Thread: Republican flips to yes on healthcare bill

Republican flips to yes on healthcare bill

By Rebecca Savransky - 03/22/17 01:44 PM EDT

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) says he will now vote for the House's ObamaCare replacement bill after getting a commitment for a vote on legislation ensuring that tax credits do not go to illegal immigrants.

Barletta on Tuesday met with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and President Trump to discuss his concerns that illegal immigrants could receive tax credits under the GOP healthcare proposal.

"Millions of Americans can no longer afford health insurance under ObamaCare, while at the same time, three-quarters of a billion dollars in ObamaCare subsidies have been given to illegal immigrants," Barletta said in a statement.

"President Trump and Speaker Ryan agreed with me last night that this is wrong and must be fixed."

Barletta said the president put his full support behind "legislation I will introduce to deny health care tax credits to illegal immigrants."

"And the Speaker promised to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote," he said.

"Because my concerns were met, I will vote for the bill with the understanding that my bill will receive full consideration on the House floor next month."

Barletta in a previous statement said he couldn't support the American Health Care Act over concerns that it "lacks sufficient safeguards for verifying whether or not an individual applying for health care tax credits is lawfully in this country and eligible to receive them."

House Republican leaders on Tuesday were struggling to pick up votes for their ObamaCare replacement bill, with members of the House Freedom Caucus staunchly opposed.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare...ealthcare-plan

It is good to hear that Lou Barletta is seeking safeguards against illegal aliens accessing this new plan.

Thank you Lou Barletta! Thank you President Trump!! Make sure the bill says no tax credits of any kind for any purpose, in any way, shape or form. No EITC, no Childcare Tax Credits, No Health Insurance Tax Credits, No Business Tax Credits, NO TAX CREDITS AT ALL shall be paid or credited to illegal aliens in the United States.

Thank you Congressman Barletta! You are one of the best people we have in Congress and on the ALIPAC Endorsements list.

W

I hope they keep their word. So far, I'm anxiously waiting on Trump to actually keep his promises regarding immigration.

I respect that Barletta is attempting to deal with the illegal immigrant aspect of the bill. However, I still find it hard to support the bill on a promise of future action on a separate piece of legislation that may never pass or even make it to the House floor for a vote.

Denying the healthcare credits to illegals should be in the healthcare bill now. A promise to ATTEMPT the change in future legislation should not be considered acceptable by any of us.

I still say the bill is full on entitlements and from everything I'm hearing it will not bring healthcare insurance premiums down. Actually the premiums are expected to continue rising.

According to the rules in the Senate, they can't put the language in about Homeland Security verifying the SSNs for the tax credits and pass the bill as a Budget Reconciliation issue because the committee that reviews it in the Senate doesn't have authority over Homeland Security matters. This was reported 2 days ago. It has to be done by a separate bill.

Originally Posted by Judy

According to the rules in the Senate, they can't put the language in about Homeland Security verifying the SSNs for the tax credits and pass the bill as a Budget Reconciliation issue because the committee that reviews it in the Senate doesn't have authority over Homeland Security matters. This was reported 2 days ago. It has to be done by a separate bill.

That certainly doesn't guarantee it will pass. Besides that, why is this a "Homeland Security matter" when the IRS can make such reviews directly?

Originally Posted by MW

That certainly doesn't guarantee it will pass. Besides that, why is this a "Homeland Security matter" when the IRS can make such reviews directly?

Hmmmmm.

Well, lets see, oh yeah, because the IRS doesn't know who is or is not in the country illegally. DHS knows that, they are the only ones who know that.

I think the safest path is for President Trump to hold a press conference tomorrow and withdraw his support for Ryan-care, and explain that after seeing that necessary changes to the bill have not been added to the bill to fulfill all of Trumps promises while on the campaign trail, he has no choice but to withdraw his support to keep his promises to the American people, especially that of a full repeal of Obamacare and allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines so as to introduce free market competition to the insurance industry.

JWK