REPORT: Trump privately backing EARLIER rollback of Medicaid expansion

If this report is true, it sounds like Trump is open to negotiation in order to get the bill passed. And this would certainly be a good step in the right direction, but not nearly enough in my opinion:

CNN – The White House is privately lining up behind conservative calls to roll back Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion sooner than the health care reform bill currently calls for, two senior administration officials and a senior House conservative aide told CNN on Thursday.

White House officials are beginning to urge House GOP leadership to include an earlier sunset of the Medicaid expansion funds authorized under Obamacare than the 2020 date set by the current bill. The change comes just days after the bill was unveiled and follows a blitz of activism aimed squarely at the White House and President Donald Trump, who has met with conservative leaders in recent days.

Such a move, however, could blow up the already fragile efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Ending the Medicaid expansion sooner could complicate prospects for the bill in the Senate. And it would likely infuriate Republican governors in states that accepted federal funds for the expansion, who face the prospect of many people losing coverage they gained under Obamacare.

House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office declined to comment.

But a GOP congressional aide wasn’t happy.

“This could kill the bill in the Senate and make it even more complicated in the House,” the aide said.

The White House movement comes as the Republican Study Committee, a group of House conservatives, endorsed two amendments aimed squarely at the Medicaid provisions, though it was not immediately clear if those were the proposals the White House would support.

“We are a ‘yes’ if we get both of them. We’re ‘lean yes’ if we get one of them,” RSC Chairman Rep. Mark Walker told reporters Thursday. But when asked if they get none, Walker dodged and said they would still be focused on the process ahead.

What about the refundable tax credits? What about the regulations?

It’s good to see the White House in negotiation mode, but much more needs to be done to this bill before a lot of conservatives could sign on.


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