace Obamacare. From Politico: Anthem, in a letter obtained by POLITICO, endorsed major parts of the repeal bill, known as the American Health Care Act, and urged lawmakers to move the process forward “as quickly as possible.”…Anthem expressed support for bill provisions that would repeal Obamacare’s health insurance tax, temporarily continue the law’s cost-sharing subsidies, and allow customers to receive tax credits off the Obamacare exchanges. Modern...

Say your employer wants you to get a genetic test. You politely decline because you consider it a gross infringement of privacy. Well, too bad—your monthly health insurance payments just spiked 30%. This could be the reality under HR 1313, the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, a House GOP-sponsored bill that would essentially allow companies with workplace wellness programs to demand your genetic information (or force you to pay a big penalty). The legislation has now passed a House committee on a straight party line vote, reports STAT News, with all 22 Republicans unified in support against 17 Democratic detractors....

President Trump's administration is privately supporting an earlier rollback of ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion than what is outlined in GOP leadership's healthcare plan, CNN reported Thursday. A senior House conservative aide and two senior administration officials told the news source that the White House, while publicly supporting the House GOP bill, is privately backing a call from conservatives to reverse the expansion before the bill's 2020 phase-out date. According to the report, the administration is already urging several House Republican leaders to change the legislation for an earlier rollback.

Vice President Mike Pence will join Bret Baier tonight from Capitol Hill to discuss a range of issues surrounding the Trump administration, including how they plan to proceed with repealing and replacing ObamaCare. . . . "This is the bill, but if there are ways to improve that bill to give people greater confidence that we all are going to arrive at the same place where ObamaCare is done and we repealed it," Pence said. He said that they are committed to following through on President Trump's campaign promise of repealing and replacing ObamaCare. "President Donald Trump is a man...

In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint says after meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, he believes the president seems very serious when it comes to listening to concerns from conservatives over the new GOP healthcare bill. “He seemed a lot more receptive than the word we had gotten from the House that this was the bill, take it or leave it,” DeMint tells us. DeMint spoke with me Thursday afternoon in DC.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Thursday warned House Republicans that their bill to replace ObamaCare won't pass in the Republican-controlled Senate in its current state. Cotton tweeted that the bill needs "major changes," and he cautioned Republicans against acting "like Dems" by voting before a budget estimate is completed.

Good news, they’re listening to you.  No other approach to repealing ObamaCare is possible.  It’s not ideological, it is simply reality.  The backstory on our prior explanations are HERE and expanded HERE. After listening to conservative groups at a White House meeting yesterday, it became obvious to POTUS  those group leaders/members did not understand WHY no other approach to repeal is possible.   POTUS asked Speaker Ryan to put this together and deliver it today: WOW: Paul Ryan's American Health Care Act (Obamacare Replacement) FULL PowerPoint Presentation Most of you already know this outline because you’ve understood the bigger picture.  Hopefully this message will reach the...

Outside conservative groups on Tuesday blasted House Republicans' newly unveiled health care proposal, saying it doesn't live up to the GOP's promise of fully repealing ObamaCare. The Club for Growth dissed the proposal as "RyanCare," and threatened to record names of Republicans who vote for the bill unless it includes significant changes. Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and the Koch Brothers-aligned Americans for Prosperity also issued scathing statements highly critical of the legislation dubbed the "American Health Care Act," which was released on Monday. "This is simply not a full repeal of ObamaCare. It falls far short of the promises Republicans made...