Thread: Cruz: 'Catastrophic' if Senate fails to pass ObamaCare repeal

Cruz: 'Catastrophic' if Senate fails to pass ObamaCare repeal

By Max Greenwood
05/06/17 12:50 PM EDT

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) acknowledged on Saturday that Senate Republicans face an uphill battle to pass an ObamaCare repeal bill, warning that a failure to do so would be "catastrophic."

"For seven years the Republicans have been promising, 'If only you elect us, we’ll repeal ObamaCare,' " Cruz told conservative radio host Larry Kudlow.

"I think the consequences of failure would be catastrophic. But it’s going to take senators across the Republican conference being willing to sit down in good faith."

The GOP's narrow majority in the Senate, Cruz said, would make coming to an agreement on healthcare reform a "difficult task." He noted that a slew of obstacles ranging from the ideological to the geographical could pose challenges.

The House on Thursday narrowly passed an amended version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a measure that repeals key elements of ObamaCare.

GOP lawmakers have long vowed to repeal former President Obama's signature healthcare law, and with a unified Republican government saw an opportunity to make good on that promise.

But the first version of AHCA was pulled from House consideration in March amid dwindling support among Republicans. Conservatives argued that the bill did not go far enough to repeal certain provisions of ObamaCare, while moderate Republicans voiced concern that the measure could lead to massive losses in coverage.

The amended version of the bill attempted to address those concerns. It would allow states to waive ObamaCare's rule prohibiting insurers from charging people with pre-existing conditions more for coverage, while providing $8 billion over five years to help those individuals.

But the House vote was only the first victory for the measure, and it is likely to face intense scrutiny in the Senate, where some Republicans have indicated that they will vote on their own healthcare reform bill.

"In the Senate we have a difficult task ahead of us," Cruz said. "We have a very narrow majority. We have just 52 Republicans — hold at least 50 of those 52 Republicans to pass the bill."

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare...e-catastrophic

It sounds like Ted Cruz is on board, he's also on the 12 member working committee to prepare the bill for Senate. That's good. Thank you Senator Cruz.

Suggestion:

Pass HR 372, repeal of the McCarran-Ferguson Act first. That will make it a whole lot easier to gain support for the health care bill. House passed HR 372, March 22, 2017 with an historic bipartisan vote of 416-7. Senate should do likewise, pronto, as quickly as possible and get it to Trump to sign. This will put the increased competition and lower premiums into play for the CBO estimate, because the nationwide competition will not only lower premiums, it will increase services, providing a wide array of choice at affordable rates dramatically increasing access for millions of Americans to afford voluntary purchases of health insurance that suits their needs and pocketbooks.

But do it all quickly. Time is not your side. Time is of the essence.